As Roblox and other platforms continue to attract more grown-up consumers, the numbers for immersive advertising reflect that appeal: immersive display ads saw an increase in brand recall by as much as 70% and conversion rate by up to 80%, according to a Feb. 2023 analysis by streaming app platform CamOn. This is because Immersive Display Ads greatly improve the online shopping experience which leads to a higher chance of purchase.
Beyond Roblox, Apple’s forthcoming $3000 Reality Pro headset has been described as a potential “game-changer” in the space despite the exorbitant price. Whether it’s an immediate hit or a bomb, Apple’s big bet on mixed reality is sure to spur the move into this territory.
What’s so immersive about it?
Immersive advertising is a type of ad unit that invites consumers to engage with a product or marketing concept directly within the ad, all in real time.
Typically, immersive ads incorporate 3D visuals. Examples can be found through those “anamorphic billboards” featuring 3D optical illusions, which have lately transformed out-of-home advertising. More commonly, though, users have encountered 3D advertising via virtual reality headsets, such as in a gaming environment.
These ads can also rely on augmented reality mobile apps, which layer digital animation on top of the user’s “real” physical world. Think Niantic’s Pokémon Go game and Snapchat filters that present mixed reality interactions.
The idea is that the viewer feels like they’re inhabiting a fantasy world—or one that blends fantasy and reality simultaneously and interactively. But the one thing that separates immersive advertising from other forms of passive, if technologically advanced, marketing is that it depends on the active participation of the consumer.
The metaverse branding issue
The metaverse and other web3 concepts have been the target of incessant derision the last few months, as much-hyped projects by Meta and Disney were derailed in by inflationary pressures mixed with shareholder impatience over a lack of tangible uses.
The metaverse concept has suffered some branding issues as a result. It was no surprise that Apple eschewed the word during its Vision Pro demo, when executives described its new system as spatial computing to avoid any advanced naysaying following the rejection of the metaverse as an overarching digital/physical realm. A part of it was a hurried, often ad hoc approach.
There was too much reliance on expensive VR headsets, for one thing. While Apple’s initial device is pricey, it’s worth noting that the first iPhone arrived with comparative sticker shock before consumers priced it in and brands got on board.
Attention-getting use cases have tended to be aimed at a more upscale audience, like the 2021 collaboration between Gucci and Roblox. The big news was that a virtual Gucci Dionysus handbag sold online for 350,000 Robux — the Roblox equivalent of $4,115. In the “real world,” that same bag was a relative discount, selling for $700 less. Examples like that set negative coverage as the economy became more uncertain.
But more recently, Nike and Tiffany & Co.’s cross-promotion sneaker drop indicated that high-profile branding and hybrid digital/physical marketing can do more than capture social media buzz. At this moment, the term “metaverse” has been eclipsed by Apple’s coming “spatial computing.” But the Nike x Tiffany collaboration exemplifies the commercial potential of virtual product by using a NFT’s as a loyalty currency that pays in both digital and physical environments.