Facebook’s Virtual Reality-Style Ads Are Here With Big Brands on Board
By Carlton Wilcoxson • November 13, 2015
If you were wondering what Facebook’s $2 billion Oculus Rift might mean for advertisers, we may have just been given a sneak peek. Today, the Menlo Park, Calif.-based company debuted the first virtual reality-style video ads for AT&T, Nestle, Mondelez and Samsung, among others.
In September, Facebook rolled out a video creation tool that let publishers and brands like Vice and Mountain Dew post 360-degree clips organically to their pages. Now that tool has been wrapped into a new ad format that shows up as sponsored posts in newsfeeds.
The high-definition capabilities are already spurring brands to get a bit more creative with their Facebook ads. For example, Mondelez-owned Ritz’s two-minute spot gives people a 360-degree view of a holiday party. And AT&T used its ad to put viewers behind the wheel of Ben Albano, and up-and-coming race-car driver.
In addition to the new ad format, Facebook’s 360-degree videos can also be watched on iOS and Samsung Gear devices. Previously, the clips only worked on desktops and Android-powered phones and tablets.