Blend Blog

Creating a one-of-a-kind Immersive Experience

Simon Brooksbank / a month ago

We recently partnered with M Booth to create the content for an interactive experience for The Macallan. The final project included a 20ftx20ft projected cube, 4D multi-sensory VR experience in New York’s Grand Central Station, enabling visitors to this experience feel closer to the brand by virtually visiting its new £120m distillery and spiritual home in Speyside, Scotland. Every ambitious creative is always looking for new and dynamic ways to tell stories and for creatives who want to push the envelope and create one-of-a-kind interactive experiences, its a constant learning process. I’ve been producing video content in one form or another for 25 years now and I wanted to share some experiences, learnings and anecdotes from producing what was a big production for a major brand using a new medium. Always exciting...

INTRODUCING OUR NEW 360 CONTENT COLLECTIONS

Noor Anwar / 2 months ago

As immersive content and the technology driving it develops, we are striving to bring you the best 360 content from around the world at prices that everyone can afford. We’ve built the world’s largest library of premium 360 videos and photos created by our growing global network of expert 360 creators. Our customers are some of the world’s largest brands, corporations and publishers - including Google, Samsung, Sony, T-Mobile, Facebook, Coca-Cola, NASA, The Macallan, L’Oréal, P&G and McCann. We are pleased to announce that we’ve added three new collections of content, that make it super easy to find exactly the type of content you are searching for and decide what fits your budget - highlighting some of our lowest prices yet. The collections are divided into Rights Managed and Royalty Free content: Rights Managed (RM): Our premium collection which includes the most unique and exceptional content of top quality. Pricing for this content will be determined according to how you want to use the content, in which regions and for how long. You will be asked to request a price quote on the website for all RM content.

IVRPA Tokyo 2018 | Blend Media

Simon Brooksbank / 4 months ago

Tokyo is right up there as one of my favourite cities in the world. I’ve been lucky enough to have visited twice already and so when it was announced that the 2018 IVRPA conference was going to be held there, I was already packing! The IVRPA is the International Virtual Reality Professionals Association and its members are a mix of professional photographers, videographers, programmers, wed developers, designers, software developers, hardware manufacturers, artists and enthusiasts who all work to produce and grow the medium of 360 in all its various forms. The IVRPA itself strives to promote the success of these VR professionals and develop and support the growth of the medium as a whole through education, network events, hardware manufacturer alliances and technical support for its members. Needless to say anyone who’s anyone in VR is a member and we were all there in Tokyo! Blend Media along with Facebook were proud to partner with the event, which saw 4 days of talks, workshops, panels, demonstrations and other events presented by leaders of the VR industry who shared their knowledge and experiences. Over the four days there were some 30 presentations with a terrific list of speakers from all across our industry – from individual experts such as Blend creator and influencer Al Caudullo, NativeVR Founder Nathalie Mathe, and AirPano’s Sergey Semenov (below) to media-defining organisations including Facebook, Adobe, Kolor, Insta, Kandao and Google.

IVRPA

Road Safety: How Can Virtual Reality Save Lives? | Blend Media

James King-Thompson / 4 months ago

This post will look into the fundamental importance of road safety and how 360 VR has been used as a new innovative solution to educate people about driving safely. Last year there were 176,500 road accident casualties, of all severities, according to the Department for Transport. Furthermore, according to Statista, the USA has seen an increase in the number of traffic-related fatalities since 2014. In 2014 in the USA there were 1.08 traffic-related fatalities per 100 million VMT (vehicle metres travelled), which significantly increased to 1.18 traffic-related fatalities per 100 million VMT.

360 Video Creator Voices: AirPano | Blend Media

Julianne Rooney / 4 months ago

In this episode of 360 Video Creator Voices we interviewed Blend creator and new partners, AirPano. AirPano are based in Russia and specialise in high-resolution, 360-degree aerial footage. Find out more about the partnership here. Watch the 360 video below for a quick taste of what AirPano have to offer.

