Category Archives: Virtual Reality

Effective Multibenefit Marketing

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When an exceptional product, service, or solution fails to gain momentum, the challenge often lies in its marketing strategy. This predicament is notably prevalent across industries like food, travel, and financial services, where the competition is fierce and consumer expectations are high. The secret to overcoming this hurdle is rooted in multibenefit marketing – a comprehensive approach that showcases the various advantages your offering brings to the table.

To dissect the issue, it’s crucial to scrutinize the benefits your product or service provides. This analysis isn’t merely about listing features; it’s about understanding how these features translate into functional, symbolic, and experiential benefits for your customers. For instance, in the food industry, a product might not only offer the functional benefit of nutrition but also the symbolic benefit of sustainability and the experiential benefit of unique flavors. Similarly, travel services can highlight the practicality of hassle-free planning, the prestige of exclusive destinations, and the joy of immersive experiences. Financial services can promise the efficiency of transactions, the status of premium offerings, and the peace of mind that comes with expert advice.

If your offering is struggling to make an impact, it’s time to reevaluate your marketing approach. Are you effectively communicating how your product or service meets various customer needs and desires? By emphasizing the multifaceted benefits, you can appeal to a broader audience and enhance your product’s attractiveness. This strategy not only distinguishes your offering from competitors but also addresses the diverse motivations behind customer choices, increasing your likelihood of success.

In essence, if you find your groundbreaking product, service, or solution languishing in obscurity, consider whether your marketing effectively highlights its multiple benefits. This approach could be the catalyst you need to capture the attention and hearts of potential customers, propelling your offering to the success it truly deserves.

So how you got here?

Many will tell you that if you build an amazing product it will sell by itself, but many companies have found that it requires not just an amazing product but then the effort of the Marketing Team to position that product, specifically, tangible, in several categories. During my time as head of Marketing in several industries from Food, Technology and Financial Services, I always used a rule for those programs and assigning spending to it, even before you can think on what media, where , etc.. you have to make sure you define this 3 benefits :

– Functional Benefits: Practical advantages like time-saving, cost reduction, or problem-solving. For instance, a car’s good mileage or a software’s user-friendly interface.

– Symbolic Benefits: The status or identity the product confers on its owner, making them feel successful, eco-friendly, or part of an exclusive group. Examples are the elegance of an Apple product or Patagonia’s eco-conscious image.

– Experiential Benefits: The feelings or sensations experienced during use, such as joy, comfort, or nostalgia. Disneyland’s immersive entertainment and the comforting aroma of cinnamon rolls are prime examples.

EVEN MORE NOW

In today’s competitive market, successful brands understand that effective marketing transcends mere product promotion. It involves a holistic approach that encompasses multiple types of benefits to resonate deeply with consumers.

This strategy is not confined to any single industry but is applicable across various sectors, including Food, Travel, and Financial Services. I have been involved in those three, so my take of how it will look my definition of targeting.

Food Industry: Take, for example, a gourmet restaurant that sources its ingredients locally. The functional benefits here include the freshness and quality of the food. Symbolically, it communicates a commitment to community support and environmental sustainability, enhancing the diner’s perception of contributing to a greater cause. The experiential benefit comes from the unique dining experience, where the story of each dish adds to the overall enjoyment and satisfaction of the meal. This multifaceted approach not only attracts customers looking for a high-quality meal but also those who value environmental sustainability and community support.

Travel Industry: In the travel sector, a luxury tour operator might offer packages to exotic destinations. The functional benefits include comprehensive travel planning, comfortable accommodations, and personalized itineraries. On a symbolic level, it conveys a sense of exclusivity and achievement, appealing to the traveler’s desire for prestige and social status. The experiential benefits are found in the immersive experiences offered, from private tours of hidden gems to exclusive access events, providing travelers with memories that last a lifetime. This blend of benefits appeals to a wide range of travelers, from those seeking convenience and comfort to those desiring unique and enriching experiences.

Financial Services: A wealth management firm provides another excellent example. Functionally, it offers sound financial advice and investment strategies. Symbolically, being a client of a reputed firm can signify financial success and security. The experiential benefit comes from the personalized service and the sense of confidence and peace of mind that comes from knowing one’s financial future is in good hands. This combination of benefits attracts clients not just for the financial expertise but for the prestige and personalized experience as well.

