Travel, retail and brand examples of marketing with the new virtual reality headset
You will know that the Oculus Rift is one of the hot technologies for 2015. It came to prominence in March this year when Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook's acquisition of the VR platform explaining that, as he sees it, it is much more than a new gaming platform.
'This is really a new communication platform. By feeling truly present, you can share unbounded spaces and experiences with the people in your life. Imagine sharing not just moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures'.
While no consumer launch date has been set yet, Oculus Rift Dev Kit 2, a developer version with headset has recently started shipping and it is expected to be released in 2015 with a price in the range of $200 to $300. At this price it seems inevitable that with early reviews of the experience being generally positive that will be a mass market gaming platform, but what about the options for use in homes?
So, we thought we'd take a look at how brands are starting to use pre-release versions of th headset and software to see the early marketing opportunities of Oculus Rift. As you'll see below, many seem to be around creating branded experiences for sports and travel-related brands and sponsorship with Tesco also looking at the opportunities for ecommerce experiences.
Example 1. O2: training with the England Rugby team
Example 2. Monarch Airlines - engaging consumers at Skiing trade show
In travel, commentators believe that we will still go on holiday! But ‘try-before-you-buy’ virtual reality holidays could be a virtual reality.
Example 5. Dairy brand Friesland Campaign creates a virtual farm
By Susanne Colwyn
Susanne is a Marketing Consultant and Trainer, with over 20 years
marketing experience in the public and private sector. She's passionate
about supporting companies with practical result driven marketing, to
help focus companies on evaluating and driving their marketing forward.
Experienced in Integrated Strategic Marketing Planning, Data
Segmentation, Customer Relationship Management Systems, Customer
Insight and reviewing internal systems, data and processes, to
maximise conversion strategies and the customer experience. You can
connect with her via her LinkedIn or follow her @Qtymarketing.