Irish agency helps create 360-degree advertisement for Virgin

Advertising agency Irish International BBDO and New York-based virtual reality specialists Littlstar have created a 360-degree advertisement for Virgin Media that will become the first of its kind to be consumed via the Apple TV platform.

The 30-second Virgin Media Ireland ad will run on the Apple TV app of Littlstar, a Disney-backed company that has ambitions to become the go-to platform for virtual reality content. It is the first 360-degree ad by an Irish brand and can also be consumed on mobile via YouTube.

The 360-degree format allows viewers to use their mobile device, desktop cursor or Apple TV remote control to manipulate what they see on screen. In the Virgin Media ad, this means controlling the view from the cockpit of an aircraft and navigating its trajectory - or attempting to - for the duration of the ad.

The cable company, owned by Liberty Global, by is using the 360-degree ad to promote its 360 MB broadband product.

Experimenting

In recent months, big brands have been experimenting with 360-degree content and

Facebook

has been testing these “immersive” videos since last September, when it unveiled a 360-degree promo for

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

.

Irish International describes the 360-degree videos that have been made to date as “branded entertainment content” and says its Virgin ad marks the first time a traditional 30-second television ad spot has been created in this way.

The ad is part of a wider Virgin Media advertising campaign that will run across television, radio, press and on out-of-home sites. The campaign, which Irish International worked on with post-production house Screen Scene and media agency OMD, will also surface in home page “takeover” formats on RTÉ.ie, TheMirror.ie and JOE.ie, among others.

The advent of new virtual reality headsets is being seen as an opportunity for brands to develop less passive forms of advertising that attract higher levels of engagement from consumers and deliver higher rates of brand recall.

"Our campaign for Virgin Media allows us to shift the audience from being merely an observer to being a participant in the action," said Irish International BBDO executive creative director Dylan Cotter.

Facebook is likely to be one of the main supporters of the market. The social media company bought virtual technology technology company Oculus VR in 2014 and a consumer version of its Oculus Rift headset will be released in March.