Current State of Use of VR/AR in Medical and Dental Device Marketing Posted by Priscilla De La Rosa on April 19, 2017 Medical and dental device companies who can incorporate VR/AR into marketing tools, presentations and trade show exhibits will provide their clients and potential customers with a cutting edge experience that can help to differentiate from the competition, creates excitement and takes advantage of the more immersive learning experience associated with AR/VR. Use of 2D animations has traditionally been the marketing tool of choice by most medical device firms, but larger industry players such as Medtronic have begun to incorporate AR/VR demos into tradeshows and device marketing. VR is growing in use and acceptance as a training tool for many allied health professionals but most especially surgeons and those performing invasive procedures. It is inevitable that the surgeons and medical professionals who trained on AR/VR platforms will begin to bring this technology and benefits to their clients for educational and marketing purposes in order to increase comfort and compliance with elective or emergent procedures and to better understand post-op home recovery protocols. “And while the field of virtual reality has remained mainly in academic medicine, there are promising applications in other areas of health care. One such avenue: Showing patients exactly the steps of a surgery or procedure and what happens afterward, to ease confusion and concerns of patients.” https://www.statnews.com/2015/12/30/virtual-reality-medical-device-testing/ If you are interested in Viewstream VR & AR services, please email sales@viewstream.com
Watch-Ability Posted by Tom Jagger on April 18, 2017 Greetings Fellow Video Marketers! You wouldn’t be reading this if you didn’t realize the effectiveness of video in your campaigns and sales numbers, but what makes a good marketing video? We’re all constantly bombarded with requests to watch a product demo, pitch or overview, sometimes it can be overwhelming to know what type of video would be effective for your own particular needs. At Viewstream, while we see and deliver the benefits of marketing automation, we also realize you are selling to beings, not bots. Bots just do math, which can be interesting to a nerd such as myself, but human beings need more than numbers to make an intelligent purchase decision. Really there are only a few essential considerations, the most important of which, I believe, is watch-ability. Obviously, your video cannot be effective if no one watches it, or “tunes out” even if your metrics show the video was played from beginning to end. The biggest mistake you can make is to believe that someone will watch your video just because you made it, or worse, paid a lot for it. With so many ways for our potential customers to distract themselves these days we need people to WANT to watch our video, or even leave them wanting to see more similar videos. Sure, a potential customer may need to decide on a product or service to complete their project, but that doesn’t mean when you show your product features it has to be in a boring sales guy webex, or worse, an edited on demand webex. Check out what we did for a Microsoft / Toshiba joint project. You’ll get to see the features our clients wanted to share with potential customers, and the videos high level of watch-ability might keep you watching all five of the series: The original series of five was so successful, they inspired Microsoft and Toshiba to bring back Kyle for another series! If you are interested in seeing how to market to beings and not bots – send me an email! I would love to discuss what Viewstream can do for you.
Viewstream Marketing Growth Matrix Posted by Priscilla De La Rosa on April 14, 2017 Introducing the Viewstream Growth Matrix. Dive in below as we discuss how these four areas can work together to put your business on the path to growth and beyond. Network Networking is like finding a new friend: you’re simply on a search to connect with someone on a deeper level. And from one successful relationship, many more will blossom. Networking can feel cold, however, it can warm up quickly by attending top events relative to your industry and interests. So, get searching in your area. Run Campaigns Demand generation is an art…and a science. Targeting the right audience in the best market to buy your product can be complex. And to achieve scale, you’ll need to drive awareness and interest in your offering. A follow-up mechanism allows you to place contacts inside a pipeline, qualify the ones that have a need, and finally, generate more customers. Do Meetings You have a relationship with one of your contacts, either personally or professionally. Now, it’s important to cultivate relationships with periodic meetings. Meetings are about them, not you. They’re also about listening and understanding their goals. So, prepare a bunch of questions and be prepared to listen. Nurture Your greatest assets are your established relationships. As your offering already aligns with your customer needs, it’s time to nurture those relationships. It’s not only essential to maintaining your existing client base, but it utilizes more personal forms of communication. Now it’s time to give more than you ask, and deliver value at every step along the way.
