This week, Travis and Stewart interview the awesome Cathy Hackl, who is helping big brands get real returns from VR and AR, even at this early “Wild West” stage of the game. Cathy schools us in what works, what doesn’t, and what the future holds.
In the news, we find out how Tune is helping to end mobile ad fraud, discuss the latest in the Snapchat roller coaster (spoiler: it may have turned a corner), and discuss the good/evil impact of AI.
By listening to this episode of VB Engage, you will hear:
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- Welcome to VB Engage episode 60! [0:10]
- Stewart and I are in person in Seattle for Tune‘s user conference, Postback 2017 [01:15]
- The Museum of Modern Pop, MoPop, in Seattle is where Tune threw its conference party. It was an amazing venue. [02:10]
- Tune released some big news: its new mobile advertising fraud detection service. [02:45]
- Tune looked at over 2 billion clicks and discovered fraudulent traffic was rampant in the industry. [03:00]
- The Tune Fraud Prevention Solution will provide transparency on both the marketer and the network partner side. [03:40]
- Google and Apple are working together to help eliminate ad fraud. [04:10]
- Tune has the Mobile Advertising Index on its website that helps you identify the best ad networks to work with. [04:45]
- Real-time feedback and transparency in mobile advertising is an excellent thing. [05:35]
- Elon Musk talked about how AI needs to be regulated before it gets out of control, and how we are summoning the demons. [06:20]
- Stewart created an “artificially intelligent” game when he was 12 that always beat you. [07:15]
- Google learns from your searches with self-improving AI. [08:30]
- This famous roboticist chastised Elon, saying he doesn’t understand AI. [09:10]
- Google’s AI guru, Demis Hassabis, says that AI should build on neuroscience. [09:35]
- Snapchat’s stock has a bit of the dead cat bounce, and it is making some fascinating changes and acquisitions. [10:15]
- Snapchat is working on an advertiser platform! [10:50]
- Snap’s acquisition of the Snap Maps feature seems beneficial, with its social heat map feature. [11:15]
- Travis is a big fan of Snap’s Bitmoji, which was another acquisition, and he used it to create his best snap of all time at the MoPop. [13:05]
- Speaking of AR, next up is this week’s special guest, Cathy Hackl, who is an epic VR content creator and consultant. [14:00]
- A couple of episodes ago, we discussed how Google is experimenting with advertising in VR with its cube-based advertising.
- Subtle product placement is going to be more popular in VR. [15:10]
- It’s not storytelling in VR; it’s “story-living.” [15:30]
- Storytelling is for marketers, while story-living is for consumers. [16:25]
- Cathy was in the second class of the Oculus Launch Pad. [16:45]
- Oculus is pushing for diverse content and helping grow diverse content creators. [17:25]
- Cutting-edge 360 VR, 360 photography, and learning Unity are key. [17:45]
- It’s a way to propel creators and to help create more diverse content. [18:15]
- Top tips for creators? Cathy adds some great insights here. Listen to the show, and you’ll hear them. Mwahaha! [19:15]
- Let’s take a moment to close our eyes. [20:00]
- We wonder how long it will be until there is a Pulitzer Prize for VR news content. [20:10]
- VR needs more epic content to help drive adoption. [20:35]
- Cathy is working with Oculus, Future Lighthouse, and William Morris Agency, along with other creators, on a Hollywood-produced VR horror series. [21:00]
- Robert Englund, Mr. Freddie Kruger, will be in some episodes, but he won’t be Freddy in the series. [21:45]
- Sounds like a scary experience for VR. [22:15]
- Eventually, there may be first-run movies in your virtual immersive headset theater experience. [23:10]
- VR in some ways is a niche market, a $5B niche market. The mass adoption will occur in AR, however. [24:40]
- Total immersion happens in VR… in AR, you get these overlays that add to reality and your space. [25:10]
- If you’re just now starting to think about AR and VR strategies for your business, then you are already late. [25:45]
- Imax VR in L.A. is a cool space, and Stewart checked it out. [26:35]
- Cathy is working on a mixed reality experience with NY Fashion Week. [27:10]
- Cathy is also working on creating holographic press releases. [28:05]
- Connect with Cathy @CathyHackl on Twitter and http://cathyhackl.com. [29:45]
Next week on episode 62, we have the first of our Unbounce CTA Conference interviews, kicking off with Unbounce‘s cofounder, Oli Gardner. We had this interview live on stage in front of 1,200 mobile advertising strategists and marketers. You’re going to want to Tune into that. Oh, wait: Wrong conference.
If you missed last week’s episode, we talked to the amazing Gary J. Nix about all things social, branding, and being authentic — something every company needs to focus on if it’s going to succeed.
As always, thanks for tuning into VB Engage. Please review it and rate it on your favorite podcast platform. Next week, Stewart and Travis will not be in the same city again, so we’re back to some level of normality.
