AR & VR: The future of marketing and journalism?

Whether it’s artefacts in your own living room or a makeover via an app, journalism and marketing are already benefiting enormously from AR & VR!

A post by Sinja Schmidt and Sophia Huebl

Thursday, 29 July 2021

Augmented and Virtual Reality have become increasingly popular over the past five years. A study by Splendid Research, which examined the extent to which Germans are interested in VR headsets, highlights the significant increase between 2018 and 2020. Whilst the figure stood at just 17% in 2018, interest in VR headsets has risen to 37% in 2020. More than one in five Germans would like to see VR used in the workplace, and 60 per cent of brand and marketing executives in Germany believe that VR and AR will be an integral part of our daily lives within a few years.

… first of all – definitions!

But before we delve into the topic in greater detail, let’s clarify some important definitions!

Since the launch of Pokémon Go in the summer of 2016 at the latest, the term ‘augmented reality’ has been very popular. Augmented reality (AR for short) is an interactive experience of a real-world environment in which objects in the real world are enhanced by computer-generated perceptual information. On the other hand, there is also the term ‘virtual reality’ (VR for short). In this case, unlike traditional user interfaces, VR places the user within an experience. Instead of looking at a screen in front of them, users are immersed and able to interact with 3D worlds. The terms ‘AR’ and ‘VR’ are very often used alongside the term ‘immersion’. The term ‘immersion’ refers to the feeling of being plunged into a virtual world. In contrast to experiences on a screen, which we only experience through a more or less distant window, things happen all around us in virtual reality. They seem close and immediate, sometimes realistic, especially when your own body is fully involved in the interaction.

AR & VR in Journalism

Virtual reality and augmented reality are regarded as ‘the next big thing’ in human-machine interaction. The development of Google Glass and Facebook’s acquisition of Oculus Rift highlight the interest major technology companies have in this technology. Whilst public perception of ‘Pokémon Go’, for example, focuses on its playful elements, there are increasingly – and predictably – journalistic applications. Video platforms such as YouTube are also systematically building up libraries of 360° films. Immersive journalism focuses on the subjective experience of the journalism or the story, with the line between fact and fiction often being blurred. The role of the user/reader has changed completely compared to conventional journalism. Immersion aims to bring the previously passive reader to the fore, making them feel present and immersed in the stories being reported. The reader partly slips into the role of the protagonist and can even interact to some extent with the characters within the report. The aim is also to foster empathy with the audience.

Nonny de la Peña, a journalist renowned for her immersive VR storytelling, said in an interview with Forbes Magazine: “As journalists, we work to generate critical engagement, but I wanted to go beyond the reporting and focus on the experience in which people could virtually transport themselves.” Amidst declining print sales, these technologies can also help keep publications fresh and relevant, appealing to new audiences and strengthening relationships with existing readers. In the press, this type of reporting is now both an accepted and established approach to journalistic work, but at the same time is still in the process of finding its distinct identity. Above all, however, the reduced distance between observation and experience – which is partly exaggerated in the public consciousness – raises problems and questions. This lack of distance is seen as particularly problematic in journalistic content, especially by critics.

Among the earliest adopters of AR in newspapers were the New York Times, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal and other leading news organisations such as the BBC internationally in 2012. Publishers use the technology to make the print medium more interactive and appealing to younger target audiences; that is why we will now look at two relevant examples of augmented reality in journalism. Below you will find two examples of AR and VR in journalism.

AR in Journalism Example 1 – BBC Civilisation – 40 Artefacts in One App

The BBC Civilisation AR app brings art and culture from across the world into your home. The app features a total of around 40 artefacts. You’re invited to try the app for yourself at home! It begins with a ‘home screen’ where you can choose which country and artefact you’d like to explore in more detail. After a few seconds, you’ll find the mummy in its Egyptian coffin, complete with the entire sarcophagus, right there on the table in front of you. Each artefact has its own description and a range of features. In this case (Figure 2), it was possible to listen to information about the artefact and scan it using an X-ray. All in all, the app makes history and culture a more immersive experience.

VR in Journalism Example 2 – Travelling While Black

‘Travelling While Black’ is a cinematic VR experience that immerses the viewer in the long history of restrictions on movement faced by Black Americans and the creation of safe spaces within our communities. The viewer shares an intimate series of moments with several witnesses who reflect on their experiences of restricted movement and race relations in the US. Thanks to the VR production, the viewer feels as though they are sitting at the table during individual interviews. But to get a better sense of this production, let’s take a look at the trailer.

AR & VR in Marketing

As in journalism, VR and AR content offers companies numerous opportunities to revolutionise their marketing communications. Marketing using augmented and virtual reality enables brands to craft experiences, engage consumers and drive conversions in innovative ways.

More than ever, marketing is driven by the wants and needs of the customer. As new technology becomes available, customers expect brands to deliver experiences that utilise it. This means it is vital that marketers keep pace with new developments in order to meet customer expectations and deliver the best possible experiences. Immersive marketing is particularly well-suited to this purpose.

AR in Marketing – Product trials using AR

Brands can use AR to allow consumers to try products before they buy them, with augmented shopping experiences becoming increasingly popular.

