Virtual Reality: The Future of Marketing
What comes to mind when someone says virtual reality? Many people imagine wearing a headset from a science fiction movie that transports them to a different place or world. But virtual reality isn’t stuff of science fiction anymore. It is the future of marketing.
Virtual reality (VR) gives marketers the opportunity to offer their audience the closest experience they can get from a product, service, or place without physically being there. According to the eMarketer report, “Virtual Reality and Beyond: The Current State and Future Potential of Immersive Digital Marketing Experiences,” VR completely immerses a user inside a virtual world or experience, typically through the use of a head-mounted display (HMD) that is often connected to headphones, controllers and other peripherals that let users navigate through that experience.” VR technology solves many marketing problems, such as awareness and engagement, by immersing its audience in the content, evoking stronger emotional reactions, and remaining more memorable.
VR technology may still be in its infancy, but it is likely that in the next 5 years it will become a normal part of business marketing strategies and customer’s technology routines alike. VR will have major impacts on future marketing campaigns for target audience segments such as:
Travel & Hospitality
- Automotive
- Real Estate
- Retail
Technology research firm, Gartner Group, estimates that 25 million virtual or more VR headsets will be in consumer hands globally by 2018. Gartner Group analyst Brian Blau says, “Visualizing products using immersion is going to give people a different way of thinking about them. It’s going to allow for different brand experiences. It’s just going to be interesting to see what creative people come up with.”