AirPano

All-Round Success: Here’s How Brands Use 360º Video to its Full Potential

Damian Collier / 4 months ago

The average consumer is exposed to around 5,000 ads per day, making it harder than ever before for advertisers to achieve cut through with traditional advertising formats, such as still imagery and standard 2D video. Advertisers, brands and online publishers need to grab attention in new ways and 360º video offers a solution. There has been much talk about immersive technologies, such as virtual reality (VR), as a tool to rejuvenate advertising and marketing campaigns. The market has gathered a lot of interest from a consumer, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. By 2023, Asia-Pacific is forecast to deliver around half of AR/VR global revenue. Yet despite its growing popularity among consumers, it’s still difficult for brands and agencies in the region to harness the power of VR. Using VR can be costly and labor-intensive to deliver. And even then, the content can only be viewed by a niche audience that has invested in a headset.

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Top campaigns that untap the potential of 360° video in the APAC Region

Damian Collier / 4 months ago

Virtual Reality (VR) and other immersive technologies have gained a lot of interest in recent years, particularly in Asia Pacific where forecasts predict that around half of AR/VR global revenue will be delivered in the region by 2023. Despite VR’s growing popularity among consumers in Asia Pacific, it’s still difficult for brands and agencies to harness the power of the format. There are a number of barriers for the adoption of VR, including the cost and time to create and deliver VR content, as well as the necessary devices needed for the consumer to view the content. 360° video has emerged as a unique medium that gives consumers the opportunity to take control, look around and discover more when compared to standard 2D or still imagery. Research from Google shows that 360° video delivers a 5X higher engagement rate than standard 2D video when used in advertising campaigns. It also encourages more repeat views, as consumers can have a different experience each time. While VR is still emerging as a popular medium, brands can use 360° videos in order to create and publish immersive content easily. For consumers, this type of content is also easier to access through desktop or mobile devices without needing to put on a headset. Across the Asia-Pacific, 360° video is already being used successfully today by forward-thinking brands and agencies to help them offer deeper and more meaningful connections with consumers. We have selected some of the best examples of how the medium has been used, why it works and most importantly, how this can be applied by marketers to create compelling campaigns in the future. Hong Kong Airlines: Enabling a virtual “try before you buy” experience Hong Kong Airlines has utilized the benefits of 360° video in its campaign to offer potential customers the chance to walk through business class and experience premium travel. The airline worked with Kiosked to use 360° video in banner ads that provided an immersive experience to show, rather than tell, its audience about the possibilities of premium travel. By allowing consumers to experience this premium service before buying, the airline’s ad was 35 times more effective than Kiosked’s traditional display ad counterparts and prompted consumers to upgrade their seats to upper class. AirAsia: Using 360° video to unearth hidden gems Last year, AirAsia launched a 360° video campaign to boost tourism in the region and commemorate the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)’s 50th anniversary. The videos aimed to provide consumers with an insight into the quirks and iconic features of all ten ASEAN Member States, with highlights including island paragliding in Vang Vieng, driving Lamborghinis in Singapore, hot air ballooning over Myanmar’s Bagan Temples and swimming with Turtles in Indonesia. By producing these videos, AirAsia allowed consumers from across the world to experience the full beauty of each of the ASEAN nations as if they were there. Furthermore, 360º video was able to highlight the beauty of lesser known gems in the region to inspire people to visit. Art Basel: Using 360 video for an all-inclusive experience Art Basel Hong Kong, is the largest contemporary art fair in Asia. It attracts over 70,000 visitors and offers a platform for artists from all over the world. When Art Basel Hong Kong opened its doors to the general public in March earlier this year, it also opened its virtual doors by creating a 360° interactive tour with photos and interviews with artists and collectors. The tour was designed to transport art lovers, who were unable to attend, to the fair and enable them to enjoy the highlights. This is a great example of a brand using 360° video to create an all-inclusive experience for consumers. While the Art Basel, Hong Kong attracts a huge number of physical visitors it recognised it could increase interest and sales by creating an online experience that allowed virtual visitors. In the digital era it’s incredibly important for brands to realise that events can be both an online and offline experience. This article was originally published by CMO Innovation.

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