The 4 Best Virtual Reality Campaigns in the World

As technology develops, people are not satisfied by 2D or 3D images. Instead, they want to explore and interact, by themselves, with the people and environments inside the images. Virtual reality gives them such a chance. Because of this fabulous characteristic, the quality and quantity of virtual reality campaigns all over the world improved dramatically in recent years. There is no doubt that virtual reality will become one of the most important tools for public relations professionals. But what does a successful virtual reality campaign look like? Here are the four best virtual reality campaigns in the world.

• Volvo: Volvo Reality

In order to prompt the all-new Volvo XC90, Volvo started a virtual reality campaign, Volvo Reality, in 2014, on Google Cardboard, which is a virtual reality platform that converts a smartphone into a virtual reality headset with only cardboard, magnets and lens. Volvo, working with R/GA, an advertising agency, recorded beautiful scenes on a country road in Vancouver and blended it with the car interior. People who experienced it saw themselves sitting inside of the car and driving. They not only enjoyed the view, but got familiar with the car months before it was available in store. One biggest advantage of this campaign is convenience. Customers who were interested in this campaign could make themselves a virtual reality headset and participated at home, which helped Volvo win more potential customers and 238 million media impressions.

• Thomas Cook: Try Before You Fly

In January 2015, Thomas Cook, a British global travel company, launched the Try Before You Fly virtual reality campaign with Samsung Gear VR. The company produced several well-known travel experiences such as a helicopter tour of New York City and a snorkeling excursion in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt. The virtual reality services, allowing customers to enjoy fast travel experience, were offered at 10 of the company’s stores in the U.K., Germany and Belgium. This campaign offered people a free tour and a chance to evaluate whether those cities are worth visiting. The free tour attracted many customers, and this campaign resulted in a 190 percent increase in New York travel bookings in 2015.

• Samsung: Bedtime VR Stories

With help from BBH London, Samsung launched the sweetest virtual reality campaign called Bedtime VR Stories in 2016. This campaign was specially designed for parents and children who were not able to be together physically. With kids wearing the Google Cardboard, while parents sporting the Samsung Gear VR, Bedtime VR Stories allowed them to sat together on a magic bed inside a virtual reality world and started their adventures. The only tale this campaign launched with was called "The Most Wonderful Place to Be." On their journey, parents and kids would visit three astounding places, including the Arctic, a prehistoric world and outer space, before they finally finding out that the most wonderful place to be is side by side. During the journal, live chat was also available, which made the experience even more realistic. Bedtime VR Stories was a huge success. However, there were still many aspects that could be improved such as using a more adorable image as your head instead of a floating purple ball and producing more stories so kids don’t get tired of the same one every night.

• Lockheed Martin: The Field Trip to Mars

Different from all other virtual reality campaigns, The Field Trip to Mars, launched by Lockheed Martin with the help of McCann New York in Washington DC in 2016, was the first ever group virtual reality experience with neither goggles nor headsets. It took schoolchildren, who thought it was just a common road trip as usual, on a journey to explore Mars on a bus. With incredible new technology, windows on the school bus were transformed into high definition displays, so kids could look around and enjoy the view on Mars. in order to make this experience more realistic, every stop, turn, slow-down or speed-up you made on earth would reflect on the scene you saw. When the bus turned, the landscape turned just like the bus was actually driving on Mars. This campaign was the most awarded campaign at the 2016 Cannes Lions festival, winning 19 Lions. It is also meaningful because it is not only an educational program but also an innovation in class that can be applied broadly.

Above are the four best virtual reality campaigns in the world. As the technology will keep being improved, and new devices will emerge in endlessly, there is no doubt that virtual reality campaigns will become more marvelous and diverse. At the same time, mobile virtual reality equipment will definitely reach a new height. It is reasonable to expect that, in the future, virtual reality will become as universal as smartphones, so it is important for public relations professionals to be familiar with the past successful campaigns, learn from them and be creative while producing new ones.