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Deschutes Brewery uncaps virtual reality videos, immersing consumers in brand narrative

Oregon-based craft brewery Deschutes has become one of the first breweries of its kind to leverage virtual reality to communicate its brand message, releasing multiple stereoscopic 360-degree videos that bring the stories behind two of its beers to life on users? smartphones.

The featured beers, Black Butte Porter and Mirror Pond Pale Ale, were named after local Oregon landmarks Black Butte and Mirror Pond, respectively. The virtual reality videos ? created by local Oregon creative agency Impossible Engine ? place users in close proximity to these landmarks and portray both the landmarks and the company culture that inspired the beer.

?In a crowded craft beer market it's more important than ever to tell your story in the authentic and interactive way which VR allows you to do,? said Jason Randles, digital marketing manager at Deschutes Brewery.

?Just like any online content we have produced over the past five years, you have to think mobile first, and with VR the mobile experience is actually best and easiest to interact with. Unless, of course, you have an Oculus headset.?

Immersion as communication
The videos, hosted on YouTube, are best seen using a high-end virtual reality headset such as the Oculus Rift or the HTC Vive. But the most affordable and accessible way to view them is with a mobile device, assisted by an apparatus such as Google Cardboard.

The virtual reality experience is also available to those who view the video on the YouTube application.

The videos put the lush scenery of the Oregon wilderness on display. Its sheer beauty and expansiveness both justifies Deschutes? homages and serves as an excellent setting for the brewery?s first foray into VR.

For example, the video about Mirror Pond, the inspiration for its flagship pale ale, features views from a kayak on the pond, a vantage point of the Deschutes River, which feeds into the pond, and ends by placing the viewer within Deschutes? original brewpub in Oregon and an invitation to join them.

Throughout the video, narrators ? all of whom are co-owners at the employee-owned brewery ? detail the kinds of wildlife found in the Mirror Pond area and recount its history, which recruits accounts of Lewis and Clark and the Oregon Trail.

The next big thing
Virtual reality ? aside from the obvious pop culture ephemera ? has been a hot topic within the tech community in recent years, coming to a head with Oculus VR?s announcement of the Rift via Kickstarter in 2012.

However, due to the expensive point of entry for consumers, the field was seen as more of a novelty by marketers until the advent of both Google Cardboard and relatively inexpensive 3D rigs that work with cameras like the GoPro made the creation, dissemination and viewing of virtual reality immersive video much more realistic to the average consumer.

If the virtual reality field continues to grow at its current pace, marketers are sure to flock to the medium as another haven to effectively communicate brand message. 

And Deschutes, which did not attempt to confect artificially epic or groundbreaking virtual reality content but instead used the platform to craft a campaign that was simple, nuanced and true to brand, has set a good example for other brands to follow.

The emergence of virtual reality on the mobile has surged in multiple media platforms. Recently, Fox Sports broadcast a live college football matchup between Ohio State and Oklahoma featuring virtual reality technology on Android and iOS devices (see story).

Time, Inc. has also joined the conversation, rolling out Life VR, a new virtual reality application that enables readers to access its story telling on a more interactive medium (see story).

?Since the technology is easier to access now thanks to Google Cardboard, YouTube, and Facebook, the timing is perfect,? Mr. Randle said.

?And because the technology is still relatively new, consumers are looking for content, so it's great to be publishing content for them to discover.?