Last updated on August 8th, 2016 at 04:30 pm
If you’ve been spotting groups of people huddled together, hunched over their cell phones, and pointing at things on the sidewalk that are invisible to your normal human eyes then congratulations! You’ve seen Pokemon Go in action. In this week’s edition of B2B Conversations, we’re looking at the very thing that makes Pokemon Go so consuming: augmented reality (AR). You’ll also find some solid content around virtual reality (VR), and what both of these things mean for B2B businesses. Enjoy!
Why B2B businesses need to get moving with AR
Pokemon Go means business: why B2B needs to get its game face on by @AlTepper, @TepFu founder https://t.co/O9Gan0T23s#AR#enterprise#B2B
— TepFu (@tepfu) July 19, 2016
When it comes to virtual versus augmented reality, many experts are rushing to place their bets on one or the other. In this case, Al Tepper is fully supporting the latter, claiming in this post for Outsource magazine that: “Pokemon Go signals the mainstream arrival of augmented reality. From here on in, virtual reality will always be the poorer cousin – or bridesmaid if you will, and never the bride – in the fight for digital’s push out through the screen into reality.” Tepper goes on to outline how B2B businesses can get ahead of the curve and embrace AR to drive engagement and business outcomes—or risk getting left behind.
What Pokemon Go means for B2B marketing
What Pokemon Go means for B2B sales & marketing https://t.co/2ULvAsVKY3
— Matt Heinz (@HeinzMarketing) July 19, 2016
Call it nothing but a gaming craze, but Pokemon Go offers a glimpse into the potential power (and quick public adoption) of augmented reality, and the opportunities it offers to B2B marketing. In this post, Matt Heinz offers a couple examples of how B2B businesses could possibly begin implementing augmented reality in marketing campaigns, providing an entirely new experience for the customer and driving sales in the process.
How AR and IoT will shape B2B customer service
How will customers interact with brands in 5 years? Via #AugmentedReality and #VirtualAssistants: https://t.co/PVpn5OZIiD
— DT B2B Europe (@DT_B2BEurope) July 19, 2016
In this article for MediaPost, Chase Martin summarizes a new report from Forrester Research that identified the top technologies that will reshape customer service by 2021. They include two-way video communication, augmented and virtual reality, virtual assistants, and connected devices. Martin covers four key findings from the report that anyone involved in B2B customer service should pay close attention to.
What virtual reality will mean for advertising
What #VirtualReality Will Mean for #Advertising@ThinkwithGooglehttps://t.co/33byVu7qZa
— Google B2B Team (@GoogleB2BTeam) July 18, 2016
Over in virtual reality’s corner, this comprehensive guide from Google (written by Aaron Luber) covers the way VR will quickly be changing the world of advertising. As Luber points out, “global search interest for virtual reality on Google has grown by nearly 4X in the last year” which signals that people are becoming more and more curious and comfortable with the idea of VR. This offers businesses a chance to create entirely new worlds for their customers. As the creators of Google Cardboard, which makes it easy for anyone to sample a bit of the VR world, Google knows a thing or two about how this jump in technology can—and will—affect the world.
For a glimpse into the action at this summer’s biggest B2B conferences, check out last week’s post from Brett Wilkins here. As always, if you have any B2B content or ideas you think we should focus on next week, let us know via @b2bnewsnetwork. We love hearing from you!
