Google's goggles open up new world for auto marketers

When a diamond heist goes awry, there's only one car to turn to for the getaway: the 2015 Mini Cooper hardtop.

At least that's how it plays in Mini's virtual fantasy world.

Mini's small car has been cast in two virtual reality enhanced narratives that the automaker commissioned and shared in November on The New York Times' freshly launched VR app. The short film Backwater is centered on a heist, while Real Memories focuses on a man coping with apparent amnesia.

The films, initially released by Mini in September on YouTube, receive a visual boost when viewed on the app through the hand-held Google Cardboard device, which turns a smartphone into a cheap set of virtual reality goggles. (When viewing without Google Cardboard, users can rotate their phones or tablets to get a 360-degree effect. Computer viewers can click on their screens to explore the environment.)

As part of the campaign, Mini planned to distribute 140,000 free cardboard viewers worldwide that are based on the new version of Google's set that came out this summer.

"It's the first time we've told any stories in virtual reality," said Tom Noble, Mini USA's marketing chief.

Mini's partnership with The Times illustrates how virtual reality is reaching the masses in auto marketing. While Google Cardboard isn't nearly as advanced as other upcoming options such as the Oculus Rift VR headset from Facebook or Microsoft's HoloLens augmented-reality glasses, it allows automakers to dabble in a developing market with engaging content that's accessible to a wide range of smartphone-owning consumers.

Google has broadened the reach of smartphone-based virtual reality by making the specifications of Cardboard open source. That means companies can manufacture and sell their own sets by participating in the tech company's third-party certification program, said Aaron Luber, Google's head of partnerships for VR. 

"VR is providing a brand-new way for consumers and fans to engage with brands," Luber said. "It's not necessarily an advertising thing." It's about showing consumers "a new perspective of a brand and experience [they] are going to see and enjoy." 

The Times delivered around 1 million Google Cardboard sets to subscribers last month. Google doesn't sell the devices, but the third-party versions can go for a few dollars to the $30 range depending on the version.

For comparison, the Rift will come with a rumored price tag of more than $350 when it goes on sale in 2016, while reports say the developer editions for HoloLens will cost $3,000 when they roll out in 2016. 

Those pricier options might still have a place in dealer showrooms. During Volvo's HoloLens demonstration in November, journalists interacted with holographic versions of the S90 -- think Tony Stark in Iron Man -- ahead of the sedan's physical debut next month at the Detroit auto show.

But it's tough to envision an automaker sending more than 1 million of those systems to consumers to give them unique experiences. 

Volvo is the only automotive company working with Microsoft in the development of HoloLens, but its virtual reality flirtations go beyond that technology. 

Volvo released an app in 2014 offering test drives of the XC90 crossover that people can view with Google Cardboard, a contraption that consumers considered "new news" at the time, said Thomas Andersson, vice president of global marketing for Volvo Car Group. 

"We are not locked into one technology," Andersson said. "We're after the experience you can get." 

Lexus and Infiniti are also trying 360-degree videos and virtual apps that can be viewed on YouTube on computers or within the Google Cardboard format. 

Joe Laszlo, vice president of industry initiatives for the Interactive Advertising Bureau, said partnerships such as the one Mini formed with The Times will be critical to enabling virtual reality experiences for a wider spectrum of people.

Laszlo thinks low-cost options such as Google Cardboard, which take advantage of the mobile devices people already own, will be the focus for marketers interested in virtual reality projects over the next couple of years because of the established user base. Google expects to have 2 million of its devices in circulation by year end. 

Beyond that time frame, Laszlo said he sees growth potential for the costlier hardware offerings. 

"In the last three or four months or so, I'm having more and more conversations with folks on the agency side, media companies and technology vendors about virtual reality and augmented reality," Laszlo said.

As with all new media, marketers must tread lightly with their commercial messages lest consumers tire of them before they have a chance to develop. 

Consumers don't want traditional advertising to follow them into the virtual world, said Stephan Lammermann, chief technology officer of German digital ad agency KKLD*, which worked on the Mini films with virtual reality production companies Unit9 and Bipolar Id. The films were shot over 2 1/2 days in June in Barcelona, Spain. 

The story-driven approach made the product placement less conspicuous. Running shots of the car and the Mini Connected infotainment system are mixed into the action, but in a way that flows with the story. 

Lammermann said the team wanted to try things such as slow motion that some say can't be done in virtual reality. The crew pulled off the slow motion effects, but because of camera limitations, it couldn't make them as slow as it wanted. 

"I think [people] expect compelling content and new experiences" from virtual reality, Lammermann said. "That's why we've decided not to go the virtual test drive or the traditional advertising route, but rather try to create a new kind of content for the medium and push the boundaries."