VR gives marketers a new way to simplify the complexities of science

When you think about virtual reality, you may think about video games or amusement park-type applications. Chances are you haven’t seen a lot of VR used to market life science companies. But thanks to growing interest and simple innovations like Google cardboard, VR is swiftly becoming an affordable and game-changing tool for marketers in all industries—including the Life Sciences.

Here are 3 tips for using VR to communicate the science behind your Life Science brand:

1) Get Inside the Science

Virtual reality takes your audience beyond 2-D product or service features and allows them to see, touch and interact with the information being presented. Whether you enable viewers to tour the inner-workings of the human body or make it possible for them to virtually slide down a DNA strand, you are helping translate complex science into something that is simple to understand. You are also providing your audiences with a mind-blowing—and therefore memorable—experience that they will naturally want to share with others.

2) Personalize the Experience

Virtual reality feels so similar to reality because it allows participants to make choices that alter their experiences. Car marketers often use virtual reality to enable potential customers to build (and sometimes ride in) the car of their dreams before they ever step on the lot. Imagine what your Life Science brand could do to personalize the experience for your audiences.

Companies that sell devices can now allow prospects to “test-drive” them from anywhere in the world. Organizations that research life-saving cures may invite viewers to experience a day in the life of a patient, allowing users to make personal choices that bring home the challenges of living with a disease. The possibilities are (virtually) endless.

3) Make Industry Events More Memorable

Life Science marketers often align their brands with events that are somewhat related to their target market’s interests in order to drive awareness. They also engage in conferences and other large industry events where they can showcase what their organizations do and why. Imagine how much more impactful their booths and/or presentations would be with a virtual reality component. The opportunity to try new technology is the ultimate booth driver, and when a brand creates a VR presentation that uses that technology effectively, it is a presentation they will never forget.

Virtual Reality is much more than a passing fad, and I suspect it will one day be a game-changer in Life Science marketing. Stay tuned for future posts on how you can integrate it into your marketing mix.

Meanwhile, learn more about how visualizing information can make your life science brand more memorable in my new Ebook 5 Steps for Creating Infographics That Go Viral.