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.
Catching you up on what you need to know on April 15, 2022, with four of the victims from the Brooklyn subway shooting still hospitalized as the suspect is held without bail, Russia resumes attacks on Kyiv, teachers across the country receive their largest pay raises in decades, and more.
The major U.S. indexes closed Tuesday off of session lows as investors digest the latest read on inflation, showing it remains hot. Wall Street is also preparing for earnings from big banks and monitoring potential policy moves from the Federal Reserve. Peter Tuchman, a stock trader at TradeMas, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell and highlighted tech stocks in particular. 'The tech sector, which led us to record highs before the 1st of this year, are now the ones that are leading us lower,' he said.
Billionaire Elon Musk made waves after revealing he's making an attempt at a hostile takeover of the social media platform Twitter. The Tesla CEO is offering $43 billion to buy the social media platform outright with "freedom of speech" allegedly at the forefront of his agenda. Dan Ives, managing director of equity research at Wedbush Securities, is taking the tech entrepreneur seriously. "I think through many twists and turns over the coming months, he ultimately ends up owning Twitter because Twitter's board, their back is going to be against the wall," he said.
Ann Mukherjee, the chairman and CEO of Pernod Ricard North America, joined Cheddar News to talk about Absolut Vodka’s decade-long partnership with the music festival Coachella. Perno Ricard's vodka brand has built the virtual world Absolutland in the Decentraland metaverse for users to explore. "We actually have a vending machine where you can actually purchase the cocktails that will be delivered right to your home," she said. The brand will also be featuring festival headliner Swedish House Mafia.
A fertilizer shortage made worse from the Russia-Ukraine war is reigniting the conversation over sustainable agriculture. With the costs of fertilizer rising, weaning off of synthetic fertilizer may be a good option for farmers trying to keep costs low, while keeping crop margins high. But, Damian Mason, farm owner, agricultural economist and author of "Food Fear," says it's not that simple. Mason joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to explain the challenges of greener practices.