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Publishers adopt 360 ads, expanding reach of immersive content from brands

Brands such as Jack in the Box and Samsung are finding wider audiences for their virtual reality and 360-degree video content now that a growing number of publishers, including Vice and Twitch, have launched advertising products to support immersive content. 

With consumers embracing virtual reality and 360-degree video, a number of brands have jumped in and created their own content to connect with their respective audiences in a more immersive manner. Getting the content in front of consumers has been a challenge, but this is starting to change as more publishers look to monetize their own VR and 360 video content. 

?Once a brand has invested the time and energy into creating Virtual Reality content, it is critical to get eyeballs on this content to justify that investment,? said Brad Phaisan, CEO of OmniVirt

?To date, the prevailing technology in the marketplace has been to build a VR app or upload your content to YouTube,? he said. ?For brands that are launching campaigns for specific initiatives, this creates an additional barrier to getting their audience to interact with their Virtual Reality content.

?Now, Jack-in-the-Box, who was looking to reach a young male gaming audience with their Brewhouse Burger can leverage their VR content on Twitch. The same is true for Samsung with their campaign for Beyond The Frame, aligned perfectly with Vice's audience.?

Immersive content
Both Twitch and Vice recently added 360 ad programs in partnership with OmniVirt. 

Vice?s new ad product is called Three Sixty and launched on Monday with the trailer for Samsung?s Beyond The Frame series, which was created for the Samsung VR app and Samsung Gear VR. 

With the new ad product, Vice can showcase the trailer for the series through its existing mobile and desktop inventory without the need for as special VR app. 


Scaling up reach
While interest in VR content is high, promoting the immersive experiences presents some challenges for publishers and brands, limiting the ability to promote the content at scale. 

OmniVirt?s technology addresses this by enabling publishers and brands to power and promote 360 video anywhere on the Web with a single tap by viewers and without the need of an app or headset. 


The technology works across desktop, mobile Web, mobile app and tablets. 

Twitter also recently partnered with OmniVirt, enabling users to view 360 video from the feed. 
?Powering these experiences requires complicated technology and is not something easy for a publisher to build themselves,? Mr. Phaisan said. 

?We are enabling publishers like Vice, Twitch and many others to power these experiences right on their own media property,? he said. ?This is providing these publishers with an immersive advertising and content experience as well as giving their brand partners like Jack-In-The-Box and Samsung greater reach and engagement with the VR content they are producing, which results in higher CPMs for the publisher.?