When Will Advertising Come Out of the Box?

With billions of people consuming content daily through smartphones, desktops, and tablets, it’s safe to say that we are living in a new era of entertainment. An era where content is being consumed in smaller bite sized pieces. And although we now have the ability to consume content practically anywhere, we are still stuck watching on boxy rectangular screens. This format has worked for decades, but as we enter this new era of easy-access entertainment, it’s easy to see how the confines of a screen can become mundane and boring.

Through the years, people have wanted to experience content the same way they see it in real life. Take The Wizard of Oz for example, the movie starts out in black and white, but when the tornado takes Dorothy to the land of Oz, the movie suddenly switches to color! The viewers start experiencing the film in color, something that was unusual to see on the big screen at that time. All in all, people enjoy content that mirrors real life and the limits of a screen prevent that from happening. But what if there was a new way of experiencing content? Something that people have never seen before? Something that goes way beyond seeing content in color. Something that enables them to explore content beyond the box — extending beyond the limits of a screen. And what if we said that this is something that’s available TODAY? This new realistic and engaging format is Immersive Media.

The arrival of Immersive Media (this includes 360 content, VR, AR, and MR) brings with it a new tool for advertisers and marketers to resonate more with consumers. For decades, advertisers and marketers have worked hand-in-hand with emerging and new technologies to strive for this goal. It’s a tactic that has prompted some, like the outspoken Gary Vaynerchuk, to say that “marketers ruin everything”. But don’t be mistaken, that’s not a bad thing. Gary V’s point is that as marketers, it’s our job to go where the eyeballs are going before the mainstream even knows they’re headed there. If you get in early, you can win big. In the same way, if advertisers and marketers want to reach consumers differently than everybody else, they better jump into Immersive Media before it’s too late.

Since viewers have previously only experienced content in boxes, Immersive 360 VR Ads creates something more realistic to what we experience in our day to day lives. It also provides “context” (something humans innately crave); all while using the devices that billions of consumers have today (smartphones, tablets, and personal computers)! This is the next step in creating life-like advertisements, and the future of advertising.

Now imagine The Wizard of Oz as an immersive experience, where you could go beyond just seeing the yellow brick road on your screen. Imagine not being restricted to seeing only the parts of Oz that could be seen through a rectangular box. Imagine you can move your screen and see to Dorothy’s left and right. You too could walk that same road with Dorothy and experience that world in Immersive 360 VR! As a viewer wouldn’t you want to be fully immersed in a world just like your own, but that features some of your favorite characters and destinations?

Similar to how Immersive Media enables content creators to show more, advertisers and marketers no longer need to confine their brand messaging to the size of a banner ad or the confines of a rectangular video player or TV screen. They now have an entirely new canvas at their disposal to help them do what they always try to do — better connect with audiences.

The reality is that audiences are hungry to enter into new worlds and experiences they were never able to with tv. And Hollywood is doing more than taking note, they’re taking action by creating more and more 360° content to entertain and retain eyeballs. Companies like NBC and Google have started working together to produce 360° and 180° content featuring some of their top television programs. But this new technology isn’t just limited to the film and tv studios. Immersive Media like Interactive 360 VR ads, is also a tool for advertisers and the best part is they can reach just about any consumer with a smartphone (more than 3 billion globally) as well as most tablets and PCs.  

It’s Time for Advertising to Come Out of the Box

By creating and delivering branded content built within a 360° sphere, consumers are no longer limited to watching content shown within the confines of a box, instead they can break free and view content above, below, and even behind them. Just imagine the kind of message you can create with this enlarged canvas that more effectively drives brand affinity, brand recall, content recall and intent to purchase.

But don’t be fooled into thinking that you need to produce a high end 360° video or virtual reality experience to break out of the confines of the proverbial box. Immersive Media can also be created with 2D assets for an engaging brand experience within a 360° sphere. This allows consumers to experience a new way of engaging with their favorite brands and characters that wasn’t available to them before. This means brands can start experimenting with Immersive Advertising today. So when will you take your advertising out of the box?