Posted in Uncategorized, Virtual Reality Bookmark the permalink. What do you think?

VIRTUAL REALITY: CHANGING THE WAY COMPANIES MARKET, TRAIN & EDUCATE

May 18, 2021 at 14:27

VR Is Helping Improve Employee Satisfaction, Product Experiences And Saving Money

Elation Digital VR Video Examples

Virtual Reality (VR) technology has been around for several years, but it has not yet reached its full potential in the business world or gained wide-spread popularity outside of the gaming industry. And while the Covid-19 pandemic put a virtual “Cease and Desist Order” on any VR programs away from your gaming computer, many business and industry experts now expect VR usage to grow dramatically in the next three years. The top areas for VR growth are expected to be training, advertising/marketing and retail.

The success of past VR programs is helping drive this momentum of future growth. One of the most successful VR training programs was implemented by a major national retail chain in 2018. The initial pilot program was set up at a single location using 12 headsets to help train new hires, and the results were astounding. The trainees demonstrated a 30% increase in employee satisfaction, scored higher on tests 70% of the time, and showed a 15% higher retention rate of information over traditional training methods. This VR training program was such a huge success that within 2 years, it was rolled out nationally to over 4,700 locations with more than 17,000 headsets.

A recent article in Forbes cited several business executives and their views on how VR will impact marketing and sales in the next few years. These experts highlighted several advantages of VR, including: better brand experiences with products; higher conversion rates driven by video; improved customer experiences and services; the enablement of product training for buyers; and a higher level of fan engagement at live events.

Elation Digital has an in-house team of experienced VR designers and programmers ready to craft an immersive experience to help your company or brand reap the benefits of this versatile technology. Over the years, we have created successful VR programs for a wide variety of uses. Here are a few examples of our VR programs:

VR Demo For Interactive Retail Stores

New Business Development:

With offices in 50 countries and over 270,000 employees, Capgemini is a global leader in digital transformation for many of the world’s top brands. Their technology is being used to revolutionize many industries, including retail stores, connected car systems and the pharmaceutical business. They asked Elation Digital to create immersive VR based experiences that showcase their capabilities in various business sectors to help pitch business to current and potential clients. We created several high impact “stories” that allowed people to experience different environments that can be created by Capgemini’s technology. These “stories” include a clothing retail location, an autonomous driving car and an interactive pharmacy. It takes millions of dollars and several months for Capgemini to build their blend of real and virtual environments, but it only took a fraction of that cost and a few weeks for Elation Digital to create a dynamic product demo. We’re proud to say our client has successfully used, and is still using, these VR demos in many offices as a powerful sales tool and at trade shows around the world. (See below for more Capgemini VR examples)

Industrial Training:

We saved this client millions of dollars and improved the effectiveness and efficiency for some vital training programs. An international tire manufacturer asked us to create a VR training program that would help teach key processes and skills to new and existing employees. Our VR program includes over 30 different interactive elements and has improved both the efficiency and the effectiveness of their training process. It has been so successful that the company has expanded its use from one manufacturing plant in one country to over 20 locations (plants and offices) in four countries. Now, our client does not have to fly in new hires or use expensive equipment in plants for initial training and is saving millions of dollars each year. This training program also won a Global Innovation Award within the company.

VR For Experiential Marketing

Experiential Marketing:

AT&T and the Mexican National Soccer Team reached out to Elation Digital to create a program that would energize their fans for a USA Tour. We helped leverage the passion of the fanbase with multiple integrated interactive experiences including:

One Stop Registration with Trackable Wristbands
Worlds First Virtual Reality Penalty Shot
A Fast-Paced Fun Trivia Experience,
A Stop Motion-Time Lapse Hair Styling Experience,
And a cool DJ Social Voting App to choose the team’s best songs.

