Marketing Virtual Reality: The Next Big Thing

It has been roughly twenty years since the mobile phones attacked our lives and most of us do not even remember the time when connectivity was not accessible through our hands. We ought to remember the present time since soon we are going to see the extinction of mobile phones just like the dinosaurs. Yes, a new technology is all set to take over our lives just like the mobile phones did in the 90s. Virtual reality is going to be the next giant leap for mankind.

Yet, the onus now lies on the people in VR industry to make the technology sound appealing and project it as a ‘necessity’ just like the mobile phone today. The Virtual Reality Industry has had a particularly bad start in marketing compared to previous game changers like Computers, the Internet and Mobile Phones. Blame it on the cost heavy VR headsets or underwhelming marketing campaigns, VR needs a marketing strategy to make it the next game changer.

The Basic Idea

The VR customer base is expected to cross 200 million by 2020. Brands are expected to go all out on marketing to capture a majority of this figure. Virtual Reality, being an amazing new technology can be over-hyped in the process. Marketing professionals need to understand the technology in and out before beginning to even conceptualize a campaign. The basic Idea of VR is “escaping reality” and it is what will eventually make it the next big thing. Keeping the basic idea of VR in mind, the following need to be outlined in the campaigns and content:

Personalisation

The user experience can greatly be personalized by the addition of simple user specific aspects. User information can be used from databases and relevant social media traits can be pulled up to make the experience more delightful. Even a simple name insertion into the real-time application can garner more interest from a user.

Real-Time Experience

Even though the basic idea is to escape reality, making the virtual environment a bit realistic will give a sense of belonging to the user.  Real people engaging, interacting and sharing emotions is irresistible. Users experiencing a gripping, emotionally upbeat, lifelike and heart touching virtual scenario can simply market the product through word of mouth and social media, which will pay dividends in the long run.

Stir Emotions

Virtual Reality is a competent tool which allows users to experience life as someone else and through someone’s eyes. This can evoke empathy and better understanding. It can help understand the hardships suffered by athletes, celebrities, politicians and even a common laborer. Empathy is an effective stimulus for the response action. It can help brands who are looking to portray social causes and assist them in explaining their brand purpose.

 Focus on ‘The Why’

In his famous book “Start With Why”, Simon Sinek elaborates the reasoning behind the uber success of some products. According to him, marketing must be centered on WHY brands do what they do. Taking it a step further from his ideology, if we can decide for WHO the brand is meant for and then add the WHY, Virtual Reality marketing can be taken to a whole new level. Simon Sinek further goes on and states:

“Once the WHY is accomplished, we can expand outward toward selling by addressing the hows and whats of a company, brand or product. Apple is a particularly good success story whose marketing message always looks something like: With everything we do, we aim to challenge the status quo. We aim to think differently. Our products are user-friendly, beautifully designed, and easy to use. We just happen to make great computers. Want to buy one?”

Watch Simon’s Ted Talk: Click Here

Choosing The RIGHT Target Audience

Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat are prime examples of successful marketing of tech to youth. Snapchat has teens as their App Store screenshots, which conveys a marketing message that “teens have fun when they use our app.” Similarly, during its initial years, Facebook was targeting universities, colleges and the general youth to market itself.

Social media would never have become successful had the youth not given a thumbs up to them.

The same applies to Virtual Reality. The target audience needs to be demarcated, which will primarily be the tech-savvy youth of today. Target the youth which has not seen life without a connected device and show them WHY Virtual Reality is the best tech coming up, HOW it can change the way we perceive things and WHAT makes it a ‘necessity’.

Virtual Reality is a new age technology that needs to be understood and accepted by the masses eventually. It has the potential to sabotage and disrupt the present market. Hence, marketing professionals need to incorporate methods that can sustain it. Focusing on the ‘WHY’ and the Right Target Audience needs to be addressed in order to sell VR tools and applications as hot pancakes.

Remember:

“Good marketing makes the company look smart. Great marketing makes the customer feel smart.” – Joe Chernov

Virtual Reality to Practical Confidence.

“People think every creative idea possible has already happened, unfortunately, technology is greedy, it wants more.”

In this hotchpotch of a world that we live in, sometimes some souls lack behind in certain basic skills such as communication and decision-making. It is either due to lack of exposure or hereditary to put it in simpler terms. Most of us are afraid of the stage or fear facing a huge crowd. And some of us live with that fear forever, protecting ourselves in a cocoon not realizing how it affects our overall growth. It is not just the basic skills that need confidence. It can be your professional skills as well. And it is time proven that confidence can only be harnessed through practice and gaining experience.

Virtual reality is capable of stimulating experiences in our mind that as of now no other tech can match up to. It can virtually make you face your worst fears and teach you to cope with them. VR can fool your mind that you’re already well versed with something which you may or may not have experienced in reality.

