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 ]
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Russell Brand offers guide to utopia

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[ The Guardian | 2014-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Century signs new Russell Brand

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[ The Bookseller | 2014-03-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Polish Bookstore Chain Sale Could Reshuffle Market

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-03-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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“Self-Published Authors = 50% of the EBook Market by 2020″

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-03-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-books by Sainsbury's sells Anobii brand

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[ The Bookseller | 2014-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New Tribune Publishing CEO Jack Griffin Wants to Develop Company's Marketing Arm

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[ Advertising Age | 2014-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Flipboard Acquires CNN's Zite for $60 Million in Bid to Consolidate Reader Market

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[ Advertising Age | 2014-03-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Boot Up: free the river!, 'real work', GS5 rumours v reality, and more

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India’s GLOBALOCAL, Part 2: Innovation, Marketing, Mashups

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook rewards brands for tagging

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[ Digiday | 2014-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2014-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Guardian | 2014-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ AdWeek | 2014-02-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-02-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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