VR For Trade Shows

Trade Shows:

The Bayer Agro Sciences Group recruited Elation Digital to help create an interactive attraction that would excite participants at the famous Agricultural Science Congress. We created the world’s first crop tractor VR360 experience and delivered their “Apply Responsibly” message in a new way by blending all these elements: VR360 Oculus; the latest motion technology; a Haptic Chair with full movement; a gamification element; and a greenscreen photo system. This turnkey interactive attraction created and managed by Elation generated big results and exceeded all engagement targets for the event.

Contact us today to discuss how Elation Digital can help you create impactful VR programs that improve the your training, brand or product experience and generate sales. Email: Team@elationdigital.com

Additional VR Examples

VR Demo for Automotive Industry

VR Demo For Life Science Industry

VR For Trade Shows

VR For Employee Education

Posted in Events, Experiential, Interactive Brand Experiences, Uncategorized Bookmark the permalink. What do you think?

Start Your Marketing Engines!

April 15, 2021 at 14:13

by Bill O'Neil

AUTO RACING IS BACK AND OUR INTERACTIVE DIGITAL SYSTEMS WILL HELP DRIVE CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT

As the event world starts to awaken from its pandemic-induced hibernation, we’re not sure who is more excited: consumers that have been waiting for almost a year to go someplace; brands that rely on events to market their products; or the people still working in the experiential marketing industry that were devastated by a lack of activity. Everyone has taken a big hit, so if you made it through, cheers to you!

Fortunately, vaccinations are in high gear, so all the hard work and planning by sports leagues, concert promoters and live event organizations is about to start paying off. One of the first sports industries to bring back live fans is auto racing. While crowd sizes will vary at tracks, Indy Car, NASCAR, NHRA and Formula 1 have all announced full schedules for 2021. That’s great news for gearheads and for us at Elation Digital because we get to roll out some new programs we’ve been waiting to use.

One of our first big programs this year includes three interactive systems. Working with one of the top Indy Car teams and a 100 global company, our high-tech systems will be traveling around the country all summer and engaging race fans at 17 events in 13 major markets. This program includes our Photo Motion station, an augmented reality experience we call our AR Mirror, and a Winners Circle photo opportunity. Here is a brief description of these interactive systems:

AR MIRROR

The AR Mirror is a touchless, motion-activated system that allows the consumer to create a personalized 3D driving suit that is applied to your body, so it activates and animates with your body’s movement. There are many customizable options, including 3 different type of suits, 8 colors, and an array of additional items like helmets, hats, headphones, patches, seatbelts, and more. There are hundreds of design combinations. Once the suit design is completed, other fun elements appear on the screen and the participant can move around in this combination of real and virtual environment. An MP4 video is created and sent to the consumer to be shared with friends or on social media.

PHOTOMOTION

Participants using our Photo Motion system create a high-impact photo in motion thanks to the latest technology which takes images from 9 cameras at different angles over a 120° viewing area. This creates a bullet-time effect, which then blends the images together to make a moving mp4 file. This fun video is emailed to each person and can be shared on their favorite social media channel or sent to family or friends.

WINNERS CIRCLE

Our Winners Circle photo station allows race fans to celebrate their virtual victory and create a magazine quality photo. We combine high-end Nikon cameras with our automated photo engagement platform and add multiple design overlays and background image options. Participants receive a digital copy of their winning photo!

All our systems will live inside an amazing 3000 sq. ft. double decker mobile experience, built and operated by SME (http://www.engagesme.com) out of Winston Salem, NC. This multilevel structure is designed to maximize fun and deliver a top-notch experience for race fans in every market. In addition to our digital interactive systems, consumers that visit this beautiful mobile display can customize their own t-shirt and have it printed right on site. We created a tablet sized touch-screen solution that allows consumers to visually customize their t-shirt, including size, color, background graphic and color of the graphic. To help the client operate this program smoothly throughout the year, Elation Digital created a custom inventory management program to track activity, provide up-to-the-minute reports and keep supplies current for every event.