Let us discuss 7 possibilities on how VR can train the mind:

1. Medical Training: Medical students can now perform surgical procedures on live 3D models of the human body instead of corpses till they perfect the procedure. They will get a hands-on experience with virtual patients and emergency cases. This will result in medical professionals with experience and embedded with confidence.

2. Stage fear: There are already mobile apps that let you practice in front of a virtual audience in your choice of environment. From best man speeches, lectures and interactive talks, you can practice them beforehand and be more confident at delivering your words. Soon, there will be Tedx talk environments for the enlightened ones as well.

3. Meditation: Imagine meditating in the middle of a forest under a banyan tree sitting on a couch. Virtual reality can take you anywhere you want, with minimal noise and utmost peace. Stimulating the senses in such an environment can calm our emotional facade.

4.Therapy: Stress and mental fatigue can break down anyone. Virtual reality can provide relief to the affected by psychologically planned scenarios, creating a therapeutic environment or interacting with a long distanced loved one in a VR environment.

5. Military Training: A trainee soldier or a trainee pilot can now experience real-life attack scenarios and respond accordingly. The military will save tremendously on their training costs and in turn, will gain soldiers who are ready for the brunt of their profession.

6. Sports: Virtual Reality can entirely change the way a batsman, footballer, athlete or a race car driver practices. It can simulate different environments, difficulty and fatigue levels to keep the players geared up for the action by enhancing their confidence levels.

7. Surrealism: Sometimes, all we need is time by ourselves. It is a proven fact that solitude once in a while can do wonders. Virtual reality can set up an environment of your choice, on a beach, on the top of a hill or just floating in the outer space. This will immensely help you feel better and drive your productivity sky high.

Escaping reality is not a bad idea, in fact, it is one of the best ideas mankind has had. Right from books, media, and gaming, we have been constantly evolving ourselves to diverge from reality for a few moments. And when technology is in our hands, why not use it and improve our personality, stimulate our minds for an improved performance and in the overall process boost our confidence.

AR and VR – an emerging Marketing Tool for Brands

Virtual reality and augmented reality are the two most discussed technologies that are impressing users across the globe.The latest advents of the technological world are focusing on discovering newer ways to market brand objectives and their associated campaigns on a broad front.

While technical experts are busy in finding impactful ways to use VR for marketing, app developers and social media marketers are incorporating unique value propositions in their current branding campaigns. If you wish to know more about how the two technologies can impact the current marketing trends and social media branding activities, then read on.

Being Digital is the New Focus for Everyone

Since users are making a switch from traditional newspapers and media to the internet, it becomes highly imperative for marketers to understand the need of transforming their branding activities as per the changing trends. Being digital and accessible from anywhere and anytime is the prime focus for marketers in 2017 and this is where AR and VR can provide a practical solution.

Social Media Has Now Become the Mainstream Marketing Channel

In a recent research conducted by Pew Research Center, nearly eight-in-ten online Americans (79% approx) are now using Facebook. It automatically shows the global presence of users on social media networks, and marketers are making numerous efforts to improve their advertising, content, and promotional activities to target these audiences in fresh ways.

How AR and VR Will Revolutionize Global Marketing Trends?

One of the biggest advantages of these technologies is that it allows marketers to offer content and create rich, immersive and engaging experiences for consumers.  Since users are being addressed by traditional print and TV ads from past years, they wish to access something that not only excites them, but also helps them to connect emotionally.

Most of the top firms are adopting digital marketing initiatives to bring specific revenue outcomes. They are making a shift from their traditional branding approach to modern marketing techniques like AR and VR to engage better with users.

With AR and VR, a totally new (and highly effective) medium, it emerges to create an indelible impression on the user. Some of the ways in which AR and VR can help marketing campaigns on social media are how it –

• Can be used to demonstrate product features, functionalities, and USPs
• Helps organizations to communicate the brand’s mission with great ease
• Delivers branded entertainment experience and adds excitement to create hype about a particular brand or product/service
• Keeps consumers informed about varied products available in the same domain to provide utmost satisfaction
• Adds an immersive dimension to traditional print, web and video story-telling advertisements that makes for a memorable social media experience.

Will brands embrace this new technology?

Making a switch from traditional media channels to new age platforms like AR and VR has redrawn marketing budgets and strategies. This has, in turn, resulted in empowering the digital world with newer ads, content, and promotional stuff that can impress users at large and aid in creating favorable brand recall value.

We are hopeful that brands would embrace this new technology in 2017, but the level of success is something that we would need to closely watch as the year progresses.

Virtual Reality has gained immense popularity in the tech arena. By creating exceptional virtual experiences in the real world, VR has revolutionized several sectors. From the business arena to the tech landscape, VR triggers massive changes in human perceptions. If market reports are anything to go by, you will find nearly 815 VR apps in the leading app stores. These reports reveal a lot about the current scenario.

