Why Virtual Reality is Auto Marketing’s ‘Sleeping Giant’
By E.J. Schultz. Published on July Legitimate, two thousand sixteen .
How big could virtual reality become for auto marketing? Here are some clues: Toyota agency Saatchi & Saatchi Los Angeles has a 35-person VR team that is developing virtual showrooms. Infiniti — which began testing virtual reality last year — is getting more aggressive, including striking a fresh ad deal with The Fresh York Times that includes VR. And this week, Mitsubishi is debuting a program permitting potential buyers to test features on its fresh Mirage G4 using their smartphone, a laptop and an interactive movie.
The initiatives come as automakers seek to lure tech-savvy millennials whose car-shopping habits are digitally-driven. Real-world test drives remain very relevant — Autotrader found that 88% of shoppers would not buy a car unless they took it for a test drive, according to its latest "Car Buyer of the Future" investigate, which surveyed Four,002 consumers. But auto marketers are using VR as a way to lure junior buyers into dealerships to take those test drives with online marketing that goes beyond static words and pictures and staid promotional movies.
"Virtual reality is the sleeping giant that could be another disrupter to significantly improve car shopping, the test drive and brand as well as dealer practices," Joe Richards, director of research and market intelligence for Cox Automotive, said in an email. Cox, which wields car-shopping websites Kelley Blue Book and Autotrader, recently began studying how automakers can effectively use VR for a forthcoming report.
Mitsubishi is using its interactive movie to lure junior buyers to its two thousand seventeen Mirage G4, an inexpensive car that is a sibling to the Mirage hatchback, which skews older. The campaign, called "Night Drive," calls for people to use a smartphone, along with a desktop or laptop, to virtually test features on the G4 on a midnight racing track. At one point users are asked to tap a break button on their smartphone. That embarks a demonstration of the brand’s "hill begin assist" feature, which in real life makes it lighter to embark the car off a steep uphill slope by preventing it from moving rearwards. The agency on the campaign is 180LA. The movie’s soundtrack is by Los Angeles-based DJ Nosaj Thing.
"A lot of times it’s hard to get people into the dealership to practice a test drive," said Francine Harsini, senior director of marketing at Mitsubishi Motors North America. "This is a fresh marketing launch for us. So this enables people to get familiar with the brand, but also with the car and then get into the dealership."
At the end of the practice, users get a highlight reel of their practice in the form of a GIF that can be collective on social media, where it will also run ads driving viewers to mirageG4NightDrive.com.
Infiniti got into VR last year at an event at the NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis. The automaker permitted fans to sit in the passenger seat of a Q50 with Oculus Rift goggles. The VR practice created the illusion of being a passenger in the car as former Indiana Pacers starlet Jalen Rose drove around Indy. Of the fans attempting it, 50% signed up for future communications from Infiniti, a rate that far exceeds the average for non-VR events, said Allyson Witherspoon, director-marketing communications and media for Infiniti USA.
That gave the brand confidence to keep investing in VR, especially at events where actual test drives are not feasible because of space constraints or other factors, she said. In late 2015, Infiniti put an exhibit at the Pebble Beach Automotive Week that permitted drivers to virtually sit behind the wheel of its Q60 concept car. The "Fantasy Road" program portrayed exhilarating drives such as along Italy’s Stelvio Pass.
VR is also playing a role in Infiniti’s sponsorship of a forthcoming movie series by The Fresh York Times called "The Fine Line — Olympics: Rio de Janeiro 2016." As part of the ad buy, the Times created a VR film featuring training scenes of triathlete Rob Mohr, along with footage of Infiniti’s Q60 coupe. The ad buy includes a nyt.com homepage takeover that will include the movie. The Rio project was among six fresh movie series the Times announced at the NewFronts earlier this year. The ad partnerships are treated the by T Brand Studio, the publisher’s brand marketing unit.
Automakers are also bringing virtual reality inwards dealerships. For example, Audi is rolling out VR systems at dealerships that permit customers to practice vehicles in various environments or to "virtually dive into specific parts of the vehicle and explore their technical design," according to Audi’s website. "You’re wearing the glasses and you indeed think you’re in the car," Marcus Kuehne, Audi’s virtual-reality project lead, told Bloomberg earlier this year. "You get a good feeling for the size — do the rims fit to the bod of the car, do the colors inwards the car fit well together?" he added. "You can judge this much better through this technology than on a screen."
