SapientNitro Brings Downtown Manhattan to Cannes Via Virtual Reality

The Apartment virtual reality experience demonstrated at the SapientNitro Penthouse in Cannes was perhaps the most interactive experience at the festival this year, showing what marketing possibilities could be in the retail space.

This sales pitch at Cannes Lions came after the debut of SapientNitro’s partnership with virtual reality provider Sixsense back in April of this year. Cannes attendees could shop in the Apartment by The Line in SoHo simply by putting on a Samsung Gear VR headset and tapping to add items to their shopping cart, an experience that is more vivid and immersive than a regular shopping trip.

“Marketers can use virtual reality to tell stories in a deeper way than the typical digital experience they currently have,” Gary Koepke, chief creative officer for SapientNitro’s North America operations, told ClickZ.

Of course, the Apartment by The Line demo is just one of many ways brands could leverage virtual reality. Adrian Slobin, vice president and managing director for SapientNitro, believes that as more and more retailers are jumping onto the virtual reality bandwagon to create more immersive shopping experiences, consumers will gradually get used to the new technology.

“When the Web first came in mid-90s through browser, we started to see images and eventually films online. That was a brand new experience at the time. Similarly, now virtual reality enables us to have a full-power experience,” Slobin said. “For us, it’s going to become a much more expansive opportunity than wearables.”

What’s the state of virtual reality? Will this new technology become the norm in retail? Watch ClickZ‘s video interview below to hear what Koepke and Slobin had to say.