AIDA vs VR

If you are into marketing, you should be familiar with the AIDA principle.

The well-known acronym – which stands for Attention (Awareness), Interest, Desire, and Action – is being considered as a founding principle of modern marketing. It chronicles that stages from when a customer is introduced to a product until the point they try it out or make a purchase. Elias St. Elmo Lewis, who is considered a legend in the advertising industry, coined the phrase and the approach back the early 1900s.

The rule itself is now considered the longest-serving model used in advertising. Although it has gone through many refinements and extensions, it is very much still in use today.

Then comes in Virtual Reality. A means by which users can leave the limitations of our world behind and experience new thrills and prospects never before possible. Yet these two worlds might not be as distant as first imagined. In fact, in modern advertising VR is making its way into the AIDA principle, giving those that adopt it an edge over the competition.

AIDA vs VR: Attention / Awareness

Grabbing the audience or consumer attention is the first basic step in the AIDA principle. Here you have to interrupt and refocus the consumer into being aware of your product or brand.

So why not combine advanced technology AND this great marketing model and create some customer-magnet right away? Just take a moment and think about it: what’s more catchy than a VR exhibit of the latest and greatest offerings? Why not lets your Clients’ first introduction to your product or service be the one crafted in VR?

Do not forget that content that attracts usually contains new, contradictory, or provocative information. This at the same time must leave a positive impact on the potential customer.

Interest

Every good advertiser knows that once you have the clients’ attention, the next thing to do is gain their interest in your product or service. The best advertising pros can take a dry subject and delivering the information in a way that is enjoyable, entertaining, memorable, or funny.

This, however, is easier said than done. But what if you had a tool that allows you to create any scenario and environment you want. What if you could subject the client to experience your product or service from a different perspective.

One company, for example, created a 360° interactive world filled with rich, cocoa treats by Oreo. It is a fun VR marketing campaign created by digital agency 360i, that takes curious confectioners on a whimsical journey through a ‘wonder vault’.

Desire

You have set the stage and the client is interested in knowing more about your product and services. But they are not all the way convinced. It’s the time to reel them in by creating a desire within them.

Here the advertiser measures out the advantages of using the product or service as well as the benefits of choosing that specific brand over others. The aim is to make the target group see the company in a positive light as well as its brands, products, and services.

Imagine you are on a sandy white beach in the Bahamas, with the sun to the side, crystal clear waters beneath your feet and a tropical drink within arms reach.

With VR, you can more than imagine this but actually, see it and be immersed in it. Play volleyball on the sand, swim the coral-riffs and much more. You can also experience what a certain product would look like when placed in our home.

These are all examples of how you can gain desire by matching users’ wants with your products or brand with the use of VR technology. Companies like Boursin, a soft cheese supplier, created a virtual reality experience that takes you on a journey through a fridge full of delightful treats.

Action

Now the client is hooked and wants to subscribe, purchase or try out your product or service. It would make no sense to break the immersion and allow the user extra time to change his/her mind.

Hence, once the call to action segment of the VR experience is reached, advertisers can use any of the various VR enabled payment services to make their purchase in VR.

There is no longer a need to break the immersion simply to perform the final payment act. It should be noted here that no campaign, be it in or outside VR, is going to get a 100% response rate on the action step.

But the consumers who don’t take action should at least be left with a lasting and positive impression of your product. The action step might occur down the road when they see the product or hear about the service down the road and remember the experience.

AIDA vs VR: Summary

Virtual Reality allows us the liberty of creativity. Build a world to your own preference and explore to your heart’s content. These simple words, when used right can allow an advertiser to create a vision his/her potential clients can see.

Virtual Reality can be used to enhance the marketing approach, but you will need skilled hands to bring out your ideas and create that WOW factor for your clients. If done right, you will leave a lasting impression and increase sales and/or exposure.