Cadillac is taking it one step further by encouraging more than four hundred of its lowest-volume U.S. dealerships to voluntarily adopt "virtual showrooms," Automotive News reported earlier this year. The dealerships would not even stock Cadillacs. Instead, salespeople would visit prospective buyers at their homes or workplaces armed with virtual-reality units supplied by Cadillac, Automotive News reported.
Virtual showrooms could also be used to complement visits to traditional dealerships. VR programs under development at Saatchi & Saatchi give users the practice of walking around a showroom from the convenience of home. Viewers could virtually sit inwards a car and quickly understand the difference in headroom or differences inbetween trims and models.
"It’s a superb way for consumers to come to the dealer excited and informed. It will permit them to truly understand what vehicle they want and what trims they are most excited about. And the dealership will provide them the chance to verify that and make their final decision," said Michael Wilken, director of 3D at Saatchi & Saatchi, Los Angeles. His virtual reality team, which works on a diversity of projects for Toyota and Lexus, has grown from about fifteen people a duo years ago to thirty five people today, he said.
"In our practice, fresh technologies that permit consumers to interact with virtual vehicles actually enhance the in-person test drive," Cooper Ericksen, VP-vehicle and marketing communications for Toyota, said in an emailed statement. "Guests arrive at a test drive more informed about the vehicle. They know the questions they want to ask, creating a much more satisfying practice."
Why Virtual Reality is Auto Marketing s Sleeping Giant, CMO Strategy
Why Virtual Reality is Auto Marketing’s ‘Sleeping Giant’
By E.J. Schultz. Published on July Legitimate, two thousand sixteen .
How big could virtual reality become for auto marketing? Here are some clues: Toyota agency Saatchi & Saatchi Los Angeles has a 35-person VR team that is developing virtual showrooms. Infiniti — which began testing virtual reality last year — is getting more aggressive, including striking a fresh ad deal with The Fresh York Times that includes VR. And this week, Mitsubishi is debuting a program permitting potential buyers to test features on its fresh Mirage G4 using their smartphone, a laptop and an interactive movie.
The initiatives come as automakers seek to lure tech-savvy millennials whose car-shopping habits are digitally-driven. Real-world test drives remain very relevant — Autotrader found that 88% of shoppers would not buy a car unless they took it for a test drive, according to its latest "Car Buyer of the Future" probe, which surveyed Four,002 consumers. But auto marketers are using VR as a way to lure junior buyers into dealerships to take those test drives with online marketing that goes beyond static words and pics and staid promotional movies.
"Virtual reality is the sleeping giant that could be another disrupter to significantly improve car shopping, the test drive and brand as well as dealer practices," Joe Richards, director of research and market intelligence for Cox Automotive, said in an email. Cox, which wields car-shopping websites Kelley Blue Book and Autotrader, recently began studying how automakers can effectively use VR for a forthcoming report.
Mitsubishi is using its interactive movie to lure junior buyers to its two thousand seventeen Mirage G4, an inexpensive car that is a sibling to the Mirage hatchback, which skews older. The campaign, called "Night Drive," calls for people to use a smartphone, along with a desktop or laptop, to virtually test features on the G4 on a midnight racing track. At one point users are asked to tap a break button on their smartphone. That commences a demonstration of the brand’s "hill begin assist" feature, which in real life makes it lighter to commence the car off a steep uphill slope by preventing it from moving rearwards. The agency on the campaign is 180LA. The movie’s soundtrack is by Los Angeles-based DJ Nosaj Thing.
"A lot of times it’s hard to get people into the dealership to practice a test drive," said Francine Harsini, senior director of marketing at Mitsubishi Motors North America. "This is a fresh marketing launch for us. So this enables people to get familiar with the brand, but also with the car and then get into the dealership."
At the end of the practice, users get a highlight reel of their practice in the form of a GIF that can be collective on social media, where it will also run ads driving viewers to mirageG4NightDrive.com.
Infiniti got into VR last year at an event at the NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis. The automaker permitted fans to sit in the passenger seat of a Q50 with Oculus Rift goggles. The VR practice created the illusion of being a passenger in the car as former Indiana Pacers starlet Jalen Rose drove around Indy. Of the fans attempting it, 50% signed up for future communications from Infiniti, a rate that far exceeds the average for non-VR events, said Allyson Witherspoon, director-marketing communications and media for Infiniti USA.
