Developed around the same time as computers, Virtual Reality (VR), defined as a computer-generated image that gives an immersive feeling, is gaining rising momentum in recent years.[1] In the United States alone, VR users would increase from 43.1 to 65.9 million between 2018-22 (Figure 1). Grand Research analysts even conclude that the country’s VR market size is expected to grow from $15.8 billion in 2020 to $70.12 billion in 2028, with a startling CAGR of 18.0% that is much higher than that of the computer industry (10.9%).[2][3] This is mainly fueled by the technology’s wide application across various industries, from healthcare to sports, and business models, from sales of memorable VR experiences to personalized marketing. Thanks to the maturity of the technology, increasing numbers of companies have adopted or shown willingness to incorporate VR into their marketing campaigns, whose measures could be categorized into 3 major classes, which are creation of VR elements, try before you buy, and action-promoted initiatives. In this article, I will briefly examine how each could be utilised for marketing campaigns.

Figure 1. Source: Oberlo Statistics [4]
Creation of VR Elements
The first and most straightforward method is through the creation of virtual reality elements into marketing campaigns, ranging from groups of photos to videos to VR “stickers,” to create a unique experience of immersion on mobile devices. Often found innovative by customers, the adoption of VR-powered marketing precisely captures the common’s excitement to meet new objects, rendering it easier for brands to imprint products or services into customers’ minds.
Amongst the many media, a panorama image is the most common choice, where customers would be guided through fixed settings such as the inner space of a production factory or a virtual trip to the flagship store in the region where the customer locates. By designing the experiences in more intriguing ways, such as the inclusion of Q&A engagement, firms could establish a closer connection with their customers and thereby raise customer loyalty.
Apart from creating virtual reality effects for 2D images, infrastructure companies target 3D images by allowing customers to design their own room as well. As Hubspots remark, “anyone who’s gone through the existential angst of being a first-time buyer knows the unfathomable power of paperwork and finances to undermine the fun of designing or decorating a new home.”[5] Building a new house from zero is a prolonged yet ecstatic process, where designers are constantly exposed to unexpected surprise through creating out of the box. According to Kyle Nel, Executive Director of Lowe’s Innovation Lab, even by solving a small mystery could have a massive impact.
Home improvement service provider Lowe has seized such mentality of customers and features the Holoroom How To VR experience in 19 of its stores. By offering do-it-yourself (DIY) home improvement opportunities for its core buyers and home design enthusiasts, Lowe shows its customers how powerful they are and what specific guidance they could expect from Lowe during the improving process.[6] Through the free learning and education process, customers are more comfortable with Lowe’s furnishing materials and become more likely to consume at Lowe.
Another measure is to add particular virtual reality elements to enhance customer engagement while promoting their brand. Developing an entire virtual reality system may take months, which is not worthy for Luxury clothing brand Prada who launches new clothes every season. To seize the tide of virtual reality, Prada created a special filter by turning the letters of PRADA into an acronym, which begins with a white sign saying “Current Prada Mode.” Different results would be produced each time the individual runs the mood.[7]

The uncertainty made the video campaign more appealing to customers as they were unsure whether they would receive genuine blessing or become mocked in the next video. As they go through the video series and add it to their Stories on Instagram, it is also a simultaneous promotion for the Prada’s brand.
While Prada’s addition of this game-like feature proved a successful, cost-effective marketing campaign, which appealed directly to younger social media users who are the major buyers of Prada products, it is estimated that such campaign would not be as effective should undertaken by a smaller firm. A large customer base and constant topic hotness is needed for the campaign to be circulated around social media and thereby reach the goal of marketing. Fewer customer access of small market players meant a more qualified video campaign pinpointing at the company’s unique selling positions would be more effective.
“Try Before You Buy”
It is crucial to bear in mind that virtual reality marketing involves brand and product promotion using both virtual reality and augmented reality technologies. Experienced with specially designed hand-held or glasses, augmented reality allow multi-sensory experiences, in addition to creating a fake yet realistic view. With the assistance of this helpful technology, consumers are given a complete overview of their products, allowing them to virtually experience the products before reaching a purchase decision. From necklaces to earrings and overcoats to fleece jackets, customers could have access to such vivid experience whenever and wherever they want, merely with the help of a phone, laptop, or other devices that capture the image in real-time.[8] There are three major types of virtual try-on, each illustrated with a few companies embracing the corresponding concept.[9]
Mobile virtual try-ons
This type of virtual reality try-on allows customers to see themselves in a desired makeup or clothing item on their smartphone screen.
Sephora’s Virtual Artist is one of the earliest and most common examples of virtual fitting rooms. “Experiment with an infinite library of eyeshadows, lip colours, and even false lashes to find your perfect shade and perfect your lip—all without stepping foot in a store,” writes the company on its official website.[10] Allowing customers to try on various virtual makeovers by skipping the time-consuming discharging process, the app quickly gained significant popularity and secured a rating of 4.8 in App Store.[11] Indeed, who doesn’t want a virtual lipstick tester to filter through colours, textures, and finishes?
