From Google Cardboard to the Oculus Rift, virtual reality is actual reality for a growing number of consumers.
Travel companies can now give vacation planners a preview of their final destination. Soda companies can create virtual sleigh rides and auto races, making memories for their customers that are indelibly linked with their drink of choice. And, of course, media companies can immerse audiences in stories like never before.

Since virtual reality is still an emerging technology, the brands that embrace it are paving the way for future marketers and creators. We asked an experimental marketer, an industry analyst and representatives from major media companies to report their findings from the VR frontier.

1. VR Could Be Your Brand’s Most Powerful Medium
Forging real connections through virtual reality is increasingly vital in an era of advertising saturation. Dylan Mortensen points to the rise of ad-blocking technology as evidence that brands need better ways to reach consumers. VR could help forge deeper connections between consumers and brands.

Users who see an ad by a brand they’ve engaged with, he says, can “bring back all those emotional responses because they’re physically inside of this brand now. It’s not them just strictly looking through the TV glass. They’re able to interact with this brand and really get involved with it.”

In fact, VR can even forge deeper connections between humans and sharks. Nathan Brown says Discovery’s Shark Week VR experiences “broke down some of the mysteries and misconceptions about sharks. Virtual reality has a great proclivity for creating empathy, which we were able to use to educate audiences and drive awareness in support of conservation efforts.”

From a marketing perspective, Adam Simon points out another of VR’s major advantages: focused and measurable user attention. “If somebody is looking at your thing, they’re definitely looking at your thing.” he says. “They’re not looking at their phone, or in the kitchen getting a beer or something. One of the benefits of VR is that it’s literally stuck on their face.”