TOURING DOUBLE-DECKER EXPERIENCE ZONE

The green flag has dropped on the 2021 event season. Are you ready to go? Call (704.612.0175) or email us (team@elationdigital.com) today so we can help you plan your upcoming experiential program. Elation Digital – Elevate Your Engagement.

Posted in Experiential, Strategy, Technology Bookmark the permalink. What do you think?

#4 ways to educate your audience on VR

January 2, 2017 at 07:23

by Chris Rogne

Virtual Reality (VR) is being heralded as the next frontier in advertising, marketing, and storytelling. We know global search interest in VR grew nearly 4X over 2015 alone (data from Google). Still, there are large amounts of people that never tried it yet. That is because many people still feel intimidated by the technology, especially by the use of a headset.

Here are 4 ways to get your audience to use VR technology with ease:

#1: Experiment with multiple entry points

Create multiple ways for your audience to interact with the content. Use clear instructions and clear choices every step of the way in every device.

#2: Guide people through the experience

Clear instructions at every turn: in website copy, in the content itself, even in the voiceover of a video. Think of it as a guided tour that will serve to educate rather than alienate new users.

#3: Create simple mobile experiences

We’re all turning to our phones more and more. Over 60% of YouTube’s views come from mobile. Use it as a medium to interact with your audience and introduce it to VR.

#4: Don’t forget about desktop

By bringing a fresh, new experience to a more traditional platform, like desktop, you can keep viewers engaged with your content. That is still the most used platform to reach content and the one most people are used to. Bring a new experience to a familiar platform.

In conclusion, like any other emerging technology, Virtual Reality presents challenges, especially to new users or users that are more averse to change. However, it has the potential to bring audiences into another world and allow them to interact with a brand in a whole new way. By putting the experience first, instead of pulling everything for technology, brands and marketers can develop welcoming experiences, both to VR pros and to newbies, thus overcoming the hurdles of new technologies.

What do you think about this? Give us your thoughts and personal experiences on the use of Virtual Reality.

Sources:

Cox, A.; Virtual Reality Is the Next Frontier. Make Sure You Don’t Leave Your Consumers Behind, Think with Google, July 2016.

Posted in Events, Experiential, Interactive Brand Experiences Bookmark the permalink. What do you think?

7 of the Coolest Experiential Marketing Campaigns

November 21, 2016 at 07:02

by Chris Rogne

Experiential Marketing can mean a lot of things for a lot of people. It can just relate to an experience that people have while interacting with a campaign, it can be something that needs to WOW people, it can be something that sets emotions on the edge and so on.

I think it can actually be a little bit of everything. You have to start an emotion on your audience so that same emotion relates to the attitude your brand wants to transmit. It’s when you are able to immerse an individual or an entire audience into a branded experience.

Dave Moth from eConsultancy describes Experiential Marketing as the effort to create a closer bond between the consumer and the brand by immersing them in a fun and memorable experience.

This means that technology can and will bring a new edge to the way brands, companies and institutions communicate with their audiences. Positive emotions while interacting with a brand will make people to think positively about that brand. The same for excitement, fun and a lot more adjectives.

Here is a great article regarding Experiential Marketing Campaigns.

Have fun reading it and send in your comments.

Posted in Custom Branded Games, Data Capture, Events, Experiential, Gamification, mobile marketing tours Bookmark the permalink. What do you think?

Big Win for our Partner at Reggie Awards for #GarnierMusic campaign!

April 25, 2016 at 11:12

by Chris Rogne

We love when our partners win awards for their experiential campaigns!

Special shout out to our friends at AMP Agency for winning 2016 REGGIE AWARDS Silver for #GarnierMusic experiential campaign!!

We helped AMP deliver interactive components for several music festivals for Garnier and their #GarnierMusic campaigns.

