5 Early Adopters Of Virtual Reality And What Your Brand Can Learn From Them

Virtual reality is no longer a gimmick. In fact, it’s far from it. It has hit the gaming community massively, and as the months wear on into 2017, you can expect to see a lot of titles that are VR based, and do their very best to make players feel they are part of the action.

But it doesn’t stop there. Some brands are upping their game massively, and finding ways to use VR in their marketing. The results are, unsurprisingly, often mixed.

Some brands get it spot on though, and the impact of VR on their target audience is something to be admired. And if you can replicate it in the months ahead, you may find that you are still very much a pioneer in your industry. The curve is only just beginning.

Think The North Face and you may probably see a bunch of people wearing high quality raincoats. But there is that other side to the company, basically the aspect that conveys an outdoors brand message, pure and simple. These garments are meant for those people who like to scale mountains, and traverse particularly difficult and choppy bodies of water.

And that’s what The North Face thought too, when presented with the opportunity to create a virtual reality experience. Drawing on the brand message it knew it could deliver confidently, it placed users of the technology in the ‘head’ of someone who was climbing a mountain. Think about that for a minute and you’ll soon see how it would be amazing.

Some of us may be able to go trekking, or even just for a very long walk, but scaling literal heights is not an everyday experience. So The North Face pushed things a little further.

The entire thing was made for Google Cardboard, which means it is used with a smartphone as a platform, but inside the cardboard headset. This may not be true and authentic VR but it’s the closest thing. And when it came out on Google Play, it was successful as a short-lived campaign.

The XC90 is already a bit of a legendary Volvo car. It has the right level of family experience, paired alongside the power of a big car that has bite. But enough of the car stuff, let’s talk about the VR.

Volvo wanted potential owners of their latest XC90 to enjoy a virtual test drive, and that is exactly what they gave them. Made for Google Cardboard again, it allowed people to not only feel like they’re driving in the new car, but also that they are taking part in a narrative. So it wasn’t just a test drive, it was also a story.

Brands thrive on storytelling. It builds up engagement and ensures that the message is clear and it resonates. And with this particular piece of VR branding, the message got through loud and clear. It’s genius stuff, and it doesn’t hurt that the vehicle you’re selling (sorry, marketing) is perhaps one of the most gorgeous Volvos’ yet.

Why does this kind of marketing work? Well, it actually moves away from the potential gimmick that VR can be and tries to tell a story to the user. It just makes it a whole lot easier for customers to feel like they’re buying into an experience. It’s one level up from feeling you’re inside the car (the VR does that), and it actually immerses you inside the brand and lifestyle behind it.

Like we said, genius stuff.

Elle is a huge brand. They have a fashionable approach to VR that hints at how magazines and news sources can operate in the future. Seriously, this is pretty groundbreaking stuff.

How did they maximise VR for their brand? Well, they took users of the app on their smartphones (Google again) to a fashion shoot, actually making the users feel like they were there. In other words, they again took viewers into the lifestyle behind the brand. High fashion, but you’re there. For anyone who loves fashion, or just likes shopping, this is a perfect way to get closer to both the clothing, the model and the brand itself.

It’s giving them something a little different too. For a while now people have been used to having VR experiences that ‘put them in the driving seat’ or get them closer to the action of a game. But being part of a fashion shoot is something else.

Yes, we’re keeping this article quite eclectic. Tourism is perhaps the number one example of an industry that can benefit from immersion, and DBC took on the project with gusto. They gave users options too, a trek was one, and a boat ride was the other.

If you check out the video you’ll see how the DBC made it a fantastic experience on that boat ride. A full 360 immersion. That makes it VR.

But the extra level here is the connection with the traveller. Travel is emotional, perfect for branding. And getting the viewer to feel like they are part of an emotional, awe-inspiring journey just pulls them onto the shopping cart.

We know, it sounds a little cynical to talk about shopping carts on a travelogue (even though it’s an immersive travelogue). It’s branding at its best. It is making potential customers willingly engage.