Digital-First Marketing Needs a Human Touch Posted by Priscilla De La Rosa on April 6, 2017 Digital marketing for technology companies is fundamentally different than marketing for the non-technical industry. Although it sounds like a simple distinction, if we unpack it, we discover surprising insights. A few months ago, I had some conversations at the digital marketing SoDA conference that opened my eyes to the differences between digital and traditional marketing ecosystems. I’ve been living in the tech industry so long, that a new perspective from outside the fishbowl was clarifying. “As a digital marketer, what is the biggest challenge you face working with your clients?” This seemed like an innocuous question when our workshop leader asked, but the answers I heard were surprising. Except for me, the unanimous answer was: We focus tremendous time and effort convincing clients to believe in digital-first marketing. Then we have to ensure that the digital-first approach is accepted and operationally integrated into the marketing organization. What’s Different? Traditional, mature companies like Coca Cola, Citibank, McKesson and Chevron completely understand how to communicate human feeling and value… Read more of this blog post on Medium.com >>
Immersive VR Presentations for the AEC Industry (Architecture, Engineering and Construction) Posted by Joel Yabrudy on January 10, 2017 Traditional methods of presenting new projects, whether it is a design for a new hospital, or the construction phases of a new office building, usually involve printed images and documents, videos with 3d animated flyarounds, or physical maquettes (miniatures) of the building. Project leaders from firms rely on these methods to present everything from designs and analysis, to scheduling and cost to their clients and investors. Even though these methods work in terms of getting the information across, the overall engagement with the content being shown will always be limited by the quality of the material and the technology being used to present it. AEC firms are just beginning to leverage VR for not only their internal practices, but for client-facing material as well. The value that VR brings is greater engagement through immersiveness. By allowing a viewer to see content as if it was actually there, walk around it and interact with it, presentations can be brought to a whole new level. Using the right creative, strategy, and technology can make content more engaging. What we have done with the new Viewstream AEC VR Demo, is design and build an experience around a specific product, in this case a new construction presentation. We took what is a traditional method of presenting information, and reestablished how it is presented. In the Viewstream virtual presentation, we showcase a variety of information that is both important and essential to this type of product, and we do it a way that is engaging for the viewer. Cost and scheduling, lighting and energy analysis, general neighborhood data, as well as full views of the new construction are some of the elements we find important to this industry. By creating a realistic, immersive, virtual experience around this concept of an architectural/construction presentation, we can engage the viewer and in turn deliver greater value. Would you like to learn more about Viewstream and our VR services for the AEC industry, including checking out a demo? Email info@viewstream.com and a team member will get right back to you. Or complete our contact form.
Top 6 Marketing Trends of 2017 Posted by Priscilla De La Rosa on September 8, 2016 As marketers, we embrace the expectation that we have to constantly come up with new, innovative methods for reaching target audiences. We love to come to work in the morning where every campaign needs to be a “game changer.” We strive to conjure up “purple cows” every day. Marketing spend needs to go further to meet these elevated expectations. But in this new digital reality, how do you be both efficient and effective, and how do you differentiate your brand in a crowded marketplace where everything is presumed to be new? Here is a preview of the six key trends that will dominate 2017 and allow marketers in the know to get ahead of the curve: 1. Customer data is skyrocketing as big campaigns plummet. Data on customers or potential customers is readily available. Demographics, behavior, interests, browsing history, previous purchases, and on and on. All of this data can be used to deliver personalized, relevant content to individuals across any channel, leading to the death of the one-size-fits-all campaign. The days when marketers would do a long march towards a big campaign launch are over. We need to be executing daily, weekly or monthly campaigns that are consistently optimized and put into the world. To discover the rest of the key trends, such as virtual reality and the future of email, download the report today. GET THE FREE REPORT
Why are you special? Posted by John Assalian on March 7, 2016 Getting marketing right requires a real understanding of why your product and company is unique. To help, Viewstream created a “Positioning Generator“. It’s the marketing team’s Mad Libs. Fill in the blanks based on the prompts provided and get your positioning statement. It’s sure to get you thinking, at least. This type of statement ought to be a default part of your messaging, communication and go-to market arsenal. Check it out here: http://viewstream.com/positioning-generator/
Viewstream Discusses Skeuomorphic Design Posted by John Assalian on April 8, 2014 Here at Viewstream we are very interested in design trends. So one afternoon we put the entire company on pause to talk about a favorite topic — the future of skeuomorphism. Our design team gave an internal presentation that explored the rapid evolution of this design trend since touchscreens became an everyday part of our lives, from the first iPhone, to iOS 7, and beyond. We also discussed how skeuomorphism impacts our experience of User Interfaces and our senses of reality, objectivity, and perfection. Check out the visual portion of our design team’s presentation here.