Our customized integrated digital solution included data capture, tracking, photo capture, video capture, animated GIF solutions, email, social media sharing, spin wheel and prize management, as well as a very cool custom queue management system to help manage thousands of participants at music festivals across the country!

Posted in Custom Branded Games, Data Capture, Events, Experiential, Gamification, Interactive Brand Experiences, kiosks, Lead Generation, mobile marketing tours, Multi-Touch, ROI, Strategy, Tradeshow Technology, Uncategorized Bookmark the permalink. What do you think?

Educating Audiences with Infotainment

February 17, 2016 at 09:56

by Chris Rogne

The main goal of many of our clients is education. They want the audience to learn something—this is particularly true for our tradeshow clients but many others as well. Infotainment works well to achieve those goals. What is infotainment? Info from information combined with tainment from entertainment. In essence, it’s a great way to teach information in a unique way.

The most effective way to teach something to someone is to make it fun. Many companies realize this too, which is why gamification is gaining popularity in the work place too, for on-boarding new employees and for ongoing training programs. While we enjoy adding gamification to infotainment experiences, and we do it often, it’s not the right solution for everyone. Some brands like to keep it interesting and interactive but simply want the information to be accessible and engaging. (We do that too!)

By making it interactive, the participant becomes more engaged in the experience. People fall into different types of learners: visual, auditory, reading & writing and kinesthetic (hands-on). Our infotainment solutions can be created to reach all of these different styles and all of the ones we develop will benefit both the visual and the kinesthetic learners. For those that are reading & writing learners, our trivia app adds the question and answer element that those learners crave.

We developed a cool interactive catalog experience to teach attendees about Oil and Gas. Check out our project video.

Learn more about our infotainment and gamification solutions.

We would love to develop a solution that meets your needs. Contact us today.

Elation Digital develops a wide variety of experiential interactive brand experiences and event technologies to draw crowds for tradeshows, events and mobile marketing tours including photo & video activations, custom branded games, social media, data capture, tracking and reporting. Their solutions are perfect for all budget levels from simple solutions to complete integrated campaigns.

Posted in Advergames, Custom Branded Games, Data Capture, Events, Experiential, Gamification, Interactive Brand Experiences, Lead Generation, mobile marketing tours, Strategy, Technology, Uncategorized Bookmark the permalink. What do you think?

What’s Hot in Experiential for 2016?

January 18, 2016 at 13:02

by Chris Rogne

About a year ago, I wrote about the Tech Trends for 2015 and which ones matter. I took the angle of discussing that choosing the right technology to fit campaign goals is more important than choosing solutions simply for the sake of having a trendy gadget. Of course that still holds true but technology has made great strides in the past year. And, for the most part, companies are using them wisely.

What you should to expect to see more of this year:

Virtual Reality—VR is still hot and is being predicted by many to be an even greater attraction this year. It’s use has been growing since last year. The number wearable devices have increased and can be found in prices that range from under $3 (Google Cardboard) to over $600 (Oculus Rift). There’s something for everyone’s budget. You’ll also see more immersive VR experiences that will include the senses—smell, sound and motion. Check out this experience for Boursin made in the UK.

Wearable Technology—This is not going away any time soon and the technology keeps getting better and the number of ways to incorporate these into experiences is improving. We are still seeing RFID for movement tracking, registration and data capture as a popular choice. Smart phones, watches and bracelets, and others, will be incorporated into experiences making more a personalized connection.

Beacons—I touched on this last year. It was starting to take off and made real progress in 2015. Forbes sites beacons will drive $44 billion in sales in 2016. Why wait for people to stop by your booth or attraction? By sending push messages, you can attract people to you or keep them informed about promotions, product information or meet me at cocktail hour to chat.

Vertical Video—Meercat and Snapchat were first. Vertical videos (ads) make sense for mobile devices, not so much for your office environment. Vertical LED’s look cool at events. It will be interesting to see how this is used this year.

