In the vision of the future portrayed by science fiction shows like the Jetsons and Star Trek, Virtual Reality was often portrayed as a means of escapism, akin to how we would view television or the internet.

I’m sure the science fiction writers of 1960s were well meaning when they determined that the world of the future was not going to be without products and marketing, but it seems they forgot the key element of Virtual Reality. Of all the things they got right, one thing that they didn’t foresee was the fact that virtual reality experiences would need to be sponsored, and in turn could take advertising to “boldly go” where it was never able to go before; Experience Selling.

I’m not talking about selling experiences in the sense that we have the opportunity to sell people VR experiences, like “imagine what it would be like to stand at the edge of a cliff”, or even “imagine what it would be like to fly”. Though these are pretty cool, they don’t give brands the chance to engage with products in an experience.

Experience selling involves being able to describe what a product can do for you, by painting a picture of an experience. It’s a really old school way to go about advertising products, and goes all the way back to the Mad Men era of the 1960s (oddly enough, when these science fiction writers were all thinking of VR).

Take the classic Mad Men example. Don Draper comes up with the campaign for the Kodak Carousel. In it, he describes memories as a means of experience, and the product as the best way to live out that experience.

In the Mad Men example, Don focuses on reliving his old life.

In the example he uses nostalgia, one kind of Experience Selling, to reach a serious and literal pain point with his clients. VR has the capability to take the same “carousel” and transport his clients right in to his memories. Though this forms the basis of the product's utility, the message is powerful enough that it would be difficult for his clients to shake from their minds.

And it’s not just the experience of nostalgia that is the best experience. Experience selling can range from very simple utility, such as experiencing a particular location such as a hotel or a new house, to very complex utility like revisiting a moment in time, or even something that could be anticipated in the future.

By being able to capture and utilise experiences, marketers can build on the already powerful notion of experience selling and translate it into an entirely different environment. The simple idea that you can experience a product or service first hand has huge implications. Soon, we may not worry about impressions, or even cost-per-click or cost-per-lead. The metrics around digital marketing could shift dramatically, to something like a 50% conversion rate on 100 leads, with a lead cost 10 times higher than before.

If this is the case, digital marketing as we know it may change forever.