Immersive Storytelling

by Tom Davis, Ruben Best and Jom Werling

VR seems to be the big new buzzword in marketing. As with every such development, marketers are struggling to find ways in which they can seize this new opportunity for advertising. The following article discusses the reasons brands should use VR and the four greatest challenges facing the technology.

Why use VR?

#1 VR lets people completely immerse themselves in your content

VR eliminates distractions and can draw all of your customer’s attention and focus to the message you as a brand want to tell. The possibilities this presents for moving storytelling and emotional impact are much greater than anything advertising over more traditional media channels can offer. Telling stories has always been at the heart of human existence and VR is helping define and create an entirely new way of doing this.

#2 VR is the only genuine audience-first marketing medium

The user is continuously in control. Often brands struggle combining the presentation of product in the physical sphere with engaging the audience in the emotional sphere. VR has the ability to connect these two aspects through the physical presence of the user, allowing the brand to emotionally and physically communicate in the same space.

#3 VR shapes lasting memories

In his book „How Brands Grow“, Byron Sharp claims that the way that advertising works is by refreshing and building memory structures, as these structures improve the chance of the brand being recalled when a purchase decision is made and accordingly gives it a greater chance of being bought. If they want to influence buying behavior, brands have to ingrain themselves in their customer’s memories. VR is undeniably the perfect medium for this, as the larger degree of interaction and the sense of physical presence makes VR advertising much more memorable than ads distributed through other channels.

#4 VR is an innovative statement

VR is still in the early stages of use and its development as a marketing tool . Therefore early adopters of the technology are very much in the public eye. This enhances the already considerable impact of VR in advertising, especially as the novelty of the experience will differentiate your brand and marketing strategy in the eyes of consumers. By using VR in your marketing you are making an innovative statement and putting your company at the cutting edge of technological progress.

The Challenges that face VR

#1 The consumer has to find out about the technology

The biggest challenge facing the VR industry is ignorance. Many people lack the awareness that the technology is out there, or at least that it is affordable. People need to be informed of the affordable Google-cardboard, which gives consumers access to the technology through their smartphones for a negligible cost. VR can become accessible for the everyday consumer — they just need to find out about it.

#2 Content has never been as important as it is in VR

The quality of VR content will be the key to its future success. Using it effectively is not simply a matter of remaking a television ad. Brands should be looking to create experiences that are entertaining, have a purpose, and most importantly, are native to the medium. People will only be willing to invest in the kit if there is content to justify this. It is the role of the brand to craft this engaging content.

#3 Never forget your brand

Everything you do has to fit your brand. Don’t do VR for the sake of VR. If it doesn’t fit your brand, it doesn’t fit. Know your audience and consider how you can use VR to help them truly experience your brand.

#4 Marketers have to nurture this technology

There is already widespread acceptance and adoption of the new technology in the gaming sector. But our task as marketers should be to take advantage of the full range of possibilities the technology provides. We have to craft compelling experiences that also appeal to the mainstream and that no-one will want to miss. This should not be pure entertainment but should provide an avenue through which you can sell products. We cannot allow VR to suffer the same fate as 3D television, which was briefly hailed as the future but quickly fell by the wayside because it lacked compelling content for mainstream use.

Originally published at blog.vornconsulting.com on July 12, 2016.