The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
LOS ANGELES, United States — As makers of virtual reality content get ready to enter the mass market next year, one company is hoping to appeal to a broader audience outside of the tech set by harnessing fashion magazine InStyle's young female demographic.
Jaunt VR, which creates 360-degree virtual reality experiences, teamed up with Time Inc's InStyle to film its November issue cover shoot with actress Drew Barrymore. The short film experience will be available to the magazine's subscribers and smartphone users on Thursday.
InStyle's audience is "not the normal expected crowd people would think for VR," Scott Broock, Jaunt VR's vice president of content, told Reuters.
"People always think it's for male (video) gamers, but it's important, not just for us but for virtual reality as a whole, that people understand it's for everybody."
ADVERTISEMENT
Virtual reality is on the verge of mass market consumption as Facebook Inc-owned Oculus readies its Rift headset for consumers in early 2016.
Facebook also recently launched 360-degree videos, allowing viewers to scroll around a video on a computer or smartphone, an early gateway into an interactive video experience. InStyle will upload a modified 360-degree video of the Barrymore shoot on Facebook and YouTube.
Silicon Valley-based Jaunt VR, which last month raised $65 million in its latest round of funding from companies including Walt Disney Co, has also worked with Elle magazine and fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff.
This is the first time a U. magazine has created a virtual reality cover with a celebrity, InStyle said. In the film, Barrymore is seen posing for photographs and addressing the viewer in time-lapse.
It can be viewed through Jaunt VR's smartphone app for free using an inexpensive headset such as Google Inc's Cardboard viewer. InStyle will send out branded cardboard headsets to select subscribers and also offer 1,000 headsets online.
"You could have a VR experience with a phone and an inexpensive piece of equipment, and suddenly the technology becomes so much more democratic," said Angela Matusik, executive editor of digital at InStyle.
By Piya Sinha-Roy; editor: Paul Tait.
At The Business of Fashion’s Professional Summit in New York last week, Sona Abaryan, partner and global retail and luxury sector lead at tech-enabled data science firm Ekimetrics, shared how businesses can more effectively leverage AI-driven insights on consumer behaviour to achieve a customer-centric strategic approach.
From customer loyalty types to its pillars of personalisation, SAP Emarsys customer engagement provides more than 1,500 companies with personalised marketing campaigns via AI-powered analytics, including Puma, Aldo and Reformation. BoF learns more.
Before fashion businesses can put artificial intelligence to work or target the right shoppers online, they need good data and a deep understanding of who their customers are and what they want. This case study offers a guide for brands that want to truly know their customer, allowing them to make smarter decisions that serve shoppers and drive results.
The US House of Representatives approved a bill that could ultimately lead to a ban of the app, but its path forward remains far from certain.