The Audible - Pivoting at the Line, Pt. 3

Growing up, most, if not all, sports fans dreamt of becoming a sports hero.

We recreated championship moments on the playgrounds and driveways. We mimicked the big plays from our childhood, whether it was a walk off home run, the game winning touchdown, or sinking the winning basketball shot as the clock runs out.

For me, it was always about simulating iconic New York Yankees moments like becoming "Mr. November" in my own backyard.

We all tap into our imagination and creativity to stretch our own "realities". It's human nature to recreate our dreams and imagine the impossible.

What if technology can help us do just that - immerse us into the impossible and help us turn the unrealistic into a reality?

Today, we're going to call an audible on the metaphorical line of scrimmage by using immersive technologies to help us rethink the possibilities of reality.

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I'm sure you've heard all the buzz terms... Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Extended Reality, Mixed Reality, etc., etc. These days, there are so many "realities" in experiential marketing that it can be confusing to actually understand, well, what's "real".

As such, in Part 3 of The Audible, we're going to focus specifically on Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) to consider how immersive and multi-sensory experiences will allow to succeed in a current and post-crisis environment.

To help me this week, I caught up with Samantha Wolfe. Sam is an author, a technology and marketing consultant, and a true expert in these technologies. She has presented on the topic at major events such as SXSW and the NYVR Expo, and was kind enough to give me her perspective on the subject.

As Sam mentions, in her book, Marketing New Realities: An Introduction to Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality Marketing, Branding, & Communications, "Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are two of the biggest disruptors to ever hit the marketing and advertising industries."

Today, we'll jump into why they're so disruptive and how we - as Sports and Experiential Marketers - can use AR and VR to continue to succeed by creating truly immersive and impactful experiences for our consumers.

Let's use AR and VR to stretch our own realities.

Augmented Reality (AR)

In its simplest form, AR uses a device (in most cases, a smartphone) to place digital objects in a physical, real-world setting.

Personally, out of all the emerging technologies right now, I'm most bullish about the capabilities of AR, especially now that incredibly interactive and immersive experiences can be easily accessed through a web browser (Web AR) rather than needing an application to run.

Here are some reasons why I love it so much:

• Frictionless - accessing an AR experience is as simple as opening up a web browser. By far, it has the least barriers to entry for an experience to that can include so many interactive elements.
• Immersive - by placing digital or virtual objects in a real-world setting, we have the potential to layer in fascinating and never-before-seen content into an everyday environment. As Sam mentions, AR is important because "it’s enjoyable (and a bit powerful) to alter your environment and see something that only people 'in the know' can see. You become a bit of a Superman or Superwoman."

Here's an example of an AR experience, built on Snapchat, that allows users to enter the Stranger Things "Upside Down" through an AR "portal", which is an interactive and immersive 360° experience viewed through your smartphone:

• The "Wow Factor" - everyday, I'm blown away with the creative potential of AR. Whether it's falling in love with a dancing hot dog (Wired), or interacting with something so far beyond the reach of physical possibility, AR has the ability to add the cliche "wow factor" to any marketing program.

Here's an example of how the Baltimore Ravens created the "wow factor" by using AR in-stadium to build hype before a late-season football game in December:

AR is the future of our industry due to its immersive yet scalable nature, and it allows us launch an experiential activation in virtually any location.

Let's consider leveraging the technology for both immediate and future activations.

Virtual Reality (VR)

While AR places virtual elements into a physical world, VR is confined to an experience that relies on a headset and compatible interactive hardware to remove you from the outside world, placing you into a completely new, virtual environment.

It's been frequently used in the following ways:

• 360° Video - using a headset such as Google Cardboard or Samsung Gear VR to watch 360° content
• Interactive Experiences - using hardware such as the Oculus, HTC Vive, or specific gaming consoles that combines headset and joystick technology to interact with the 360° experience

VR has been an extremely popular technology used in event settings to create unique engagement opportunities. It has allowed us to place fans in stadiums, in the front seat of a race car, or on the golf course, allowing them to interact with worlds and environments not possible without the technology.

However, as we transition into a socially-distanced event environment, VR may become problematic at due to the obvious hesitation to share communal VR headsets.

While there's still hope for VR at events by using smart sanitizing solutions such as Cleanbox, Sam also stressed that VR maintains its relevance in the immediate future as long as we "define the marketplace" for it. Here are some of those applications:

• Social Media, Remote Learning, & Business Solutions - assuming we all have access to interactive VR devices, leveraging solutions like Facebook Horizon to interact in a new, immersive way

• Training & Business Solutions - using interactive VR to simulate mechanical or product training
• Gaming - using VR to create a point of view (POV) gaming experience, literally placing users inside a video game

VR provides us with the most immersive and interactive way to engage and interact with each other. As we understand more about the impact of the current crisis, we'll continue to strategize on how to best fit VR into our planning, whether it's through strict hygienic or sanitizing efforts, or through impactful social VR experiences to connect fans in a new way.

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As we continue to pivot our sports and experiential marketing efforts, it's important that we consider AR and VR both in the immediate and long term fan engagement planning process. These technologies allow us to interact with our consumers from any location, creating impactful marketing activations no matter where are fans are.

Let's use immersive and multi-sensory technologies to call our audible on the line of scrimmage and expand what's possible for our fans and consumers.