Oath, a Verizon subsidiary, today at Cannes showed attendees how to engage customers and prospects through extended reality (XR) ads. Oath Extended Reality ads combine data, 3D ad formats and brand building to deliver 3D, programmatic virtual reality (VR) ads. Oath houses Verizon’s digital media brands including Yahoo, Aol, among others, with the goal of building an advertising business that takes on Google, Facebook, and others.
About a year ago, we reported that part of Verizon’s strategy with Oath was to better leverage the synergy between their growing digital media brands and their industry leading mobile business to develop a thriving advertising platform. The Verizon Oath strategy was driven in large part by Verizon’s desire to monetize a wealth of behavioral data from the company’s mobile business. The latest announcement represents the company’s ongoing momentum in that direction.
Oath says that its recent augmented reality ads have provided an average of more than two minutes of user engagement. XR is designed to build on this success.
Oath Extended Reality Ads
The 3D ads are designed to enable users to explore objects from any angle and help them make informed decisions throughout the consumer journey, with the idea of moving customers and prospects from the top to the bottom of the buying decision funnel.
Oath’s programmatic VR offering enables advertisers to extend existing display and video assets into immersive VR environments. Oath is partnering with Admix and BidSwitch to deliver creative video assets. The idea is to facilitate the ability for companies to run VR advertisements.
Agencies and brands can also work with Oath to develop custom, fully-immersive VR experiences in the U.S. and the U.K.
“Consumers are hungry for engaging, well-executed XR ad experiences that provide utility, enhance reality, and create meaningful connections with brands,” said Jeff Lucas, Oath’s head of Americas sales and global teams, in a prepared statement. “At Oath, we’re using brand advertising intelligence to help marketers build emotional connections that motivate consumers throughout their journey toward a brand.”