Exploring New Ground with the Oculus Rift Posted by John Assalian on November 12, 2013 Elekta, a leader in clinical solutions for radiosurgery and radiation therapy, recently completed construction on a state-of-the-art learning center in Atlanta, Georgia—the company’s North American headquarters. The Learning and Innovation Center (LINC) is expected to draw clinicians, researchers, and health IT professionals for education, training, and collaboration on Elekta’s solutions for treating cancer and brain disorders. To help generate awareness, Viewstream created an interactive, virtual tour of the LINC facility that can be explored using the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. Elekta invited attendees of the ASTRO 2013 conference to wear the Oculus Rift and experience the Learning and Innovation Center in virtual reality. To help build a buzz, the virtual tour was promoted before and after the conference through Elekta’s social channels, including YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. In the end, the virtual tour received overwhelming positive responses from both the client and the conference attendees. Viewstream created the LINC virtual tour using Autodesk Maya, the Unity game engine, and the Oculus Rift developer’s kit. The visual model was created in Autodesk Maya, using a combination of photos, videos, and blueprints of the facility. The model was then imported into the Unity game engine, where it was given physics, movement, and lighting. Finally, the resulting program was calibrated with the Oculus Rift headset using the product’s developer kit to create the interactive, virtual tour. Check out a preview of the virtual tour:
Ethnography for Business Posted by John Assalian on March 21, 2013 Ethnography has become a buzz word. A lot of companies claim to do “Ethnography” or offer it as a service. However, most of the companies offering ethnography services are just market research firms and what they are offering is basically “fancy” surveys and focus groups. In terms of agencies, a lot of agencies offer “ethnography” as part of their services, but usually they are bringing in outside consultants to do this (i.e. they have no one with an anthropology background on staff). Also, in most cases this is an adjunct to the standard branding, marketing, and design services as opposed to a unique focus. Several of MDC companies noted their “ethnographic” work, but none actually listed an anthropologist on staff. Red Associates is the only agency I could find oriented towards selling Anthropology qua Anthropology and have an actual Anthropologist on staff. Most of the other real business ethnography, anthropology companies are small consulting firms. Ethnographic Solutions being a good example. Red Associates Red is a NY/Copenhagen based company that mixes social sciences and marketing. They broadly categorize their services as “Applied Business Anthropology”. From website: Who We Are ReD Associates is an innovation and strategy consultancy. The anthropologists, sociologists, economists, journalists, and designers who make up ReD employ the methods of social science to study human behavior. Our teams in Copenhagen and New York work together to develop deep insights into how and why consumers make decisions. We use these insights both to see the world in more compassionate and complex ways—and to identify new opportunities for our clients. We benefit hugely from having a very international staff: Our diversity of perspectives enables us to ask culturally relevant questions and explore the world in open-ended ways. In our practice we employ methods and ways of thinking from two domains—social scientific practices from ethnography, market analysis from traditional business practice—to provide clients with clear and comprehensive directions for moving forward. Ethnographic Solutions DC based Market Research company. The principals are all Anthropologists from respectable backgrounds. Looking at their services they have found some interesting ways of applying their skills beyond the usual “market survey”. From their website: Services: ETHNOGRAPHY -Physician-Patient Dialogue -Sales Representative Ethnography -Day in Life Customer Ethnography -Employee-Customer Dialogue -Consumer Unmet Needs BRAND COMMUNICATIONS -Positioning & Platform Research -Message Testing & Story Flow -Creative Concept Testing -Visual & Sales Aid Testing CUSTOMIZED QUALITATIVE -Medical Device Testing -Consumer Buying Process -Disease Exploratory Research -Netnography -Customer Tracking Research