Companies like Volvo, Starbucks, Victoria’s Secret, Kellogg’s involve their brand in everything they do.
The key to creating a marketing strategy that resonates emotionally with your audience, helps you remember your brand, and lets you fall in love over and over again is to appeal to the basic five senses (sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste).
This approach is based on the concept of neuromarketing. Neuromarketing is a set of methods for studying customer behavior, the impact on it and emotional, and behavioral responses to this impact, using developments in the fields of marketing, cognitive psychology, and neurophysiology.
It turns out that the greatest involvement is caused by the most realistic technologies, which cover the largest number of feelings (ideally, all 5).
What are VR and AR/MR?
VR
If last year brands focused more on content that can simply be viewed in a virtual reality helmet, then in this one it is likely to be worth waiting for the development of interactive VR projects.
Virtual reality devices and developers have learned quite well to understand the position of the user (his hands, feet, head) in space, and this significantly increases the illusion of presence, helps to set scenarios/actions, and is much more impressive.
The senses that VR embraces:
- Vision
- Hearing
AR/MR
Augmented reality (AR) is the addition of virtual objects to the picture of the real world. Mixed reality (MR) is the recognition of the real world and the embedding of virtual objects into the interior of this world. In fact, the terminology is still out of sync because the term MR has been replicated by Microsoft to position its helmet – HoloLens. Many people when they say AR mean MR and vice versa.
When to expect the revolution?
Virtual and augmented reality technology has not yet revolutionized the entertainment and media industry as the big players in this market would like. However, the cost of content production and VR headsets continues to decline, which gives hope for a new round of market development.
In 2017, the head of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, said that one of the goals of his company is to achieve global growth of users of VR technologies to 1 billion people. But so far, the figure remains much more modest – about 171 million users.
Of course, the global market has grown significantly over the past 2-3 years. In 2016, potential buyers had a small assortment of VR headsets. Now there is a choice between many models in different price ranges and with different functions. About 14 million VR and AR headsets are expected to be sold this year, and the market is predicted to grow from $ 6.1 billion in 2016 to $ 160 billion in 2023, with an expected five-year compound annual growth rate of 78.3%.
Manufacturing work almost always involves risks, dealing with complex or even dangerous equipment, repairing unforeseen breakdowns, and working communication with colleagues and contractors from different parts of the geography. In this case, accuracy and automated skills are important, because the continuity of the production process depends on it. And here literature, corporate portals or memos will not help. Such skills develop in people only in the process of practice and training with mentors. Is there a way to reduce risks and costs in this process, increase safety, make training more visual and understandable?
It is difficult to say when exactly to expect a qualitative leap in the industry. But it is clear that the popularity of VR products in the consumer segment will gradually grow. This is influenced by the gradual decline in the cost of headsets and production of VR content, as well as the increase in image quality.
Why art sellers need AR
The Sotheby’s filter is just part of a broader trend. The art world has recognized the benefits of technology, especially in the face of a pandemic that keeps potential buyers of art at home.
In 2018 and 2019, Saatchi Art, Etsy, and other art sellers offered users the ability to AR view artwork in the app. The purpose of the innovation is to increase sales. Both companies have significantly improved the user experience of their apps this year amid a surge in consumer interest in art.
From March to December 2020, wall decor was searched 95% more on Etsy compared to the same period last year. Also, the search for paintings increased by 63%, and the search for prints, and illustrations – by 54%. There are now over 5 million prints, paintings and photographs on the platform that can be viewed in AR through the app.
Previously, the online gallery Saatchi Art introduced the “View in My Room” AR tool built into the app. The company updated this feature last year. Now it can be used from a mobile browser without downloading the app.
How AR affects sales
According to a study by CommerceNext and Exponea, in June 2020, more than 20% of US retailers were going to invest in AR or VR solutions for their online stores. For comparison: in January 2020, there were only 8% of them. Augmented reality is increasingly being used in e-commerce. However, it remains to be seen how effective it is for selling really expensive items.
Sotheby’s claims to have received positive feedback from customers using AR. However, the company has no data on whether the use of this feature has increased sales. Gene Anderson, general manager of Saatchi Art, gives specific numbers. She claims that buyers who use Saatchi’s AR tools are 4 times more likely to purchase artwork.
Why won’t it take off?
People tend to use what is convenient. The main problem with VR and AR is precisely that they are unrealistic and inconvenient. People are not ready to use these technologies as they are.
There is no fundamental difference – display information through a helmet or transmit this information to a phone using an iBecon beacon or similar technology. Despite the fact that wearing a helmet is uncomfortable, and the content that is broadcast is immediately read by our brain as unreal.
Why use a stylus when you have a finger. Why use a VR headset when you have a computer or tablet display.
Wow – the effect? Undoubtedly. The practical use for customer service – not yet.
