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Virtual reality has been a game-changer in many industries, from entertainment and education to real estate and retail. When it comes to incorporating VR in advertising, the possible use cases are wide-ranging and novel, making it an exciting feature for agency professionals and in-house marketing and advertising teams to experiment with.
As VR technology advances and becomes more accessible, the creative possibilities for utilizing it in advertising will likely multiply exponentially. Below, 16 Forbes Agency Council members explore some of the wildest and most innovative ways VR could be used in advertising in the future. Read on to learn about how these agency leaders imagine VR could revolutionize the advertising industry.
1. AI-Powered Brand Ambassadors In The Metaverse
In the future, VR advertising could offer fully immersive, interactive brand experiences. Imagine stepping into a virtual store, customizing your dream product and interacting with AI-powered brand ambassadors. Personalized 3D ads could follow you across the metaverse, seamlessly blending into your VR world. - Garrett Atkins, VIE Media
2. Dynamic Product Placement
One of the biggest opportunities would be dynamic product placement in mainstream content when it is watched in the VR world. Brands will be able to hyper-target their customers individually with products after learning their preferences. Early versions of this already exist and will only become more advanced and far-reaching as VR grows. - Tanuj Joshi, Eulerity
3. Subliminal Ads Based On Thoughts
I suppose the craziest thing I could imagine is subliminal advertising based on thoughts—and I can imagine a scenario where people are excited to adopt the tech! We’ve basically done that with smartphones, so the next obvious thing is implants that read our raw thoughts, right? At that point, ads in VR could essentially function like the film Inception. - Nicholas DeNitto, Manufactur
4. First-Person Advertising Experiences
The ongoing progress of building the metaverse is creating abundant creative opportunities for advertisers in the near future. It’s likely that advertising storytelling will shift toward a more immersive, personalized and memorable first-person experience, allowing for interactive engagement with brands and products and positive outcomes. Essentially, advertising will be both entertaining and effective. - Paula Celestino, SPRK Media Group Inc.
5. Campaigns Aimed At Entertaining, Not Selling
VR is going to be an entertainment medium for consumers. Successful consumer campaigns will create immersive experiences, allowing consumers to live out the fantasy of the perfect life that, up until now, could only be shown in advertisements. Companies that understand the need to entertain, not sell, will win with VR in advertising. - Mike Maynard, Napier Partnership Limited
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6. Up-Close And Personal Product Experiences
I love the idea of being able to throw on a headset and see something I’m looking to purchase up close and personal. I can see how augmented reality could make this even more amazing, but fully immersive VR could be an amazing way to check out a home you’re looking to purchase or a hotel you’re hoping to visit. - Andrew Maffettone, BlueTuskr
7. Virtual Test Drives For Vehicles
VR could allow consumers to experience products in a way that is more engaging, interactive and immersive than traditional advertising methods. For example, a car manufacturer could create a VR experience that allows consumers to “test drive” their vehicles in a realistic and dynamic way, without ever leaving their homes. - Scott Baradell, Idea Grove
8. Try-Before-You-Buy Virtual Stores
VR allows hyperrealistic experiences of products, revolutionizing advertising. Virtual stores, personalized ads and gamification provide unparalleled engagement. This immersive product experience will allow customers from all locations to try before they buy. - Owen Garitty, FPW Media
9. ‘Teleportation’ Of Customers Into New Contexts
There are so many ways that VR could be used in advertising. Augmented reality is great at letting customers teleport your products into their existing spaces—but imagine using VR to “teleport” the customer so that they see your products in a different context entirely. Instead of dropping your furniture designs into their current home, they could experience them in their dream home to create an aspirational feeling. - Tellef Lundevall, Accelerated Digital Media
10. Emotionally Powerful Experiential Campaigns
Our clients seek expertise in crafting meaningful stories about their family and company history. To that effect, VR could be used to build out emotionally powerful human experiences for galleries or experiential campaigns. The big takeaway? We will be able to creatively connect with future generations, recruits and customers through a real-time slice of a different era, simulated processes or moments in history. - Samantha Reynolds, ECHO Storytelling Agency
11. Fully Immersive Product Showrooms
VR could revolutionize advertising by providing interactive, immersive and personalized user experiences for the end user. The ability to provide fully immersive product showrooms and build out social and gamified worlds for the consumer to engage with could absolutely transform how brands and consumers interact. - Robby White, The Nine
12. Hyper-Personalized Experiences
Virtual reality is the new playground for advertisers, where hyper-personalized experiences place the viewer at the heart of their own story. AI-driven insights will intuitively build these ads into existing virtual experiences so they enhance rather than detract from content consumers have chosen to consume. The result? Deeper connections, higher impact. - Louise Mezzina, Mojo Group
13. Tailor-Made Ads For Each Individual
Advertisements will be tailor-made for each individual, and the actual VR will be altered. For instance, if I am in a virtual world with you, we could be looking at the same structural object. The ads on the object would be tailored to me and different for you—I might see Coke as the advertised beverage, for example, while you see Sprite. - Peter Boyd, PaperStreet Web Design
14. Virtual E-Commerce Storefronts
VR can be used in advertising to create immersive experiences that blur the lines between the virtual and physical worlds. For example, rather than having to go into a store to try out a brand’s products, a VR e-commerce storefront promoted through digital ads could allow users to shop from anywhere in the world and really feel as if they’re in the store environment. - Gavin Baker, Baker Marketing Laboratory
15. Branded VR Escape Rooms For New Releases
Imagine we design a brand-related VR escape room experience that immerses customers in a VR experience of a new movie release or a video game launch, allowing them to immerse themselves in the world of the brand while enjoying a fun and challenging experience. Brands would connect with customers and create memorable advertising experiences. - Darby Dwyer, Green Closet Creative
16. Immersive B2B Product Demos
VR could completely revolutionize the product demo. For high-dollar B2B products, we live and die by product demos—but what if your prospects could immerse themselves in learning how to use your product on their own? In the typical buyer’s journey, your sales rep only spends about five percent of the journey with them. Give them the alternative they want with a VR demo experience they control. - Christine Slocumb, Clarity Quest Marketing