Present market trends indicate towards the budding friendship between business marketing and the VR technology. By the end of 2016, VR will prove to be a significant part of product marketing.

That creates the need for highly functional, interactive, and scalable VR apps. If you wish to create them for your business, here are a few tips to help you.

1.     Choosing the themes

The theme of the app will determine user experience to a great extent. Thrilling VR themes can give your customers an exciting experience. It’s here that you need to identify your goal. What do you want? Do you wish to add surprise elements or out-of-the-box visuals? Your choice will determine consumer experience.

2.     What’s your story?

When you opt for VR app development, you surely have an amazing story to share with your consumers. Determining and outlining that story is important. If it’s all about transporting consumers to enthralling locations and destinations, 360-degree videos will turn out to be the perfect options.

3.     Real-world experience

Try answering this question before delving deep into further discussions. What do you aim to do with an outstanding VR app? Since the Virtual Reality technology ensures unparalleled experiences for users, you will surely want your target audience to have a taste of that. VR apps offer the opportunity to translate your fantasies into reality. Quite naturally, your consumers will live their dreams sans the costs or risks of doing it in the real world.

4.     Decide the length

Creating an unsurpassed VR experience isn’t an easy affair. Once you are clear with the ideas, it will be time to determine a length. Make sure your VR video isn’t too long or short. Unnecessarily long videos will fail to retain viewers while the short ones will fail to provide the desired experience. Striking a balance is important, and three to five minutes is just fine.

5.     Choose the right partners

Whether you plan to hire experienced developers or reputed app development companies, following certain tips will be crucial. Inexperienced developers won’t have the adequate resources to develop highly scalable VR apps, and that will create dissatisfaction amongst your users.

Make sure you perform in-depth research and get in touch with the most efficient partners. VR app development is quite different from creating other consumer applications. Professional support and assistance are crucial necessities and not a choice in this context.

Signing off

With these effective tips, you will surely get your apps at the leading app stores. The Virtual Reality (VR) technology can transform user experience for the better, thus adding an entirely new dimension to the business marketing arena.

Tech innovations have always revolutionized numerous sectors thus creating opportunities for numerous individuals, business entities, companies, and consumers. With the emergence of the Virtual Reality or VR technology, the tech world made huge promises to users. Enhanced experiences and incredible views enthrall audiences, thus providing them with a unique feeling.

Before delving deep into the discussion, let’s try to define VR.

What is VR?

According to conventional definitions, VR encompasses two crucial aspects. As the name suggests, VR technology talks about ‘virtual’ experiences in ‘real’ world. If we take a closer look at the technical definition, Virtual Reality describes a computer-generated, 3-dimensional environment that boosts human interactions. It’s an immersive experience that helps you become an integral part of the world you are in.

Over the last few months, VR technology has created a lot of buzz in the tech arena. From the gaming world to the business arena, VR seems to impart an entirely new connotation to innovation. Let’s find out how!

Identifying top VR trends          

If 2015 marked its inception, emergence, and popularity, 2016 would turn out to be a golden time for Virtual Reality. The following trends will help you find out where it’s headed for the future.

1.      VR experiences for free

Users won’t have to shell out a penny for their first VR experiences. Sponsored experiences and programs are shooting up the needs for VR devices alongside increasing their demand in the market. Other than techies, standard users are also planning to adopt VR technologies like never before! With market biggies such as ABC News and ‘Star Wars’ franchises embracing VR, entertainment and media will reach great heights.

2.      Content is the king- for VR too!

Without highly engaging and compelling contents, Virtual Reality is of no use to consumers. Stunning virtual experiences without proper content can give rise to frustration amongst users. As a result, device makers and marketers need to concentrate on creating exceptional and exciting contents for VR devices. Whether it is sports, media, entertainment, games, or shopping, latest VR trends herald the union of stunning visuals and engaging contents.

3.      Emergence of VR hardware

Since hardware has always been the talking point for Virtual Reality, 2016 promises to bring new releases to the market. With Facebook’s Oculus Rift, Microsoft Hololens, and HTC Vive making their presence felt in the tech world, VR hardware will bring great news for users.

Other affordable options such as Samsung GearVR will also be available, thus popularizing the VR technology even more.

4.      Hollywood calling

Some of the leading studios and production houses in Hollywood are warming up to the concept of Virtual Reality. By using VR technologies, these studios are striving hard to create larger-than-life experiences in the real world. From critics and audiences to numerous significant entities in the entertainment world will have unparalleled experiences.

Signing off

These trends show how the VR technology has already made a mark across various sectors. From the tech arena and gaming to media and entertainment, Virtual Reality can prove to be the next big thing for consumers across the globe.