How Brands Should Enter the Metaverse
Let’s be real! Conventional offline and online advertising methods such as flagship shops, large billboards and other types of traditional offline and internet advertising are becoming a thing of the past.
There’s a Mega Newbie in Town: metaverse marketing, aka the new way to build “real life”, immersive relationships with the new generation of consumers.
What is the Metaverse?
The metaverse is an interconnected, immersive online space where ideas come alive in real time. It’s the embodied internet delivered through devices like sensors; VR visors; and Glass, Google’s augmented reality wearable. This computer-enhanced reality is where you’ll work, collaborate, learn, play, shop, and create in real-time.
Why you Should Care
Virtual Reality experts predict that 58.9 million people will use VR and 93.3 million people will use Augmented Reality. That’s respectively 17.7% and 28.1% of the total US population. Think you can ignore these numbers? Think again.
The metaverse is the successor of the internet. The same question was asked 20 years ago when the Internet was introduced. Most were skeptics saying that it would never happen. Fast forward, what would have happened to your company had you not jumped on the Internet wagon?
It’s simple, if you want your business to be alive and thriving five to ten years from now (and it could happen faster), you need to start strategizing to adjust and fit the world of the metaverse. Whether you are in the B2B or B2C fields, you will have to offer your clients the option to experience your products and services within an Augmented Reality space, so they have a fully immersive experience.
Benefits Offered by the Metaverse
When brands give fans persistent, interactive spaces where they can enjoy content, their emotional investment with the brand increases.
Brands gain traction when they partner with members of the Roblox developer community to create items and experiences.
User-generated content (UGC) and community members are integral parts of the metaverse. Like with influencer campaigns, brands are often most effective when they involve platform-native creators in the creative design and execution of campaigns.
Metaverses are jam-packed with innovative marketing potential from virtual stores to content production, flagship events and product launches.
In the metaverse, computer vision is becoming more intelligent, allowing for both visual and audible help.
The Metaverse Speed Train - Facts
Top-tier media are all in
The META ETF is growing in popularity
Google News shows 175,000 search results for the keyword “Metaverse News”
Twitter shows about 500 Tweets per hour mentioning #metaverse
Instagram shows more than 43,000 posts using #Metaverse
Brands like Gucci, Nike, Disney and Snap are in the midst of creating virtual communities, content, assets, fashion and customized experiences for their audiences
How Big Brands are Already Using the Metaverse
1. GUCCI: Gucci created the Gucci Garden on Roblox by offering themed rooms users could walk around in as mannequin (like avatars). It enables users to interact with products and try them on digital clothing and accessories available for purchase.
2. WARNER BROS: WB created a virtual rendition of the Washington Heights neighborhood on Roblox as part of its campaign for the new movie “In the Heights”. Players can explore the interactive environment, pick up collectibles and attend a virtual screening of a clip of the movie.
3. LOUIS VUITTON: LV made its own video game using familiar metaverse touchstones like collectable Easter eggs and items that convey stories.
4. BALENCIAGA create the Afterworld showcasing its futuristic clothing line.
5. NIKE materialized virtual stores for its Air Max 720
Get Ahead of Your Competition
Below is what you can start doing now to get ready for this exciting new world and get ahead of your competition:
Start understanding how you can be found on the metaverse. SEO is key!
Get yourself an Oculus 2 headset and experience this world yourself so you can start imagining how you can use it to present your products and services
Sign-up for Facebook Horizon (currently in Beta)
Sign-up to Snapchat Trends to learn which words and phrases are trending across the platforms and what’s driving buzz for their community of 500 million active users
Start creating content using AR
Attend events in VR on platforms such as AltSpace VR or Facebook Horizon
Partner with creators and influencers who are already in the space to get a boost forward
Create PR (Public Relations) content using AR as a way to stand out when pitching stories to journalists
Set up Google Alert to follow “metaverse” in the news to educate yourself
Interact with journalists, reporters and analysts who are covering AR/VR and the metaverse.
Think it’s not relevant to you?
Well, the future is NOW. If you don’t jump on the metaverse wagon, your competitors will. After all, virtual beings are already part of our daily lives (Alexa and Siri!)
Looking at the world through AR glasses and experiencing products in the depth of immersive technologies is the near future. You need to plan on how you will surf these new ways of communication NOW.
While the internet took 30 years to get where it is today, I predict that the metaverse will experience rapid growth. I believe the shift we’re seeing to Web3, metaverse, is going to be one of the largest shifts we’ve seen in a long time.
Brands that will have the guts to be bold and adventurous will gain momentum over those that don’t. It’s always the same story. The true visionaries end up gaining such a big advantage that those lagging behind will never be able to catch-up with.
Jumping now into this true revolution in advertising will pay big dividends.