Why Marketers Shouldn't Get Overexcited About Virtual Reality as a Branding Tool

Virtual reality is an extraordinarily hot topic right now in media and technology circles. We've seen some amazing developments in recent years, but for the purposes of marketers, technology has not caught up with needs. Beyond functioning, we need it to scale and affect consumer behavior. This will likely happen in time, but many years from now. To understand why there is so much buzz in adland about VR and why expectations need to be contained, it's worth taking a look back. Andy Maskin Illustration: Alex Fine In the 1990s, there was a spike of interest on the subject. Books like Snow Crash and movies like The Lawnmower Man ignited the imagination, and virtual reality games started popping up in arcades. And then, unlike most major innovations of that era, it seemed to fizzle out. Fast forward to 2012, and the advent of Oculus Rift reawakened the sleeping giant. Since its legendary Kickstarter campaign, other players have rushed into the market including Samsung. The acquisition of Oculus Rift by Facebook caught many off guard and has many wondering whether this time VR is for real. The original wave of VR excitement was really built on metaphor. The idea that computers could connect to each other was relatively new to most outside academia and the military. Just as the physical world concept of folders holding documents was borrowed to explain how computer files were organized, people shopped in online stores and met in chat rooms. Once it clicked for people... Continue reading at 'AdWeek'

[ AdWeek | 2015-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "Why Marketers Shouldn't Get Overexcited About Virtual Reality as a Branding Tool"


Shamrock Capital Acquires Bayard Advertising

Shamrock Capital, the parent company of Adweek, has acquired New York-based Bayard Advertising, which specializes in recruitment marketing. Founded in 1923, on Bayard Street in Lower Manhattan, Bayard offers a suite of services, including branding, creative, digital media strategy, programmatic... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2021-01-27 23:07:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final is an all-timer for NBC

While Boston sports fans robbed of the chance to indulge in their third victory parade in the last 230 days were devastated by the way the 2019 Stanley Cup Final closed out, advertisers who took the plunge in Game 7 couldn’t have been more pleased with Wednesday night’s results. According to... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2019-06-14 08:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Publishers share roadblocks to server-to-server connections

Programmatic buying is quickly evolving, but each new integration has its own set of drawbacks. At Digiday’s Hot Topic Header Bidding event in New York City yesterday, we asked publishers what they see as the biggest barrier to adopting server-to-server connections. Publishers said they were... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2017-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


How a Female-Focused Branded Content Studio Connects With Its Audience

Specs Who Co-founder, CEO Joe Speiser and president, COO Gretchen Tibbits What Branded content studio Where New York From tasty bacon hacks to soldiers' homecomings from overseas, publisher LittleThings has become a hub for useful and meaningful videos since 2014. After starting out as an... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2017-01-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Snapchat's Latest Moves Are Making It Look More Like a TV Disrupter Than a Social App

The next-generation television company may be in your pocket. Snapchat, once pegged by the public as a social-messaging app and recently self-declared camera-based platform, is actually starting to look more and more like TV for young viewers who prefer smartphones over flat screens, industry... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2016-12-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


How Tasty's Addictive Cooking Videos Helped BuzzFeed Build a Food Empire

Alvin Zhou is not your typical video producer. On a recent fall afternoon, he's hovering over a table in a test kitchen cutting and prepping vegetables and meat that he'll later whip into an ersatz "fried rice" dish made with cauliflower. As I watch, I'm offered a hot chocolate chip cookie... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2016-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Ad Tech Companies Are Testing New Formats Like Virtual Reality and 360 Video

Seventeen years ago, The Blair Witch Project revolutionized movie marketing by turning an indie horror film into a blockbuster with a low-budget viral campaign. Now, just ahead of the third installment of the franchise on Sept. 16, Lionsgate wants to conjure some of the same promotional magic... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2016-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Facebook's Key to Conquering the World: Beating the Ad Blockers

Facebook is determined to defeat ad blockers. Daniel O'Leary The most aggressive force in ad-blocking technology is pitted against the world's mightiest social network. The stakes have never been higher for both parties. And there seems no end in sight, as Adblock Plus continues to attack... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2016-09-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Two Companies Eye Hastings

The liquidation specialist Gordon Brothers Group and the financial services and media company Bloomberg L.P. have both expressed interest in the beleaguered retailer, which filed for bankruptcy last month. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-07-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


3 Tips and Tricks for Thriving and Winning in the Scrolling Economy

Today's media landscape is undergoing enormous, exciting change. In many ways, we have evolved from a "social first" to "social only" strategy. Christian L. Tom, NowThis Media  Alex Fine It's an understatement to say that the current media climate is in flux. In fact, with ever-growing... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2016-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Why Big Brands Are Suddenly Getting Cozy With Reddit

Just six months ago, Reddit—whose famous slogan is "The front page of the internet"—was a dangerous place for marketers because of its reputation as a pool of trolling and harassment. Now, the viral-minded site is trying to flip the narrative and draw in advertisers with new ad targeting and... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2016-06-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Rubicon Project Is Helping Publishers Win the Second-Screen With Programmatic Olympic Ads

For the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, one programmatic advertising company wants to help brands that aren't paying the big bucks for an official sponsorship or major TV spot still have a "second chance for gold" by winning the race for the second-screen. Online advertising... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2016-06-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Why Brands From Barbie to Uber Are So Hot on Chatbots

Richard Smullen says a painfully long wait for a Delta Air Lines customer service rep inspired him to join the world of artificial intelligence. One night about a year ago, having grown tired of waiting for a phone operator to change his flight, he turned to the airline's mobile app—only to... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2016-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Nielsen's New COO Explains Why Total Audience Measurement Is Taking So Long

Specs Steve Hasker Current gig Global president and COO, Nielsen Previous gig Global president, Nielsen Age 46 Adweek: What are you tackling in the new position? Steve Hasker: Two things. One is the translation of total audience [measurement], which is now implemented into the new state of... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2016-03-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


With Vinyl's Resurgence, Here's How Brands Are Capitalizing on Music's Most Analog Medium

The resurgence of vinyl has everybody talking, and listening. Maybe you've thumbed through a trend piece in The New York Times, crediting analog-loving millennials as the impetus for the revival. Or, you've read in Billboard or on Pitchfork about the trouble that comes with manufacturing vinyl.... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2016-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


With the Resurgence of Vinyl, How Can Brands Capitalize on Music’s Most Analog Medium?

The resurgence of vinyl has everybody talking, and listening. Maybe you've thumbed through a trend piece in The New York Times, crediting analog-loving millennials as the impetus for the revival. Or, you've read in Billboard or on Pitchfork about the trouble that comes with manufacturing vinyl.... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2016-03-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Infographic: How Publishers Are Navigating the Brave New World of Ad Blockers

Sourcepoint, a New York-based content compensation platform for publishers, recently released new data on the effects of ad blockers on its clients' sites. "As the threat of ad blocking is becoming more prevalent, publishers are working hard to identify sustainable ways of being compensated for... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2016-01-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


This Infographic Has 10 Eye-Popping Marketing Stats From Advertising Week

Advertising Week XII, the Lollapalooza of marketing and media, brought with it a trove of data illustrating the growing mobile reach of social platforms Facebook, Google, Instagram and Snapchat. There was also no shortage of numbers revealed during the New York event affirming the impact of... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2015-10-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Infographic: How Twitter Is Reshaping the TV Landscape

TV lovers who tweet can have real-time and potentially very profitable benefits for shows and advertisers, according to newly updated research from Twitter. The TVxTwitter Playbook features research from Twitter compiled using its own internal data as well as data from Nielsen and others.  ... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2015-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this