There’s no denying it: Extended reality has become a significant part of doing business in the 21st century. Today, VR training is near-ubiquitous among companies looking to make their training processes as efficient as possible. VR meetings and prototyping have thrived in enterprise settings, as well. Taking all that into account, the worldwide net economic benefits of VR and AR could reach $1.5 trillion by 2030.
Still, there’s one other VR use case your enterprise should know about—namely, VR events and marketing. Adding virtual and augmented reality to your overall marketing strategy can make your promotional efforts more immersive (and more effective) than ever before. Keep reading for a closer look at the benefits of VR marketing (and a few real-life examples of what this cutting-edge marketing method can look like in practice).
The Benefits of VR Marketing
Understanding the basics of VR marketing is easy enough—this term describes any marketing campaign that incorporates virtual reality technology in some way. Beyond that, it’s crucial to know a few concrete reasons why VR events are worth the investment. By prioritizing VR events and marketing, your company can:
Deliver Total Immersion
Immersion is VR’s signature feature, and it should come as no surprise to learn that this makes it a highly effective marketing tool. When potential customers put on a VR headset, they’re no longer in the “real world.” Instead, they can fully engage with a digital world of your creation, all but eliminating potential distractions in the process.
Get a Head Start on Marketing Trends
As of the 2020s, VR is no longer the “technology of the future”—instead, extended reality is a present-day reality. Even so, virtual reality is one of the newest marketing platforms available to today’s businesses. If you want to stand out from the competition while grabbing consumers’ attention in a big way, VR marketing can help.
Make Personal Connections
One of the best things about VR experiences is that they don’t have to be “one-size-fits-all.” Instead, you can fully personalize your VR events to fit the needs and interests of different audiences.
VR Events and Marketing Case Studies
At OneBonsai, we excel at creating industry-leading XR training solutions. On top of that, we’ve put our skills to use to deliver several memorable, engaging VR events and marketing experiences. Some of our most prominent accomplishments in this field include:
MSC Crane Simulator
Trade show booths are an excellent place to utilize VR marketing—just ask MSC, which hired OneBonsai to create a virtual crane simulator for their booth. This project had some overlap with our training solutions, as it had to deliver a certain level of realism. However, that wasn’t MSC’s only goal for the simulator—it also needed to be entertaining and accessible enough to engage visitors without a technical background.
In the finished product, visitors to MSC’s booth could sit in a harbor crane and control it with a joystick, just like they would in real life. Visitors who had never worked with heavy equipment in their lives gained a better understanding of what MSC does from this experience, giving the company a perfect entry point to start talking to these people. And while we developed this VR solution over a short period of time, OneBonsai worked closely with experts in the field to ensure a high level of accuracy.
VR Configurator for HP
What will the “Office of the Future” look like? This Belgian concept focuses on rethinking the modern work environment with a focus on enhanced modularity and fulfilling the changing needs of workers. To help people understand this idea, HP commissioned a VR office design experience from OneBonsai and XRintelligence.
In this experience, people used HP’s REVERB headset to design an office of their own—from picking walls and flooring to selecting individual office supplies. That helped participants learn about the “Office of the Future” and the principles behind this concept.
Delhaize Virtual Tour
When Delhaize planned to introduce a new design for its stores, it reached out to OneBonsai to create a VR visualization in just two weeks. Despite the tight deadline, we stepped up to the challenge and delivered a 360-degree video of the new store design for use on a mobile VR headset. Over 300 people at Delhaize’s flagship event went through the experience, and it helped convince a majority of storeholders to switch to the new design.
VR Baby Risk
OneBonsai teamed up with 87 Seconds to develop this VR experience for insurance company Crédit Agricole, which was intended to increase awareness of the hard-to-spot threats small children face in the average living area. The experience brought that message to life in a way only VR could—by letting participants see the world through the eyes of toddlers.
Throughout the experience, people traversed a home from a child’s point of view and experienced domestic dangers first-hand. OneBonsai distributed 200+ VR headsets to 30 locations across France for this experience, giving countless people a chance to identify and mitigate hazards in their houses.
Get the Best VR Solutions Around
Like any other XR application, VR events and marketing have unlimited potential for businesses. Of course, you won’t be able to pursue these opportunities on your own. As is the case for enterprises implementing VR training programs, you’ll want to start by finding a company with a great deal of experience developing VR marketing solutions.
No matter what you need from your XR marketing strategy, OneBonsai can help. We create the best VR experiences in the industry, and we’d be happy to deliver a solution for your company. Get started by reaching out to us today!
