How Does Marketing Harmonize with Virtual Reality?

Apr 7, 2018

What if you could escape to another dimension? Would you take that chance? The future of virtual reality is bright, and its marketing applications are growing.

While virtual reality technology is undoubtedly advancing, the idea of it is not. Most generations are familiar with some incarnation of VR, whether in panoramic paintings, stereoscopic photo displays, and film or television.

The future of virtual reality as it occurs in the modern day, however, is rooted in video game culture.

In the early 1990s, VR arcade games were par for the course. Pop a headset on or get into an immersive environment and you were ready to combat the T-1000 or experience the awe and wonder and terrifying nature of Jurassic Park.

Skip ahead a few years, and companies like Sega and Nintendo begin to develop what we now see as commonplace headsets predating the Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR.

It’s easy to brand emerging technology with video games, particularly if deriving from a popular film franchise. The creative elements are already present. Contrary to popular belief, immersive games don’t market themselves just because they have cool VR graphics, although it gives companies an edge over more non-entertainment businesses.

How do you engage people with virtual reality content if you’re not involved with the entertainment industry? If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

That’s right. The answer to reaching consumers if you sell paint or wallpaper or cheese or a car or home improvement materials is to make a world they can interact with like a video game. The future of virtual reality isn’t about creating hyper-realism. Great VR is about creating a sense of adventure without moving away from your living room.

Sure, the alternative is a dystopian Ready Player One scenario or sedentary Wall-E lifestyle, but that’s for the historians to decide. We’re kidding, maybe.

VR isn’t for every industry. Candy bars and chewing gum don’t need VR to sell their impulse products, yet car companies and gyms are perfect for the medium. Test drives and tours and tutorials hit the target right on the VR bullseye.

When you picture the future of virtual reality, what do you see?