Johnnie Walker taps VR to show perils of drunk driving

Dive Brief:

Spirits company Diageo is using its Johnnie Walker brand and virtual reality to bring a fatal drunk driving crash experience to consumers of legal drinking age, as announced in a company press release.
The VR campaign is called “Decisions,” and the storyline follows three groups of cars and passengers that end with a fatal crash. It is available on Facebook 360, YouTube 360 and NYT VR, along with all VR headsets, including Samsung Gear VR, Oculus Rift and Google's Daydream View.
The Decisions campaign was created by Diageo’s Digital and Culture & Partnerships teams and the digital agency VaynerMedia.

Dive Insight:

VR technology has come into its own in 2016 as a medium for marketing messages and advertising, and as the "Decisions" campaign illustrates it can also be tapped for public service, with a side helping of brand awareness thrown in for good measure.

"With VR technology on the rise both in consumer interest and utilization, we believe this is the ideal method to directly and emotionally impact consumers,” said James Thompson, chief marketing and innovation officer at Diageo North America, in the release.

Thompson isn't wrong on VR's emotional impact: Recent studies by Nielsen and YuMe show VR brand experiences garner a 27% higher reaction in users than traditional 2D content, and a 17% higher reaction than flatly presented 360-degree video. The "Decisions" campaign could then be a powerful tool for raising awareness in its simulation of pointedly traumatic experiences, especially heading into the holidays when accidents tend to rise.

"With Thanksgiving and the holiday season right around the corner, the dangers of drunk driving should be on all of our minds as we celebrate with friends and family," said Thompson.

The release also points out that consumer interest in VR is expected to reach 171 million active users by 2018, citing Statista research from April. Diageo is making a long-term commitment to VR tech with more user experiences planned for the future, and consumers can expect other brands to follow suit, as the technology is on pace to be a major moneymaker over the next few years.

The campaign shows how the Johnnie Walker brand is committed to new digital technology. In September, it launched a “digital mentorship” program across Amazon Echo devices, Facebook’s Messenger app and videos.