Virtual Reality Marketing Playbook Tweet this ebook www.youvisit.com 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 Introduction 4 Chapter 1: Technology Overview 11 Chapter 2: Virtual Reality Today 15 Chapter 3: Brand Benefits of Virtual Real- 20 Chapter 4: How Brands Use Virtual Reality Chapter 5: How to Start a Virtual Reality 23 Campaign 27 Chapter 6: YouVisit Advantage INTRODUCTION Virtual reality has moved from emerging technology to a viable gamechanger for brands. By 2020, virtual reality is anticipated to grow into a $30 billion market. Businesses and brands are already venturing into the space, creating VR experiences to fulfill marketing, training, and product goals. In this ebook, we’ll cover everything you need to know about virtual reality to judge its effectiveness and determine if it’s a sound option. By the end, you’ll know what virtual reality is, understand how businesses are currently using the technology, and have a checklist for implementing your first Virtual Reality campaign. Tweet this ebook www.youvisit.com 3 CHAPTER 1 Technology Overview Tweet this ebook www.youvisit.com 4 WHAT IS VIRTUAL REALITY? Virtual reality is a technology that empowers viewers to experience an event, location, or activity as if they’re there and involved. This is called presence. While viewing a virtual reality experience, people can look around in first-person, seeing, hearing, and in some cases, interacting with the environment around them. The virtual worlds people might experience are created using panoramic images, 360° video, computer-generated content, or any combination of these. “It’s a technology that can bring people places they might not otherwise reach. A high school senior can tour a college without trekking across the country. A wheelchair-bound music fan can get in the front row at a rock concert. And a relocating home buyer can view a new house from the comfort of their old one.” John Patrick Pullen, TIME Tweet this ebook www.youvisit.com 5 Where Did Virtual Reality Come From? In 2012, the virtual reality industry emerged after Palmer Luckey, a teenager frustrated with existing VR technology, built his own headset out of duct tape and salvaged parts. The attempt proved so impressive that it earned funding from another like- minded creator, followed by an extremely successful Kickstarter campaign to build a better VR headset. Not long after the Kickstarter campaign, Facebook purchased the new endeavor, sending interest in VR by consumers and businesses through the roof. Since then, the VR industry has made major technological advances, and has begun to fulfill the promise VR evangelists had made in the ‘90s. Tweet this ebook www.youvisit.com 6 HOW TO EXPERIENCE VIRTUAL REALITY To truly experience immersive virtual reality, you’ll need a head-mounted display (HMD), more typically called a headset. You wear a VR headset on your face, covering your eyes to shut out your surroundings and create a fully immersive visual environment. Add headphones and you increase the sense of presence. There are two types of VR headsets: mobile VR headsets and PC- and video game-based headsets. Tweet this ebook www.youvisit.com 7 MOBILE VR HEADSETS Mobile VR headsets work with a smartphone. Most smartphones, especially newer devices, connect directly to the headset, like the Samsung Gear VR. Other headsets, like the Google Daydream View, only require you to load up a VR app and slide the phone in. The biggest benefit of mobile VR is that two-thirds of Americans already own devices capable of running VR. The headsets that use smartphones are also much more affordable. Tweet this ebook www.youvisit.com 8 PC-BASED VR HEADSETS PC- and video game-based headsets are more powerful than mobile VR, and require a high-end computer, or in the case of PlayStation VR, a gaming console, to function at their full potential. The leading PC-based VR headsets are the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. As of this writing, the only mainstream video-game based VR headset is PlayStation VR. Tweet this ebook www.youvisit.com 9 OTHER WAYS TO VIEW VR EXPERIENCES Virtual reality requires 360° visual content, but you don’t necessarily need a VR headset to view it. On desktops, you can “look around” a 360° video or photo using a mouse or trackpad. On mobile phones, platforms will lean on the device’s gyroscope to recreate the 360° effect of “looking around” when you move the phone. There are few web browser platforms that support 360° content: Facebook, YouTube, WordPress, and YouVisit. Tweet this ebook www.youvisit.com 10 CHAPTER 2 Virtual Reality Today Tweet this ebook www.youvisit.com 11 THE HARDWARE BOOM 171 Million people will be active in VR by 2018 November 2016 Google Daydream October 2016 PlayStation VR April 2016 HTC Vive March 2016 Oculus Rift November 2015 Samsung Gear June 2014 Google Cardboard Tweet this ebook