Deployment through app or film?

App. Or film. It can be a real struggle deciding how to deploy your VR experience. There are loads of considerations such as ease of download, quality of viewing and perhaps most importantly, cost. We’ve set out the pros and cons of both deployment method to help you make an informed decision…

Deployment by app

+ Convenient user experience  

Developing an app gives you the ability to create a campaign around the VR film. Aside from branding, apps can be used to encourage a specific action and house any further information about your campaign all in one place. Once downloaded, many apps also work offline so those users with patchy WIFI, or no internet connection at all, can still watch your film.

+  Revenue generation or data collection

Asking users to pay to download the app is a great way of recovering the development costs of an app if you are sure there will be a high level of downloads. Alternatively, asking users to register to download and use the app is a great way of collecting data and, subject to obtaining the necessary opt-in permissions, you can use this data to repeat the messaging of your campaign.

+  Build your campaign and get noticed

Apps can be housed on the app store or linked to social media platforms. This allows your users to post or tweet about your VR film and you could offer incentives such as prizes to encourage shares across their networks leading to more downloads.

-  Cost and time

Building apps can be expensive! Costs vary depending on the functionality you want to achieve and how complicated it needs to be. Also, apps require a lot of maintenance, particularly as smartphone software develops. Although the cost of development can be offset by income generation, the time and cost of creating (and maintaining) the app is a huge consideration.

-  Marketing

Unfortunately, most apps don’t go viral like PokemonGo. Much thought needs to go into the strategy of marketing your app, particularly if your marketing budget is modest. Consider free ways to market - such free downloads for a limited period or encouraging reviews of the app and shares on social media.

Deployment by film

+  Creative ways to get film out there

Forgoing an app doesn’t necessarily meeting that deployment of the film will be boring – on the contrary! There are loads of creative ways to get your film out there – through social media, microsites or Video on Demand (VOD) sites such as Vimeo.

+  Cheaper and limited maintenance

Apps are expensive and need ongoing maintenance. A micro-site on the other hand, can be set up cost-effectively using a hosting site such as Squarespace, leaving you spare budget for your marketing activities.

+  Charge to view or collect user data

You can add a pay barrier or registration page to VOD or microsites. This means users must either pay to view the video, or sign up. Much like with an app, this allows you to use their data for future communications and repeat messaging.

+  Social sharing

Deployment via social media channels or microsites should encourage social sharing and comments. This gives you free marketing, as well as a live feed of comments on your video.

-  Marketing

There are still marketing considerations when hosting your film on a microsite or social media platforms. Perhaps you need to print cards to hand out at schools to advertise the film, or spend a little on pay-per-click ads. Regardless of how the film is hosted, whether by app or other means, the main priority is making sure people see the film!