The digital advertising landscape is evolving as marketers compete for consumers' attention. Omnivirt is a 360-degree VR advertising platform for brands and publishers looking to gain an edge. The company's CEO and COO, Brad Phaisan and Michael Rucker, joined us to chat about virtual reality's full potential for advertisers.
We are in the early stages of VR technology, and some doubt whether it'll ever live up to high expectations. Phaisan compares the skepticism towards VR today to the way people viewed smartphones in the 1990s. The former Google software engineer is confident VR could end up being just as big.
The advertising space is extremely cluttered, and marketers are looking for ways to jump off the page, says Rucker. Omnivirt's 360 VR ads are offering advertisers and publishers the chance to do just that. When asked about Snap's place in virtual reality advertising, Rucker adds that he sees the social media platform as complementary to the solutions offered by Omnivirt.
Jack Dorsey has stepped down as CEO of Twitter, saying he believes the social media platform is "ready to move on from its founders". The move has many wondering where Dorsey will focus his attention next, as he is still CEO of his financial payments company Square, which is heavily involved in cryptocurrency. Doug Astrop, managing partner at Exponential Investment Partners, joined Cheddar to discuss what Dorsey's resignation means for tech investors, particularly within the crypto space.
Astra founder, chairman, and CEO Chris Kemp spoke to Cheddar's Kristen Scholer about his company's first successful launch into orbit last month, becoming the fastest space company to reach orbit using a privately developed liquid-fueled rocket. He also noted that the company's priority is to "improve life on Earth from space" by rapidly increasing the number of low-orbiting satellites to do everything from connecting people to monitoring weather patterns.
Once again, YouTube is releasing its annual list of the top trending videos and music videos that had people in the U.S. talking. Madeline Buxton, trends expert for YouTube joins Cheddar News to discuss.
Stocks closed at session lows Wednesday as investors grew skittish over the first reported case of the COVID-19 omicron variant in California. Josh Sailar, Partner at Blue Zone Wealth Advisors, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss investor worry over the new variant, the Fed dropping the word 'transitory' to describe inflation and potentially speeding up their asset tapering timeline, 2022 predictions, and more.
The Robin Hood Foundation is New York City's largest poverty-fighting organization. For more than 30 years, Robin Hood has built and fueled non-profits across all five boroughs. CEO Richard Buery joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell ahead of his ringing the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange and later, lighting of the NYSE Christmas tree.
Creator commerce platform LTK raised $300 million in a recent funding round, now valuing the company at $2 billion. LTK is the world's largest influencer marketing platform and is known for helping to pioneer the so-called 'creator economy.' The company helps content creators make money off of their social media posts by hosting them on one central marketplace. LTK says more than $3 million in products are bought each year on its website and app. Now, the company is looking to continue its growth. LTK co-founder and president Amber Venz Box joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Microsoft recently announced the standalone Teams Essentials as businesses continue to update their practices for the new norm of hybrid work life. Jared Spataro, corporate VP at Microsoft Modern Work, joined Cheddar to talk about solutions the tech giant has rolled out in order to help underserved small and medium-sized companies continue operations seamlessly. "We're excited about the opportunity to serve their needs better, and that, in particular, is focused on their meeting and communication needs," he said. "We start with Teams, which has been a wildly successful product for us up in the enterprise space, and now we have created a form of Teams that is particularly suited for small businesses."