What you should keep an eye on:

CES had so many great technologies available for preview. Many of them won’t be ready for incorporation into many events this year but hold promise for late 2016 and 2017.
Samsung Rink VR Controller—A series of palm controllers that give you the ability to use your hands and fingers within the virtual world. This should be big with gamification. Having the ability to interact with your hands and more intricately your fingers will open up many possibilities. I know our team of developers will have fun experimenting with this once it’s available.

8i Volumetric VR People—3D Hologram people at your event? How is this different than other hologram solutions? They are using 2 or more video cameras to build the figures rather than depth sensors.

HTC Vive “Chaperone” Mode–Tired of bumping into the coffee table while you are wearing your VR headset? Your actual living environments can be over laid into the experience so you can move around fearlessly.

With so many interesting items available, 2016 will be an exciting year for experiential technology. 2015 was amazing too. It just keeps getting better and better. Yes, I love my job—and I’m just a small part of it.

Learn How Elation Digital Can Create Experiential Solutions for You!

Elation Digital develops a wide variety of interactive experiential brand solutions to attract crowds for events, tradeshows and mobile marketing tours. Their cutting-edge technology includes photo & video activations, custom gamification, social media engagement, data capture, tracking and reporting. These solutions are perfect for all budget levels from simple solutions to complete integrated campaigns.

Posted in Custom Branded Games, Data Capture, Experiential, Gamification, Interactive Brand Experiences, Lead Generation, Uncategorized Bookmark the permalink. What do you think?

2015 – A Year of Experiential

December 17, 2015 at 12:42

by Chris Rogne

2015 is almost over. Looking back over the year, we accomplished some pretty amazing experiential solutions for our clients. I can say that because as Director of Marketing, it’s my job to get the word out there and showcase our work. I’m objective because I didn’t create them. But in all honesty, our development and creative teams continue to come up with some truly wonderfully unique and compelling ideas, our sales team sells them to awesome clients and voila, here are a few of this year’s highlights: (be sure to click on the images to see videos or effects)

Our Kinect & Motion gamification solutions are designed to get the participants involved in playing and enjoying themselves. People love to compete and this furthers the engagement. It’s contagious! People gather to watch and they want to join in the excitement.

AT&T Fiesta Futbol

Health Ministry of Argentina

Patagonia

The touch games we develop create an emotional connection to the brand. By interacting with elements that have been incorporated, the information gets reinforced through play.

SheaMoisture

Honda-2015 International Car Show

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Our infotainment solutions combine the interactive nature of our games with the opportunity to include important product or company information into the experience. Learning is easier when the participant is having a good time and the information is remembered more easily.

Patagonia

Incaa – Technopolis

Madam Walker (SheaMoisture)

Our photo and video activations are still popular and extend the brand. People still love taking photos and videos–and love sharing them. Ours are fun and designed to get the people to interact.

Pepsi Slow Motion

Incaa Green Screen

Garnier Animated Gif

Share a Coke

We integrate our data capture technology into our various experiential solutions. The interactive engaging features of our activations draw the crowds which presents the perfect opportunity to collect participant information.

Capgemini

Garnier

Everything is still all about Social Sharing. Brands and agencies feel the pressure of having a social presence. We agree! Just like our data capture, all of our experiences can have the social element integrated into the solution for easy sharing.

Garnier Social wall

Essie Instagram Wall

We had many campaigns where the physical and digital world intersected which created true experiential success. These two combined enhanced the experience and immersed the participant into the action.

How did experiential work for you in 2015? We’d love to help you make great strides in 2016– it’s going to be an awesome year!

Learn more about our solutions today!

Elation Digital develops a wide variety of interactive brand experiences and event technologies to draw crowds for tradeshows, events and mobile marketing tours including photo & video activations, custom branded games, infotainment, social media, data capture, tracking and reporting. Their solutions are perfect for all budget levels from simple solutions to complete integrated campaigns.

