REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

YuMe, Inc. (NYSE: YUME), a proven partner for video advertising leadership and innovation, in partnership with Isobar, a global digital agency; RLTY CHK, an immersive entertainment studio; and RetinadVR, the leading immersive media analytics platform, today released the results of a new virtual reality (VR) in-game advertising study. The study compared consumer responses to three forms of VR advertising — a pre-roll video ad, brand logos present in-game and 3D branded objects inserted into interactive game play. The findings revealed that, overall, VR advertising is highly memorable with 70% aided recall across all ad formats. The highest levels of brand recall occurred with the pre-roll video ad, which achieved 90% aided recall on the day the study was conducted.

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YuMe Study: Can Virtual Reality Deliver Real Brand ROI? (Graphic: Business Wire)

As brands continue to identify the most impactful video advertising formats, the report also offers insights about which ad format elicits the strongest emotional response, identified through Isobar’s proprietary VR analytics and measurement platform. Isobar found that pre-roll video within a VR experience is associated with a stronger emotional response (both higher emotional arousal and more positive emotional valence). Generally, stronger emotional response levels make advertising more memorable, as is often evidenced by correlating with higher recall.

“We believe our study indicates that VR advertising is highly memorable in any format. It’s encouraging to see that a video ad, the most familiar and high-performing digital format, also delivers the highest rate of ad recall in the VR world,” said Mireya Arteaga, Research Lead, YuMe. “We believe immersive advertising is on the rise. Its ability to deliver a compelling branded-content message that is interactive, engaging and offers consumers the ability to own their ad experience is very attractive to today’s advertisers.”

Key takeaways from the study include:

• VR advertising in-game is memorable across all ad formats studied (video ad, in-game logo, 3D interactive product placement)
  • 70% of respondents reported same-day aided recall
  • 26% of respondents reported seeing a brand in a virtual world is more memorable than a digital video ad
• VR advertising in-game is less intrusive and well-integrated
  • 74% of respondents reported the virtual ad experience less intrusive than normal digital advertising
  • 69% of respondents reported the ad was well-integrated
• Brand recall in VR gaming is high across all ad formats but only video maintains high ad recall the next day
  • Logos only:
    • Aided same day 67%
    • Aided next day 50%
  • Pre-roll only:
    • Aided same day 90%
    • Aided next day 86%
  • 3D object only:
    • Aided same day 50%
    • Aided next day 25%
• Multiplayer VR games deliver high emotional engagement, that present advertising opportunities and challenges
  • Skin conductance measures show a level of emotional arousal three to four times higher than the average for 2D video content.
  • This presents both an opportunity and challenge for VR advertisers. To the degree that high emotional engagement can be transferred to the advertised brand, there is strong opportunity to deliver a memorable ad with high recall. The marketing challenge is getting the ad unit to be noticed within the context of highly engaging game play.

“We believe the strong emotional engagement of VR gaming provides a great context for placing advertisements,” said Jeremy Pincus, Ph.D., Vice President at Isobar. “We see strong emotional engagement in both the overall experience and during exposure to each of the ad units, as measured through multiple biometric channels, including brain waves, facial muscle contractions, skin conductance, and heart rate changes.”

“By combining our immersive VR game show format with strategically-placed ads, both players and brands can win,” said Nick Robinson, CEO, RLTY CHK. “VR enables marketers and developers to reimagine brand experiences, and the positive recall metrics show how effective VR can be in engaging audiences.”

Alexander Haque, CEO of Retinad Analytics added, “VR and AR, while nascent marketing platforms, can help brands effectively tell a story to their customers, helping them connect with their consumers and keep their name top-of-mind. This study demonstrates the potential effectiveness of in-game VR advertising and how brands should approach this medium.”

Additional insights from the VR advertising study can be found within YuMe’s report, companion video and infographic here. Learn more about Isobar’s measurement platform here. In addition, a free webinar on the research findings entitled, “Transforming a Virtual Ad Experience into a Real World Memory,” is scheduled for Tuesday, October 24 at 10 am PT. To RSVP, click here.

Study Background

In conducting the VR advertising study, a total of 54 participants based in San Francisco, California were recruited to play “Kiss or Kill,” an immersive VR game show created by RLTY CHK, with CPG advertising included in three formats: video, branded logo in-game insertions and 3D branded objects included in interactive game play. Participants were monitored during game-play by Isobar to collect key emotional response data. Immediately after the game, and again 24 hours later, participants were surveyed by YuMe to measure ad recall and understand consumer response to the various forms of VR advertising they were exposed to. RetinadVR audited and provided input to the survey methodology, study execution, and the data analysis.

About YuMe

YuMe is a proven partner for video advertising leadership and innovation. We provide superior brand solutions with data-driven audience insights that increase engagement and sales. YuMe’s programmatic, audience-based technologies and unrelenting service deliver a complete marketing solution to engage audiences wherever they interact with content that matches their needs and interests. YuMe is headquartered in Redwood City, California, with worldwide offices. For more information, visit www.YuMe.com, follow @YuMevideo on Twitter (www.twitter.com/YuMevideo), or like YuMe on Facebook at www.facebook.com/YuMevideo.

About Isobar

Isobar is a global full service digital agency, driven by the purpose to deliver borderless ideas enabled by technology, to transform businesses and brands. We have over 6,000 digital pioneers in more than 85 locations. Isobar has won over 250 awards in 2016, including 19 Agency of the Year titles and Asia-Pacific Digital Network of the Year for the fifth time in the past six years. Key clients include adidas, Coca-Cola, Enterprise Holdings, GM, Huawei, LEGO and P&G. Isobar is part of the Dentsu Aegis Network, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dentsu Inc. www.isobar.com

About RLTY CHK

RLTY CHK is a Los Angeles-based immersive entertainment studio, focused on unleashing a new category of social entertainment. Learn more at www.RLTYCHK.co or connect on Twitter (www.Twitter.com/RLTY_CHK) and Facebook (Facebook.com/RLTYCHK).

About RetinadVR

Retinad is the leading immersive media analytics platform, providing in-depth insights about audience, content performance and optimization. Their platform has been used by the likes of Google, Yahoo!, major brands and media agencies, to help test, measure and improve their experiences in the new medium.

Forward-Looking Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including those in management quotations. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the words "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "plan," "objective," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "project," "potential," "continue" and "ongoing," or the negative of these terms, or other comparable terminology intended to identify statements about the future. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements about the impact and value of advertising in the context of virtual reality (including the different formats thereof), and the benefits derived therefrom; market trends; and quotations from management. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual results and the timing of events to differ materially from future results that are expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. These risks are discussed under "Risk Factors" in YuMe’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2017 that has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), and in our future filings and reports with the SEC. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to YuMe as of the date hereof, and we assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

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