Brands investing in immersive experiences need to change the way they think about ROI

This article was created in partnership with Infinite Reality

Immersive experiences are changing the way brands, creators and audiences interact online. And marketers who immerse themselves in technologies like extended reality (XR) and AI will reap the benefits.

During an Adweek live panel discussion at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, presented in partnership with Infinite Reality, industry leaders shared what that future could look like, with deeper customer relationships, more accurate data, increased efficiency and even more fun.

“Imagine you’re a brand and you want to target a particular audience around content, and you can actually have a one-on-one conversation and ask questions, and then you own the data, you own the customer, and you own the experience, not Meta, Google or anyone else,” John Acunto, co-founder and CEO of Infinite Reality, told the audience. “It’s about helping companies own the experience. their own data, their customers and their experience. “

At the same time, the spatial web allows brands to convey a “vivid personality,” said Mariale Marrero, the content creator and influencer whose site Infinite Reality has gained 32 million followers and counting. “Creators are still beholden to the algorithm, you don’t have any of that here.” I can build in this space. It’s not just a matter of saying, “Here, I posted this.” And I love being able to know who is actually visiting.

Immersive entertainment also brings consumers closer to brands, said Rhonda Hiatt, CEO of M&C Saatchi Consulting. “People will go where they will be entertained and where they can be part of history. Bringing that moment and allowing people in means a brand can put their stamp on it. The platform you create begins to gain traction and followers. It impacts them and you get more data.

Creators can become role models for brands, said Julia Moonves, vice president of advertising partnerships at Pocket.watch, a children’s media company. “Creators are very interesting right now in that they’re willing to test and learn, and they have direct access to platform data where it says, ‘OK, I can AB test two things, and I can find what’s unique about this platform,’ try it, see if my audience likes it, maybe try something else And they also bring audience with them. of very intelligent businessmen to seek and with whom associate.

While the promises of immersive technology seem limitless, marketers looking for instant ROI will need to modify their expectations. “You can’t always look at the bottom line,” said Hiatt of M&C Saatchi Consulting. “The question of scale right now is not one you should be thinking about. It’s a question of experience and long-term investment, and whether you implement the fundamentals. These are opportunity costs. The scale will come later.

But the technology will need to prove itself quickly, said Justin Johnson, head of market development at financial technology company Acorns. “A brand’s ROI is measured immediately, and if we can’t deliver that, whether it’s experience, entertainment or product, they won’t spend, and certainly not at a scale that will build an entire industry,” he said. the public. “If you create content, you will certainly be able to provide the effectiveness advertisers demand, probably based on cost per view. Because that’s probably where it’s all going to happen.