Why some marketers are betting on the Apple Vision Pro

It wasn’t long ago when the metaverse seemed to be everywhere.

In 2022, brands opened virtual bars, banks, and burrito-rolling contests on metaverse platforms like Roblox and Decentraland. Playboy even opened a mansion in the metaverse. But in the two years since, brand announcements on new metaverse activations have largely grown quiet, and conversations around the technology have mostly shifted to conversations about whether it was overhyped and who’s still using it.

Now there’s a new VR product in town. Apple released its $3,500 Apple Vision Pro mixed-reality headset in February, and brands like e.l.f. Cosmetics, Alo Yoga, and Lowe’s are already testing it out. While the experience may appear similar to strapping on an Oculus headset and entering the metaverse, brand marketers told us they’re bullish on the Vision Pro and what it could mean for the future of branded immersive experiences and spatial computing.

“This is for sure how we’re all going to use computers someday,” PJ Stephen, VP of customer experience at digital agency Valtech North America, told Marketing Brew.

Not your average headset?

In its current form, the Vision Pro’s hardware, which Stephen describes as “wearing a five-pound computer on my face,” could serve as a barrier to entry for some users and brands. The Vision Pro also has some experiential limits, like users not being able to smell, touch, or taste the images displayed—something that is just as true in a metaverse bar as it is in a Vision Pro app.

What makes Stephen more bullish on the Vision Pro is that hardware can be integrated into existing tech consumption habits, and the experience appears in the context of users’ IRL environments.

“I don’t think anyone will ever want to go to the metaverse as a destination,” Stephen said. “What’s really clear about the Vision Pro is that it’s not about going somewhere else—it’s about bringing things into your space.”

Another possible differentiator, according to Stephen, is the immersive visual experience of the headset, which could help trigger an emotional response in customers while allowing them to view products in close detail. To date, brands like Wayfair, Lowe’s, and J.Crew have released apps for Vision Pro that let users experience products through the headset.

At this point, Stephen said that just about any kind of experience designed for the headset could help brands stand out by making them seem cutting-edge.

Game on

Ekta Chopra, chief digital officer at e.l.f. Beauty, told us that’s essentially what has inspired the brand to invest in many forms of new technology, including on Vision Pro, where its app, Your Best e.l.f., includes meditation, stretching, and shopping experiences.

“This was a test-and-learn,” Chopra said. “Spatial computing is new. Commerce is gonna go through another evolution. We want to make sure we’re part of that, so we can build a strategy.”

So far, she said, conversions on products added to cart in the Vision Pro app are 50% higher than in the brand’s mobile app, and customer check-outs are faster. The app’s stretching experience, which features a bunny, is the most-visited component of the app, she told us.

“The other experiences are not too bad, but the bunny is getting a lot of love,” Chopra said.

Chopra says she believes spatial computing has “more staying power” than the metaverse, but added that playing with that technology (as well as other much-hyped tech, like NFTs), has helped her understand the value of gaming as a brand marketing strategy. While the Vision Pro has that potential, she said, “there is a lot of plumbing that they have to fix before really heavily interacting gaming can come.”

Sophie Kelly, SVP of global tequila and mezcal categories at Diageo, told us the learn-and-evolve approach is the reason behind a Vision Pro experience for tequila brand Don Julio. According to Kelly, the app, which has yet to debut, will re-create Mexico City nightlife and show the process of harvesting agave in Guadalajara and Oaxaca.

“We want to make sure that when we release the experience, the tech isn’t front-facing, but is the facilitator of a more magical experience,” Kelly said.

For Diageo, the experience will be just the tip of the iceberg, she added: “It’s not just about the Apple Vision Pro. It’s about VR-enabled bartending, it’s about AI-enabled creation of labels. It’s about a multitude of digital platforms that can bring new experiences to consumers.”

Wait and see

Dave Meeker, EVP and head of emerging experiences at Merkle, told us that even though many of the agency’s clients aren’t investing in the Vision Pro just yet, he’s excited about the opportunities that it could offer brands in the coming years. He is also waiting for developments that could make the tech more accessible—and potentially more attractive—to a wider swath of users, including a less bulky headset.

“I don’t think the goggles will play long-term,” Meeker said.

Stephen predicts that as the Vision Pro’s operating system evolves over the next few years, it will start to look less like an “iPad floating in space.”. As that happens, he said he thinks more tech players will enter the spatial-computing arena, which both he and Chopra said could present even more opportunities.

“It’s more than Apple Vision Pro,” Chopra said. “It’s spatial computing that people should take a bet on.”