Tuesday, February 16, 2016

VR Headsets Go Beyond Gaming As The Latest Sales Tool


Back in December, I had published a marketoon by Greg Kessler on my LinkedIn account, suggesting we would be relying on VR headsets to paint a vision of the future. The idea behind this cartoon is the topic of a New York Times real estate section article this week. 'A New Dimension in Home Buying' by Jennifer Miller shows how Hallstead Realty is selling multi-million dollar properties by showing prospects a vision of what these condos will be through VR headsets. It's about evoking emotions and converting lookers to buyers when in the raw construction phase.
 

Hallstead's initiative is not only a clever gimmick, but hope that VR will have real commercial applications beyond gaming. Similar to real estate, VR headsets can be used in retail to show how to dress, cook, or experience a vacation. In auto, it can help drivers test their car in the wilderness, or through narrow streets of old European cities without leaving the dealer's showroom. If done right, VR stories can help propel new authors to best seller status by showing a preview of what those 300 pages hold.
 

As companies tie increasing profits to VR marketing, this type of storytelling will become mainstream (and with hopefully more attractive headsets)