The creative team sought to achieve the ultimate goal in VR: to bring a sense of unconscious presence, or the perception of being physically present in a non-physical world. The goal was to make the audience an active participant in the movie trailer, without detecting the boundaries of the technology or the content. Once transported to “the woods,” the user could interact with 360 degrees of content, turning to react to the wind in the trees, or empathizing with the frightened voice on the walkie-talkie. The team utilized gaze-based interaction technology to progress the user through the experience, pairing the ad content with classic jump scares from the film.

From ideation, to partnership, to in-app store execution, the team completed the project, end-to-end in six weeks. The ad then ran in headset for 2.5 months, both as a pre-roll as well as an option from the main menu for repeat engagement, reaching 1MM impressions globally. The content was then transported into a 360 video ad which ran on mobile web and apps, reaching an additional 2.9MM impressions (3.9MM impressions total across platforms).

Given the lack of benchmark data on this emerging ad format, the team set performance targets based on the install base, to drive engagement and in-theater viewership. The interactive movie trailer was presented to an existing base of 3MM installs, and achieved 1MM impressions (from new and existing users). Over 50% of users chose to experience the ad more than once, with an average interaction time of 108 seconds (versus a 90 second viewing experience).