Posted in Data Capture, Events, Experiential, Interactive Brand Experiences, Lead Generation, Tradeshow Technology, Uncategorized Bookmark the permalink. What do you think?

Controlling Long Lines at Events

October 15, 2015 at 11:00

by Chris Rogne

Do people wait in line to see your booth attraction? Does it get chaotic and difficult for your brand ambassadors to keep track of who’s next?

There is a solution.

Queue Management—We’ve developed a proprietary app that takes the guesswork out of managing long lines at events and also, additionally, aids in the registration and lead generation process.

The most popular choice is QR codes. Participants enter their information on a branded information screen. Once the data is captured, the QR code is scanned and recorded onto the card.

The participant checks-in for the attraction they are interested in and the brand manager scans the card into the queue system and that person is assigned a place in the order. Easy!

We like to use big screens so the participant can see their place from a distance. We also offer text and email notification. No need to stand around and wait. This increases their enjoyment factor because they can keep track of their place and allows the user to look around your booth! They are not tied down. It increases brand engagement and offers a much better user experience!

We also have to ability to integrate your brand’s videos and images onto the screens. This creates visual interest and engages the audience. Our Queue management system integrates with all of Elation’s other solutions including games, infotainment experiences, contests and more and can track activity of your attendees.

Aside from QR codes, we offer RFID, scanners and other options, as well.

Let us help you control your queue!

Posted in Custom Branded Games, Data Capture, Events, Experiential, Interactive Brand Experiences, Lead Generation, ROI, Strategy, Uncategorized Bookmark the permalink. What do you think?

Measuring the ROI of Adding Branded Interactive Engagements to your Event

October 5, 2015 at 13:27

by Chris Rogne

The one tried and true way of measuring overall ROI is to take the revenue generated, subtract the costs and divide by those costs to get the percentage. Seems simple enough. To measure the ROI of adding an experiential element to your booth is a bit more tricky and yet can still be determined.

First, as I always mention, start with your goals. What are you hoping to gain by adding an interactive technology? These goals will help to figure out what to compare against at the end of the show.

Positive Brand Engagement—adding an experiential solution increases the connection to your brand. Playing a game, taking a photo, learning about your products through interactive screens, make a lasting impression by reaching them at an emotional level. If someone took the time to interact with your brand and not simply chat with your booth personnel, that person has a higher chance of being a quality lead for you.

Quality of leads—this is not strictly a numbers game. You could get boatloads of names from an event. Even your amazing sales pipeline strategy may not be able to help you if the leads you gather aren’t your target audience. Several high quality leads will be far more beneficial down the road for you than 100 names that do nothing (except skew your analytics when you reach out to them).

Partnership opportunities—it’s not always about finding customers. You chose your specific event for a reason. There will be other companies that are synergistic to yours. You may find there is a company that is similar but not directly competitive to you. Together you can take advantage of each other’s strengths and offer each other something you don’t have. Many times that is much cheaper than developing it for yourself.

Longevity of relationships—also knows as the Lifetime Value of a Customer. Perhaps one deal generates a $10,000 deal but that doesn’t quite cover your show investment (Booth costs alone can be that high). If you deliver for that customer and they keep coming back, you are covering your acquisition cost and then some for years to come.

Brand extension—we are constantly talking and writing about how a brand’s perception can last long after the event. Having something beside a #hashtag that can be shared socially is key can reach a multiple factor of the number of people that came by your booth.

The majority of our clients work with us annually or multiple times throughout the year. We are happy when they come back. It’s a testament to the fact our solutions work and met the goals and solutions they were aiming to achieve.

Learn how Elation Digital Can Help you Reach your ROI goals!

Elation Digital develops a wide variety of interactive brand experiences and event experiential technologies to draw crowds for tradeshows, events and mobile marketing tours including photo & video activations, custom branded games, infotainment, social media, data capture, tracking and reporting. Their solutions are perfect for all budget levels from simple solutions to complete integrated campaigns.