That gave the brand confidence to keep investing in VR, especially at events where actual test drives are not feasible because of space constraints or other factors, she said. In late 2015, Infiniti put an exhibit at the Pebble Beach Automotive Week that permitted drivers to virtually sit behind the wheel of its Q60 concept car. The "Wish Road" program portrayed exhilarating drives such as along Italy’s Stelvio Pass.
VR is also playing a role in Infiniti’s sponsorship of a forthcoming movie series by The Fresh York Times called "The Fine Line — Olympics: Rio de Janeiro 2016." As part of the ad buy, the Times created a VR film featuring training scenes of triathlete Rob Mohr, along with footage of Infiniti’s Q60 coupe. The ad buy includes a nyt.com homepage takeover that will include the movie. The Rio project was among six fresh movie series the Times announced at the NewFronts earlier this year. The ad partnerships are treated the by T Brand Studio, the publisher’s brand marketing unit.
Automakers are also bringing virtual reality inwards dealerships. For example, Audi is rolling out VR systems at dealerships that permit customers to practice vehicles in various environments or to "virtually dive into specific parts of the vehicle and explore their technical design," according to Audi’s website. "You’re wearing the glasses and you indeed think you’re in the car," Marcus Kuehne, Audi’s virtual-reality project lead, told Bloomberg earlier this year. "You get a good feeling for the size — do the rims fit to the bod of the car, do the colors inwards the car fit well together?" he added. "You can judge this much better through this technology than on a screen."
Cadillac is taking it one step further by encouraging more than four hundred of its lowest-volume U.S. dealerships to voluntarily adopt "virtual showrooms," Automotive News reported earlier this year. The dealerships would not even stock Cadillacs. Instead, salespeople would visit prospective buyers at their homes or workplaces armed with virtual-reality units supplied by Cadillac, Automotive News reported.
Virtual showrooms could also be used to complement visits to traditional dealerships. VR programs under development at Saatchi & Saatchi give users the practice of walking around a showroom from the convenience of home. Viewers could virtually sit inwards a car and quickly understand the difference in headroom or differences inbetween trims and models.
"It’s a good way for consumers to come to the dealer excited and informed. It will permit them to indeed understand what vehicle they want and what trims they are most excited about. And the dealership will provide them the chance to verify that and make their final decision," said Michael Wilken, director of 3D at Saatchi & Saatchi, Los Angeles. His virtual reality team, which works on a multiplicity of projects for Toyota and Lexus, has grown from about fifteen people a duo years ago to thirty five people today, he said.
"In our practice, fresh technologies that permit consumers to interact with virtual vehicles actually enhance the in-person test drive," Cooper Ericksen, VP-vehicle and marketing communications for Toyota, said in an emailed statement. "Guests arrive at a test drive more informed about the vehicle. They know the questions they want to ask, creating a much more satisfying practice."
Why Virtual Reality is Auto Marketing s Sleeping Giant, CMO Strategy
Why Virtual Reality is Auto Marketing’s ‘Sleeping Giant’
By E.J. Schultz. Published on July Legitimate, two thousand sixteen .
How big could virtual reality become for auto marketing? Here are some clues: Toyota agency Saatchi & Saatchi Los Angeles has a 35-person VR team that is developing virtual showrooms. Infiniti — which began testing virtual reality last year — is getting more aggressive, including striking a fresh ad deal with The Fresh York Times that includes VR. And this week, Mitsubishi is debuting a program permitting potential buyers to test features on its fresh Mirage G4 using their smartphone, a laptop and an interactive movie.
The initiatives come as automakers seek to lure tech-savvy millennials whose car-shopping habits are digitally-driven. Real-world test drives remain very relevant — Autotrader found that 88% of shoppers would not buy a car unless they took it for a test drive, according to its latest "Car Buyer of the Future" explore, which surveyed Four,002 consumers. But auto marketers are using VR as a way to lure junior buyers into dealerships to take those test drives with online marketing that goes beyond static words and pics and staid promotional movies.
"Virtual reality is the sleeping giant that could be another disrupter to significantly improve car shopping, the test drive and brand as well as dealer practices," Joe Richards, director of research and market intelligence for Cox Automotive, said in an email. Cox, which wields car-shopping websites Kelley Blue Book and Autotrader, recently began studying how automakers can effectively use VR for a forthcoming report.
