Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) have been growing in popularity quite rapidly over the past year, but advertising hasn’t quite kept up. According to a recent study conducted by Vibrant Media, 67% of ad agency executives want to have more AR and VR used in their digital advertising campaigns. This is quite a significant number, though it shouldn’t necessarily be a surprise.
The incredibly immersive environments that VR and AR can create have a lot of potential for marketers. The options are endless.
Imagine putting on a VR headset and being put digitally into a brand new vehicle. The auto manufacturer can make it so you can look around to actually see what the vehicle looks like. They could even create a VR ‘game’ where a potential customer could ‘drive’ the vehicle around to get a good feel for it. Those who have used advanced VR systems know just how realistic this can be.
Just about every industry could find ways to take advantage of these technologies. While creating a VR environment is a more complicated process than just making a simple video ad, brands will undoubtedly find it is worth the effort.
It is now up to ad agencies, or better yet, industrious entrepreneurs, to come up with high quality VR/AR ads that can fill the obvious need.
