Trend Overview VR marketing involves creating ‘computer emulated reality experiences’ in communication strategy, allowing users to interact directly with a service or product with the idea of telepresence (Walker 2018 & Revfine 2019). Virtual reality has been remarkably considered trendy with ‘75% of top world brands have already integrated some form of virtual or augmented reality experience for customers..’ (Korolov 2015 & Walker 2018), estimating that by 2020, the global Virtual Reality market will be worth approximately $30 billion (Akkaş 2018) Figure 1. Topshop Slide Ocolus (Eventual n.d.) Image 2. Marriott Hotel's Virtual Travel Experience (Attractions Management 2014) How VR marketing is better than traditional tools Increasing preference of personalization in brands content requires the use of most immersive, engaging and interactive channels in communication strategy (Stuart 2018), which is VR tools’ strength thanks to the ability to ‘put people at the heart of your brand and marketing communications...create an environment that totally encompasses the customer’s every sense’ (Stuart 2018). The use of 3D technology to create unbelievably realistic platform for users is more effective than boring 2D platforms (Shahid 2019). By creating individual experiences based on consumers’ insights, there are ‘higher levels of interactivity and vividness resulting in visual richness’, which eventually offer consumers the most realistic touch of products (Choi and Taylor, 2014 & Van Kerrebroeck, Brengman & Willems 2017). This type of personalized marketing has been proved to drive greater customer loyalty and engagement through making customers emotionally attached, using customized materials to bring them personified experience, identify the communication gap between brands and customers, and mitigate them effectively. (Shahid 2019). Figure 3. Reproduced from vrplay 2016 Hence, VR tools can create enhanced customer experiences. Rather than simply advertising for products, many brands seek to develop a conversation with their customers using human senses to form emotional attachment to influence purchase decision making process. (Rodrigues 2018). The concept of experiential marketing refers to ‘a response to the inability of traditional marketing to adapt to the new market conditions of large amount of information and communication revolution’ (Kavran, Lončarić & Dlačić 2016). Virtual experience ultimately helps improving customer experience thanks to the exceptional fabrication of new situations that not everyone can have the chance to encounter (Revfine 2019). Hence, leading customers into brands' own designed world can easily build up an environment to show customers what is it like being a part of your brand and what are actually inside your values and your vision (Stuart 2018). Image 4. Reproduced from VR Life 2016 VR marketing also impact sales figures as the findings of a study on impact of virtual brand experience on purchase intentions have stated, that presenting brand presence virtually can have effective impacts on raising consumer's interest in purchasing a particular product, and eventually, has the potential to increase real sales figure (Gabisch & Gwebu 2011). As mentioned above, since VR marketing associated with higher vividness, there are bigger chances that it will positively affect consumers’ attitudes towards promoting materials and stimulates purchase intentions (Grudzewski, Awdziej, Mazurek & Piotrowska 2018). The VR technology in Vietnam market Vietnam market is still facing certain obstacles due to high cost of implementation and lack of internal knowledge (Human Asia 2019 & CO-WELL 2019). Until now, few Vietnamese brands have established big VR campaigns like IKEA Virtual Reality Showroom, but there have been baby-steps in the creation of VR-based marketing. Real estates corporations and projects such as Vinhomes group or Lotus Residence have already seeked the need of realistic marketing using 3D image simulation or panorama 360 virtual tour (Ngoc Diep 2017). Figure 5. Reproduced from Vinhomes 2019 Figure 6. Reproduced from Chungcudep n.d. One representative is The Dutch Lady and its ‘Flying Farm' application. When scanning the Dutch Lady milk packs through digital devices, a pop-up animated character called Matt will appear and introduce about the brand (MMA 2015). You can unlock new characters of animals to see Matt augmented flying on the different animals, which encouraged users to use the app and interact more with The Dutch Lady in general (Håkansson 2018 & MMA 2015). With the campaign resulted in 19% increase in volume sales and over 40,000 downloads, Dutch Lady was considered a successful pioneer in developing ‘a never-seen-before innovation in the milk category in Vietnam and currently listed as the only milk-branded mobile’ (Håkansson 2018 & MMA 2015). Figure 7. Reproduced from AR Post 2018 Figure 8. Reproduced from Augmented Reality & Co. n.d. Local brands should find a way to embrace this strategy that suits with characters of Vietnam market, as VR marketing can showcase different capabilities of products as well as improve the communication message (Infosys 2019 & Grudzewski, Awdziej, Mazurek & Piotrowska 2018). References Akkaş, E 2018, ‘Localizing VR: Why Cinderella can’t wear glass slippers in Vietnam’, TC World, viewed 23 December 2019, <http://www.tcworld.info/e-magazine/translation-and-localization/article/localizing-vr-why-c inderella-cant-wear-glass-slippers-in-vietnam/> Choi, Y., K & Taylor, R., C 2014, ‘How do 3-dimensional images promote products on the Internet?’, Journal of Business Research, vol.67(10), pp.2164-2170, viewed 21 December 2019, <https://www-sciencedirect-com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/science/article/pii/S0148296314001 702> CO-WELL 2019, ‘Thực tế ảo tại Việt Nam - Chững lại hay tiến về phía trước?’, Viet Nam Software and IT Services Association, 9 January, viewed 23 December 2019, <http://www.vinasa.org.vn/Default.aspx?sname=vinasa&sid=4&pageid=3076&catid=4212&i d=11587&catname=Tin-Hoi-vien&title=Thuc-te-ao-tai-Viet-Nam---Chung-lai-hay-tien-ve-p hia-truoc-> Gabisch, J & Gwebu, K 2011, ‘Impact of virtual brand experience on purchase intentions: the role of multichannel congruence’, Journal of electronic commerce research, vol.12(4), pp.302-319, viewed 21 December 2019, <https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/docview/963632718?accountid=13552 &rfr_id=info%3Axri%2Fsid%3Aprimo> Grudzewski, F, Awdziej, M, Mazurek, G & Piotrowska, K 2018, ‘Virtual reality in marketing communication – the impact on the message, technology and offer perception – empirical study 1’, Economics and Business Review, vol.4(3), pp.36-50, viewed 21 December 2019, <http://www.ebr.edu.pl/pub/2018_3_36.pdf> Håkansson, L 2018, ‘Virtual and Augmented Reality in Marketing’, University of Applied Science Ltd., viewed 20 December 2019, <https://members.aixr.org/storage/Virtual%20and%20Augmented%20Reality%20in%20Mar keting%202018.pdf> Human Asia 2019, ‘Robert Duc Nguyen – When Virtual Became A Reality in Vietnam’, Human Asia, viewed 23 December 2019, <https://www.thehumanasia.com/en/robert-duc-nguyen-when-virtual-becomes-a-reality-mim oza-vietnam-vr/> Infosys 2019, ‘Driving customer experience using AR/VR technologies', Infosys, viewed 21 December 2019, <https://www.infosys.com/services/digital-interaction/documents/driving-customer-experienc e.pdf> Korolov, M 2015, ‘75% of top brands have VR projects’, Hypergrid Business, 29 October, viewed 20 December 2019, <https://www.hypergridbusiness.com/2015/10/75-of-top-brands-have-vr-projects/> MMA 2015, ‘The Flying Farm’, Brands Vietnam, viewed 23 December 2019, <https://www.brandsvietnam.com/campaign/62-Dutch-Lady-The-Flying-Farm#home> Ngoc Diep 2017, ‘Đội marketing các công ty lớn đang ứng dụng công nghệ thực tế ảo vào trải nghiệm người dùng thông minh như thế này đây!’, Cafebiz, 3 June, viewed 23 December 2019, <http://cafebiz.vn/doi-marketing-cac-cong-ty-lon-dang-ung-dung-cong-nghe-thuc-te-ao-vao-t rai-nghiem-nguoi-dung-thong-minh-nhu-the-nay-day-20170510135544666.chn> Revfine 2019, ‘5 Benefits of Virtual Reality Marketing for The Travel Industry’, Revfine, viewed 20 December 2019, <https://www.revfine.com/virtual-reality-marketing/> Rodrigues, R 2018, ‘Experiential Marketing & VR/AR: The Future of Brands?’, Medium, 12 January, viewed 20 December 2019, <https://medium.com/@rui.rodrigues33/experiential-marketing-vr-the-future-of-brands-7aefc 2ffddb1> Shahid, N 2019, ‘Augmented and Virtual Reality: The Latest Engagement Drivers in B2B Marketing’, The Good Men Project, 31 October, viewed 21 December 2019, <https://goodmenproject.com/business-ethics-2/augmented-and-virtual-reality-the-latest-enga gement-drivers-in-b2b-marketing/> Stuart, H 2018, ‘Virtual reality marketing: using VR to grow a brand and create impact', Kogan Page Limited, London, UK., viewed 21 December 2019, <https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/RMIT/detail.action?docID=5527507> Van Kerrebroeck, H, Brengman, M & Willems, K 2017, ‘When brands come to life: experimental research on the vividness effect of Virtual Reality in transformational marketing communications’, Virtual Reality, vol.21(4), pp.177-191, viewed 21 December 2019, <https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/docview/1937358887?accountid=13552&rfr_id=info%3Axri%2Fsid%3Aprimo> Walker, S 2018, ‘Virtual Reality Marketing: Is The Next Big Opportunity Already Here?’, Digital Doughnut, 13 August, viewed 20 December 2019, <https://www.digitaldoughnut.com/articles/2018/august/virtual-reality-marketing-is-it-alread y-here>
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