A new virtual reality experience for fashion could help retailers reach more consumers and facilitate better engagement on purchasing journeys.
Accenture, a global professional services company, and content company Specular Theory, won the Best VR Commercial/Branded Entertainment award for their Behind the Style VR experience at the VR Fest event that took place in Las Vegas last month. A panel of VR expert judges selected Behind the Style from more than 450 nominations submitted by leading agencies and brands, and recognized Behind the Style for providing an immersive and personalized shopping experience in a high-tech environment.
Developed by Accenture Extended Reality, a strategic initiative of Accenture that supports VR intiatives, and Specular Theory, Behind the Style is an interactive VR story of a fashion shoot that combines fashion, v-commerce and technology. As a VR fashion story look book, Behind the Style provides readers with the opportunity to interact with products and be on set with top industry pros by making choices that influence the outcome of the shoot.
With this type of interactive narrative, retailers could connect with consumers in more creative, entertaining and memorable ways. In addition, Behind the Style could elevate retailers’ traditional marketing tactics and allow consumers to personalize their path to purchase.
“With Behind the Style it was important for us to create an experience that could make users easily relate to the characters, relate to what was being shown, and naturally interact with the story line and the products,” said Raffaella Camera, head of extended reality go to market for Accenture in North America. “For the brands, we wanted to create an experience that could be produced more easily and efficiently by extending or piggy-backing on more traditional marketing and advertising activities that are already in the works like a photo shoot or a commercial shoot.”
Morris May, chief executive officer of Specular Theory, spoke about how Behind The Style bridges the gap between technology and consumers, while demonstrating why VR has to be authentic in the retail sector.
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“It’s a new medium that requires a new creative approach and an entirely new set of technology tools. With Behind The Style, we get to experience it the way we want to. It’s very organic and natural and makes it really come together by combining entertainment, technology and commerce in a whole new way,” said Morris. “The technology of our live-action video and branching choices solves a major problem with traditional VR video that brings new levels of immersion and interactivity.”