Expectedly, Sephora’s competitor L’Oreal has launched a similar virtual markup try-on app called Makeup Genius. In addition to the markup industry, Luxury apparel brand Gucci’s newly added AR feature in its app also serves a good example here. To try on different types of Ace sneakers, users can point the camera at their feet and see how the chosen sneaker would look from multiple angles. It was later launched in Snapchat, which reduced friction by removing the need to download the Gucci app in advance.[12] Given 50% of Gucci’s revenue comes from millennials who use social media on a regular basis, such marketing campaign through virtual try-out proves highly helpful for consolidating the company’s revenue venues.[13]
In-store virtual fitting rooms
Powered by AR and often AI technologies, these physical fitting rooms rely on smart digital mirrors installed on dedicated stands with large displays in front or in place of physical dressing rooms, sometimes even with a 360 degrees of viewing. The mirrors are capable of overlaying selected items on top of the customer’s live image to allow for checking of the size, style, and fit of the product. The most developed stands have also enabled smart recommendations based on the shopper’s previous choices.[14] After witnessing the success of virtual try-on in the markup industry, apparel and jewelry industries have started their way of incorporating virtual reality into their marketing campaigns. According to Business Insiders, Macy’s and Adidas had finally kickstarted their paths of turning to virtual dressing rooms in late 2019.[15] The latter’s new outpost in the Dubai Mall features RFID (radio-frequency identification) technology to recognize items, highlight extra product information and provide matching recommendations.[16] While this was not an innovative technology, it is unprecedented to see the renowned brands positioning VR-supported dressing room at the heart of their store experience.
Desktop virtual try-ons
These are a different version of virtual try-ons more convenient for laptop users during online shopping, where customers could use their own photo or a live webcam feed to see if the product fits them. Much fewer examples exist here, with Netguru’s self-developed augmented reality software being one. The 3D-powered try-ons and object placement technologies allow Netguru to deliver better try-on experiences with higher resolution and wider industry coverage.
Action-prompted Initiatives
In addition to pure commercial usage, virtual reality equipment could be utilized in philanthropy campaigns. For most potential donors in developed countries, especially amongst the young adults, convincing them the meaning of the causes would be a crucial step to raise funds from them.[17] While the conventional wisdom of standing out of the local grocery store to raise funds with bells and buckets might become cliche amongst the young adults, the novelty and close connections with social media make virtual reality a perfect complement, if not substitutes, to traditional fundraising. A research from Stanford University has shown virtual reality experiences are more effective in stirring empathy than pain images amongst viewers.[18] As compared to traditional advertising measures, virtual reality depicts a first-person point of view and leaves a more direct impression on viewers by putting them into others’ shoes. The excellent effectiveness and wide coverage in almost all philanthropy fundraising, therefore, uncovers a new route for non-profits, as nothing can be more effective than walking through a virtual war zone or experiencing future dementia in current moments.[19]
Nonprofits can pursue VR-supported fundraising alone or with larger corporations. The Muncie Animal Care & Services, an animal shelter in Indiana, the United States, developed an innovative virtual reality program by allowing visitors to enjoy virtual walks with dogs and other adorable animals. Launched in 2016, the program perfectly interacted with the then exceptionally popular mobile game Pokemon Go by offering similar excitement to young mobile users while promoting their brand. The campaign ended with six of the featured dogs adopted and many hours of valuable voluntary work.[20]
Other charity organisations may cooperate with business institutions to rely on their solid financial assets or leading technologies in virtual reality. Alzheimer’s Research UK, for instance, has partnered with Visyon and Google and developed a new app to help raise public awareness on dementia, as well as providing UK companies a valuable opportunity to educate their employees more about the disease. Thanks to the generous technical assistance from both technology giants, Alzheimer’s Research UK was able to shoot a 360-degree walking down the streets in Hackney from the perspective of a Alzheimer patient. It is undoubted that virtual reality helped users to have a more comprehensive understanding of the worlds in the eyes of dementia patients, in addition to the most commonly-believed memory losses. Poll evaluations from users also demonstrated fundraisers managed to create empathy and a broader understanding of this most misunderstood condition.[21]
In addition to philanthropies, some for-profit enterprises pursue such social causes on their own as well. One example lies in the shoe producer Toms who is renowned for supporting humanitarian causes by giving away a set of shoes to someone in need for every pair a customer purchased. In order to promote their cause, Toms have now established a partnership with Vrse to allow customers to virtually go on one of Toms’ Giving Trips, who are then exposed to recipients and see their living conditions. With the help of virtual reality, Toms’ customers could truly experience the benefits of the cause they are supporting.
As can be seen from the story, virtual reality equipment could have a significant impact in action-prompted initiatives, or social causes. By demonstrating the stories, nonprofits can form clear pictures in minds of the general public about the causes they are working painstakingly at and stir their empathy, which could lead to donations more easily. Moreover, cooperation with large firms yearning to demonstrate their corporate social responsibilities also seems to provide a perfect solution to address the economic plight of nonprofitable organisations, as industry giants could also take the project as a valuable chance to positively promote their brand image while testing the full potential of their virtual reality capabilities.
Conclusion
Through the analysis of each types of marketing, we can conclude that virtual reality has a highly promising future in terms of turning the customer experience more personal, allows for pre-purchase try-ons, and advocating for socially beneficial causes. By establishing closer connections between customers and firms, virtual reality marketing could help improve the efficiency of businesses in all industries that adopt it. Moreover, it is enabling the cooperation between financially robust enterprises and non-profits pursuing a meaningful cause of making the world a better place.
Bibliography
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