They have essentially enjoyed an experience (or reproduction of one) that they want to be part of. And they may now save up to go on such an experience. Or they might even purchase one right now. It just feels so amazing to be on that boat. It’s powerful stuff.

The marketing comes through the conveyance of that feeling of being on a boat. Of being out in the wild and enjoying a real adventure. Getting this across to people and helping them enjoy it through gorgeous visuals with that VR twist. It’s the perfect marketing tool. Light years beyond the brochure.

A very hip tequila maker and VR. The perfect match?

Apparently so. Patron decided that the very best way to use VR to market their company would be through the use of a drone, which flew through aspects of the tequila crafting process. It gave viewers the sensation of being part of that process. For a company that has shown great pride in the history behind what it does, it’s a great way to talk about the journey each bottle takes.

Again, it’s totally immersive. It transports the drinker of Patron far beyond the opening of a bottle on a Saturday night. With this experience, you understand the care that goes into each bottle, and the culture behind it. It also plays very cleverly on the company ‘mascot’, a bee.

VR is not actually that difficult to get going with. Once you have the technology, you can simply get out there and put together your experience. However, with branding and marketing in general, you have to tread a little more carefully. You need to think about a few parameters before you jump in.

Do it with care.

VR can be sloppy. Brands need to remember that it is not just about slapping a customer inside a world and expecting them to rave about it. As with the Elle example earlier in this article, there has to be some element of care and attention. Try and tell a story no matter what you are showing your audience. To do this, take the time to treat it like an ad. Create a storyboard or at the very least brainstorm some key ideas before you start shooting anything. In the end, the more preparation you put into the process, the better the end result.

The beauty of VR is that it is still very new. This means that if you are able to stake your claim in this landscape quickly, you are most likely going to be ahead of your competitors. And that is serious stuff.

Sure, you may have been the first in your local competitive landscape to really use Instagram, or dominate Twitter, but we’re talking about a brand new medium here, not just a platform. If you are able to get started on this, you will find that you can set out your stall quicker, and see a much more satisfying level of engagement with your audience. A saturated market, where everyone in your industry is using VR, is no fun. The good news is that most brands (at least on a local and even regional level) will have precious few competitors if they start using VR now.

It’s true that devices are coming through to market thick and fast, but that is not your problem. Your problem is getting the best experience as quickly as possible to your audience. This requires that you use the most practical technology available to get your idea ‘to market’ ASAP (see previous paragraph).

That’s why some brands out there are using Google Cardboard. They know that a smartphone and a cardboard box is currently the quickest way to get content to anyone who feels they would like to enjoy a VR experience. The Oculus Rift and other fancy equipment is a game thing. Your brand is out to market a message. Using a smartphone and a bit of basic equipment is the best way to get out there quickly.

This is an important one. Whether it is in a virtual driving seat (such as with Volvo) or the driving seat that is basically a bee (like Patron) you need to help your audience feel they are in total control of the experience they are taking part in. This is where you win, and grab your audience for some serious engagement.

Virtual reality will live and die on the element of audience participation. The more they feel they are in complete control, the better. Okay, for the Elle example earlier, they can’t take the photos, but they were moving round in the experience, and feeling like a photographer. And that’s pretty cool.

Test driving the Volvo XC90 works well because you are essentially in the vehicle. It’s not a game, so you’re not driving for lap times, but you are moving around and feeling what it is like to own one of the cars.

When Destination British Columbia invite you on a hike, they know that the more you are in control of that hike, the more likely you will want to pay for the real thing. Immerse your audience, and you have a strong marketing channel that is all yours for the taking.

It’s a new horizon here, and there’s a lot of discovering to do. We are really only a couple of years into the growth of VR. As brands deepen their understanding of the medium it will move into a new area. One where it has the same impact that video is having now. It won’t be long (we believe) before social media platforms find some way to include VR videos in their experiences. And the rest is a story just waiting to be told.

Grasp it now and start making mistakes. This way, when VR becomes just another part of a feed, you’re already on it…