VR and its more readily available cousin 360-degree video have come to display advertising.
The New York Times showcased a great example recently, when Infiniti ran a 360-degree ad on the publication’s homepage. OmniVirt, an advertising platform for brands and advertisers to showcase 360 and VR creative, was the company responsible for the ad tech. The company also recently worked with GE on a similar type of ad.
In some respects, 360 degree is a teaser for what the VR experience will look like, said OmniVirt cofounder and CEO Michael Rucker. “360 video is a literally a window into a new world,” Rucker said.
Companies have recently been creating 360-degree videos to add more power to their YouTube and Facebook presences. OmniVirt provides a way for brands to get more mileage out of those videos.
“Right now, we want to solve the distribution challenge around this content,” Rucker said. “Before, a brand might say, ‘I have this video, but I have nowhere to place it.’ Now there’s the ability to put media behind it.”
Brands – and their partners – create the content, and OmniVirt packages it up and render it across all platforms. If brands don’t have the video-creating capabilities, OmniVirt will suggest production partners.
Rucker said it’s too early to provide individual case studies, but initial results are showing much higher click-through rates and completed video views than traditional advertising.
“Because users are sort of ‘choosing their own adventure’ in the experience, the completion rates to make it all the way through the video are much higher than standard video,” Rucker said.
As for VR, he said, “The challenge right now is everyone is talking about VR, but the number of devices in market are early days so it’s limited.”