www.youvisit.com 12 THE EXCITEMENT IS REAL 53% % % 91 of consumers say they are more 71 likely to purchase from a brand that sponsors a VR experience of users have an overwhelmingly of consumers agree that a brand that positive feelings toward VR once sponsors VR is forward-thinking and they try it. modern * Insights courtesy of Greenlight VR's June 2016 study of 1,300 consumers with U.S. respondednt sample reflective of the general population and balanced to get a distribution along various demographic parameters Tweet this ebook www.youvisit.com 13 BRANDS USING VR Tweet this ebook www.youvisit.com 14 CHAPTER 3 Brand Benefits of VR Tweet this ebook www.youvisit.com 15 VIRTUAL REALITY: A POWERFUL NEW MARKETING TOOL VR is quickly becoming one of the most versatile and powerful business tools to come to market. Just like social media and mobile tech, VR is revolutionizing the way brands interact with their audiences. “When we are confronted with a decision, emotions from previous, related experiences affix values to the options we are considering. These emotions create preferences which lead to our decision.” Peter Noel Murray, author of Descartes’ Error Tweet this ebook www.youvisit.com 16 VIRTUAL REALITY: A POWERFUL NEW MARKETING TOOL (CONT.) 1.IMMERSIVE 2.IMPACTFUL VR experiences create a sense of presence that enables users to feel VR experiences have the power to transport viewers, generating as if they are actually at a location or event, or participating in an strong emotions in the process—more so than any other type of activity. Because viewers wear a headset to experience VR, there media. Which means VR is the ideal channel to employ as advertising are fewer distractions and a much greater chance that a brand’s and marketing continue to move away from selling features to message will be seen, heard, and remembered. selling emotions. 3.MEMORABLE 4.SCALABLE Our brains are hardwired to remember events that we experience As more people adopt virtual reality, brands will have a cost-effective directly, as opposed to those we hear about or see happen to others way to reach consumers with unique, immersive experiences. More, (i.e., a TV commercial). This is great news for brands interested in VR content is scalabale across your entire marketing mix. Use it as VR, because the experiences your audience has will feel exactly an event activation tool or use it for programatic display. The results like a real-world event they participated in, making it much more will astound you. memorable. 5.MEASURABLE AND ACTIONABLE Creating stunning VR content is great, but not if you can’t measure its impact. As the industry continues to grow and mature, producers and distribution networks will need to show the positive impact of the content they create. With a platform like YouVisit’s, you can get detailed engagement analytics about an experience on-demand to help optimize your content and increase ROI. Tweet this ebook www.youvisit.com 17 SCALING TO MEET YOUR NEEDS Despite popular sentiment, you don’t need a VR headset to unleash the power of interactive 360° content. Platforms like YouVisit, YouTube and Facebook support 360° the format, allowing you to deliver your message to audiences at scale across all devices. Furthermore, savvy marketers have found ways to use their VR content across a variety of different channels. No longer just a branding tool, marketers are now using VR to drive lift across their entire marketing mix, from experiential to programmatic display. INBOUND OUTBOUND EXPERIENTIAL EARNED Quickly increase your time on site Distribute VR experiences through Leverage your VR experience to Compelling VR experiences get numbers with experiences that social media, digital video, mobile tell your brand story at events or people talking, providing dividends engage and educate. VR apps, and programmatic 360° tradeshows. in unpaid impressions. ad display networks. Tweet this ebook www.youvisit.com 18 AMPLIFY YOUR MESSAGE Virtual reality improves the efficacy of your marketing efforts through every stage of the sales funnel. AWARENESS 35x more effective than static images alone, with an average CTR of 4.51% CONSIDERATION 13.5x CONVERSION more organic reach % on Facebook 10.4 190 in increased YoY revenue minutes spent, for Thomas Cook by using VR to on average, with a VR showcase destinations. experience compared to % just seconds on images & videos 18 increase in conversion rates for Grand Velas Resorts. Tweet this ebook www.youvisit.com 19 CHAPTER 4 How Brands Use Virtual Reality Tweet this ebook www.youvisit.com 20 HOW BRANDS ARE USING VIRTUAL REALITY Visit Houston: America’s fourth-largest city launched a marketing effort Hong Kong Airlines: Using a third-party panoramic, programmatic that included virtual reality and 360° video and photographic content advertising partner, Hong Kong Airlines leveraged mobile VR to place in 2016.