Mitsubishi is using its interactive movie to lure junior buyers to its two thousand seventeen Mirage G4, an inexpensive car that is a sibling to the Mirage hatchback, which skews older. The campaign, called "Night Drive," calls for people to use a smartphone, along with a desktop or laptop, to virtually test features on the G4 on a midnight racing track. At one point users are asked to tap a break button on their smartphone. That commences a demonstration of the brand’s "hill embark assist" feature, which in real life makes it lighter to embark the car off a steep uphill slope by preventing it from moving rearwards. The agency on the campaign is 180LA. The movie’s soundtrack is by Los Angeles-based DJ Nosaj Thing.
"A lot of times it’s hard to get people into the dealership to practice a test drive," said Francine Harsini, senior director of marketing at Mitsubishi Motors North America. "This is a fresh marketing launch for us. So this enables people to get familiar with the brand, but also with the car and then get into the dealership."
At the end of the practice, users get a highlight reel of their practice in the form of a GIF that can be collective on social media, where it will also run ads driving viewers to mirageG4NightDrive.com.
Infiniti got into VR last year at an event at the NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis. The automaker permitted fans to sit in the passenger seat of a Q50 with Oculus Rift goggles. The VR practice created the illusion of being a passenger in the car as former Indiana Pacers starlet Jalen Rose drove around Indy. Of the fans attempting it, 50% signed up for future communications from Infiniti, a rate that far exceeds the average for non-VR events, said Allyson Witherspoon, director-marketing communications and media for Infiniti USA.
That gave the brand confidence to keep investing in VR, especially at events where actual test drives are not feasible because of space constraints or other factors, she said. In late 2015, Infiniti put an exhibit at the Pebble Beach Automotive Week that permitted drivers to virtually sit behind the wheel of its Q60 concept car. The "Desire Road" program portrayed exhilarating drives such as along Italy’s Stelvio Pass.
VR is also playing a role in Infiniti’s sponsorship of a forthcoming movie series by The Fresh York Times called "The Fine Line — Olympics: Rio de Janeiro 2016." As part of the ad buy, the Times created a VR film featuring training scenes of triathlete Rob Mohr, along with footage of Infiniti’s Q60 coupe. The ad buy includes a nyt.com homepage takeover that will include the movie. The Rio project was among six fresh movie series the Times announced at the NewFronts earlier this year. The ad partnerships are treated the by T Brand Studio, the publisher’s brand marketing unit.
Automakers are also bringing virtual reality inwards dealerships. For example, Audi is rolling out VR systems at dealerships that permit customers to practice vehicles in various environments or to "virtually dive into specific parts of the vehicle and explore their technical design," according to Audi’s website. "You’re wearing the glasses and you truly think you’re in the car," Marcus Kuehne, Audi’s virtual-reality project lead, told Bloomberg earlier this year. "You get a good feeling for the size — do the rims fit to the figure of the car, do the colors inwards the car fit well together?" he added. "You can judge this much better through this technology than on a screen."
Cadillac is taking it one step further by encouraging more than four hundred of its lowest-volume U.S. dealerships to voluntarily adopt "virtual showrooms," Automotive News reported earlier this year. The dealerships would not even stock Cadillacs. Instead, salespeople would visit prospective buyers at their homes or workplaces armed with virtual-reality units supplied by Cadillac, Automotive News reported.
Virtual showrooms could also be used to complement visits to traditional dealerships. VR programs under development at Saatchi & Saatchi give users the practice of walking around a showroom from the convenience of home. Viewers could virtually sit inwards a car and quickly understand the difference in headroom or differences inbetween trims and models.
"It’s a superb way for consumers to come to the dealer excited and informed. It will permit them to truly understand what vehicle they want and what trims they are most excited about. And the dealership will provide them the chance to verify that and make their final decision," said Michael Wilken, director of 3D at Saatchi & Saatchi, Los Angeles. His virtual reality team, which works on a multitude of projects for Toyota and Lexus, has grown from about fifteen people a duo years ago to thirty five people today, he said.
"In our practice, fresh technologies that permit consumers to interact with virtual vehicles actually enhance the in-person test drive," Cooper Ericksen, VP-vehicle and marketing communications for Toyota, said in an emailed statement. "Guests arrive at a test drive more informed about the vehicle. They know the questions they want to ask, creating a much more satisfying practice."