The fashion chain Zara, for example, trialled augmented reality displays in 120 flagship stores in 2020. Using a smartphone, customers could have a virtual model show them the clothes on the rack or in the shop window. Other brands also use these AR displays in their shop windows and let customers try on new collections in the window.

Fashion retailer Gap goes one step further and offers the option of creating a virtual avatar of oneself at home using the ‘Dressing Room’ app, which can then be used like a dress-up doll.

AR and VR, on the other hand, are almost commonplace in the beauty sector and can be used both online and offline. The Make-up Genius app from L’Oréal, for example, turns your smartphone into a mirror, helping you to try out different looks and make-up colours or project new hairstyles onto your own head.

VR in Marketing – VR at the Point of Sale

There is the option of using virtual reality as an additional attraction at the point of sale (POS) to attract more customers into the shop, or to integrate it directly into the sales pitch.

VR initiatives at the point of sale can, for example, be used directly during customer conversations to visualise products, present product features or demonstrate configurations. To ensure the most realistic presentation possible, the product itself can be directly incorporated into the initiative. For example, Audi’s ‘Walking VR’ experience is used to virtually demonstrate the desired vehicle to potential buyers, allowing it to be viewed interactively from different angles, with configurations displayed and the car customised directly to the customer’s preferences. These sales-supporting VR measures could be used at an advanced stage of the sales process to fulfil conative communication goals, as they are directly aimed at increasing sales through interactive information transfer.

Threats & Opportunities of the technology

Let’s take a look at the potential threats and opportunities associated with AR and VR. As with all computer and console games, researchers warn that virtual reality also carries a certain risk of addiction. The fact that the user escapes into a world that can be very similar to the real one – but is often a little more perfect, exciting or easier to influence – can lead to an escape from reality or a loss of connection to reality.

Another risk associated with virtual reality is motion sickness. Some people are more susceptible to this so-called ‘gaming sickness’. Motion sickness occurs when what the eye sees differs from what the inner ear perceives. VR games therefore often offer a variety of movement options, such as teleportation.

Furthermore, immersive journalism has undoubtedly found its way into our media landscape as a new and exciting form of reporting, which is still in its experimental phase and, like any change in the media, also presents us with challenges. Criticism of immersive journalism is particularly evident with regard to the blurring of the lines between fact and fiction. Critics view the lack of distance from journalistic content as particularly problematic.

Opportunities:

VR and AR in marketing

• innovative display experience for customers
• Virtual 360-degree product presentations help improve customer recall
• the consumer’s sense of being actively engaged with a product
• Appeal on an emotional level leads to greater customer loyalty
• Support for the final purchase decision

AR & VR in journalism

• Journalistic work becomes more accessible to readers
• Users become deeply immersed in events thanks to virtual reality
• It can create a positive sense of being part of the story
• and also appeals to empathy and the emotional level

Furthermore, virtual reality in journalism offers the opportunity to share unique experiences with the audience.

• Experiences that are costly and would otherwise be accessible only to a small audience,
• experiences that are high-risk and dangerous, such as climbing Mount Everest.
• Extraordinary events that cannot be experienced in reality. Examples include a flight to the moon with the original crew of the Apollo 11 mission.
• Furthermore, experiences that are rare and cannot be reproduced at will in reality, such as a blue whale surfacing in the sea.

2025: Will the AR & VR industry be an 85 billion dollar market?

The question now is: what will the market look like in the future? In terms of market development, augmented reality is said to have greater market potential. VR is unlikely to come close to matching the scale of the smartphone market, as the technology is aimed at a more limited group of people consisting of gamers and young, tech-savvy consumers. For AR, on the other hand, there are numerous other areas of application due to its location-independent usage options and the ease with which it can be integrated into consumers’ everyday lives.

Just as smartphones and tablets already enable people to access information and useful functions at any time, the direct integration of virtual elements into the real environment could accelerate and facilitate the intuitive absorption of information; AR could thus exert a significant influence on information processing and media usage behaviour.

In the future, it is to be expected that the technology and the benefits of augmented reality will become increasingly integrated into everyday life.

In the economic sector in particular, there is still a great deal of untapped potential. According to a study by Goldman Sachs, the AR/VR industry is expected to grow into an 85 billion dollar market by 2025. The lion’s share will certainly be concentrated in gaming and video, but a large chunk will also be generated in the retail sector. The aim is to literally bring the shop to the sofa, to make the products in the shop more tangible and to inform users in such a way that they can process the information effectively. There is hardly a major player that is not involved in this.

Sources for this article:

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Drees, C. (2019, 7 June). Circus Roncalli opts for holograms instead of animals – should zoos follow suit? MobileGeeks Deutschland. https://www.mobilegeeks.de/artikel/circus-roncalli-setzt-auf-hologramme-statt-tiere-sollten-zoos-nachziehen/

Koch, M. (14 September 2020). VR + AR – Marketing and product presentations. TrendView Agency for Online Communication. https://trendview.de/vr-ar-marketing-und-produktdarstellungen

Kolbrück, O. (21 March 2018). Technology: Where the retail sector is already banking on virtual shopping. etailment.de. https://etailment.de/news/stories/virtual-augmented-shopping-21162

Lewinski, K. (2018). Immersive Journalism: Technology – Impact – Regulation (Media Studies Series, Vol. 60) (1st ed.). transcript Verlag.

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