The most effective marketing strategies are those that offer a blend of functional, symbolic, and experiential benefits. By appealing to a broad spectrum of consumer needs and desires, brands can differentiate themselves in a crowded marketplace. Whether it’s the food we eat, the places we travel, or the way we manage our finances, the value of a product or service is greatly enhanced when it’s marketed through a multi-faceted lens. As businesses continue to evolve, so too will the art of marketing, always with the goal of creating deeper connections with consumers.

VR , Project Tango and what does it really mean …

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Google just announce that Project Tango, their vision of how we bring to real live, the depiction of Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash vision of how we will combine what we do, how we do it, between the real world, the Universe, and the virtual world, the METAVERSE

In his world, Stephenson people will be going from one to the other, using something very similar to the Oculus, where people could even work, managing automated devices, from a distance, from home or some other place, but also they will have at some point to interact in person.  Countries become server farms and URL’s

Looking at how investment in this area is accelerating, we can understand why Project Tango is so important.

Media-In-ARVR-2-Header

Investment is accelerating in this area, mostly forced by Media companies, that can feel this is a great opportunity to level the competition ( CB Insights )

But while Google plays with all these concepts, and spend their stockholders money in all this research, the rest of the world has to deal with what is the definitions of VR = Virtual Reality.

Let’s see what FB thinks about VR : During FB8 Mark Zuckerberg was clear about VR , but no so much : “We had 360-degree open-source cameras. We had the bot revolution.We had antennas connecting the unconnected. It’s all sort of smoke and mirrors right now, but Facebook at least seems to be making this real much faster than anyone would have ever thought.”

Talking to some friends in the space, here is where i am today.  So far all the the different explanations lead me to one of these 3 :

Virtual Reality Definitions:

  • The most common these days is 360 video ( most of the pieces of the NYTimes )  Don’t know if I would call this Virtual Reality.  Eveything is REAL… nothing is added.  You can just play with what was taken… Is like having the best seat at the Opera house.  perfect for creating Travel guides, Museums Virtual visits, etc.. but all you need is a camera that is taking in 360 degrees so you can show that and let the technology control what you see or not.  This could (is ) typically added with 3D and there are way too many applications as well as specialized hardware doing this ( Oculus being the most important).

YouTube’s head of product Neal Mohan put it recently, when talking about the experience of 360 video, all you need for VR with Google is a smartphone and cheap Cardboard viewer. “Those are the kinds of magical experiences this technology is going to be able to create, without having to spend money on some fancy headset.” Tango is likely going to take that strategy, and push it one step further.

  • Augmented Reality.  I called this the Hybrid solution, You have a REAL image, video, Text and they by using technology you can over impose virtual things. Over impose video, images, where real takes get mixed with  images stored.  The best example I was able to imagine ( there are others but for now this is very good explaining what I mean)  think of a room, or house, where you can see the room through the lens of you camera, cellphone, etc. What you see are walls, empty room.  Then you use one of those hardware ( like Oculus or the cardboard or plastic where you just place your cel phone) and through and app you are suddenly immerse in that empty room.  Now with your hands and using your head as movement, you can start adding “furniture” that you have in a file or maybe even from Furniture Stores that you access online. The furniture takes the exact size to fit or not inside the room.   What it means is that based on a REAL physical experience ( the Room, the House, etc) you start adding images, video or text that is NOT real.

IKEA tried this in 2014 Catalog , that is 2 years ago… it had too many glitches, bu they were in the right direction.  Ikea just announce a new version developed at the French company Allegorithmic, using Unreal Engine 4 from Epic Games, specific for Kitchen design

  • VIRTUAL REALITY.  Now, think of yourself sitting or laying at home.  Your device operating in front of your eyes in a closed vision path. ( hardware like Oculus or cardboard or plastic with a cel phone that has an app that controls the 3D sensation and that control with movement).     You are suddenly ANY place in the world, you can access ANY posible video experience that has been prepared ( or in the near future, these “experiences” could be totally unprepared) you are suddenly talking to people (the redefinition of Instant Messenger) , presenting yourself with a specific image ( an avatar? ), buying , selling, interacting with other people or situations. … nothing is real world, but everything seems to exist.   You just place yourself in a another dimension.

For now we have to focus on the first one.. Content companies need to prepare for all this, let their content free so it can be accesses by any other program/person in a virtual fashion.  Today is still a dream.