What is a metaverse?
The metaverse is a relatively new concept in the virtual world, and refers to a network of virtual worlds in the third dimension, to add to real-time virtual worlds that allow you to live in them continuously and simultaneously. It represents a connected network of virtual communities, where an unlimited number of users can participate.
Image source: searchenginejournal.com
Everyone in the metaverse environment can have their presence along with the experience of live streaming data, which may be for objects, items, identity data, entitlements, records, payments, communications, and more.
What is metaverse marketing?
For marketers, there is a lot of potential to discover in the metaverse world, so they need to fully understand it to know that potential and how to make the most of it. Marketers will need to understand how to adapt to the expansion that is happening to this world, and how brands have found opportunities to market and sell their products and services. In general, it is a highly suitable platform for marketing for millennials and Generation Z, they are the most avid generations of the metaverse, and this is mainly related to the category of virtual games and their technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality.
In this article, we’ll explore information about metaverse marketing and what this concept means for brands as well.
What does the metaverse mean for brands?
The metaverse is the next heir to what the Internet offers at the present time, but the predominance now is for the Internet via mobile phones, so that this era differs significantly from what was offered by broadband Internet technology that emerged in the nineties and the beginning of the new millennium.
Today, there are points of convergence between artificial intelligence technology, cloud data processing and fifth-generation communication technologies, due to the emergence of the experience of virtual reality and augmented reality technologies, in addition to the increase in the state of communication that we live in across different devices.
Image source: venturebeat.com
Today, our ways of consuming data and brands have changed, and the metaverse world is a crossroads for many things, from social interactions and games to the world of cryptocurrencies. The metaverse tries to eliminate many barriers and create a new reality that different people use and perceive differently. It is indeed establishing a decentralized democratic space.
Brands like to remember that the metaverse puts people above all else, and then provides them with opportunities to present their presentations in the real world or the other perspective world. The metaverse is a large space characterized by fun, social relationships and creative values, and brands can creatively embed their services and products in such an environment that allows them to reach new, undiscovered audiences without worrying about real-world results.
Facebook is one of the leading companies that have adopted this concept. CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes this is the future path for his company, with a project worth about a trillion dollars, and he believes it will help expand his social media platforms to reach more users. His platform will be between work, play and socializing, in fact, after they changed their name to Meta, this word began to spread widely online. It is not yet clear whether the transition from Facebook to Meta is a successful operation, and the reason is that Facebook is still sorting out some PR-related legal issues. However, influencer marketing at the metaverse is another big gain for this company.
Learning from examples of marketing metaverse
Here are some examples of metaverse marketing brands that have adopted the metaverse concept in marketing:
1. NASCAR
NASCAR recently launched a multi-year project to raise awareness of its brand in the eyes of gamers, especially those in the younger generation. And I planned it especially for the Roblox game developed by this company. The company designed a digital car as part of the digital Jailbreak game. The company has also started selling clothes in Jailbreak, which players can buy according to their character in the game. There’s also a contest for their followers to be planned, so players can design their own outfits. The company collaborates with and supports its developers to become influencers, as they promote the game and new updates through social media platforms.
2.GrandTheft Auto V
It is an open world game based on sandbox technology. The game released different clothing options, one of which was similar to what the protesters wore in Hong Kong, where these protesters were able to take their battle to the world of the metaverse, and were joined by many artists who helped them express their political views. In this way, the game increased its marketing and other segments of society helped it promote its cause.
Image Source: nascar.com
3. Houzz
Houzz is another example of metaverse marketing, where the brand has been able to use metaverse marketing in a very big way. It allowed its interested customers to create images of the type of gadgets or home furniture they wanted. When anyone buys digitally created items, Houzz makes money. They have a three-dimensional display app, allowing users to view items in three-dimensional ways and can then choose to have the same object in their homes.
4. Dimension Studio
Dimension Studio is one of the brands that has successfully used metaverse marketing. They have managed to raise up to $6.5 million from promoting fashion brands using this platform. They designed a default setting that allows users to scan with 100 different cameras and place them in different virtual forums. After that, they can experiment with different costumes. The Balenciaga brand has launched a game called Afterworld, a game designed to showcase its fashion collection for the fall/winter season of 2021. Dimension Studio’s metaverse technology was of great use in every sense of the word at the time.
The future of the metaverse: opportunities or challenges?
1. Opportunities offered by the metaverse
Many brands have kept pace with these technologies by building their own virtual worlds. A lot of users sell NFTs or so-called non-fungible tokens. They are designed based on a blockchain (digital transaction technology) approach, which allows people to own unique digital items such as videos or photos.
Image source: xrtoday.com
Many brands also display digital ads on metaverse platforms, so that the ads are placed by different brands specialized in games, which are billboards or in the form of character clothing with the name of the advertised brands. These are in-game ads that are similar to what they will appear in the real world. These ad spaces are sold at a certain cost per thousand impressions (views) and cost between $6 and $12 depending on the different platforms.
Another advantage is how metaverse marketing strategies can open up opportunities in the world of education. It will certainly help to increase active participation in the classroom, as today a lot of effort is being put into the work to integrate cutting-edge technology such as virtual reality into such areas. In addition, there is the possibility of introducing three-dimensional display environments to this field as well.
2. Limitations
The metaverse is currently still under development and testing, and marketers are still learning how best to exploit the opportunities offered by this platform, particularly in terms of how to monetize. Brands that are not yet sufficiently engaged in this digital world will need to update their financial asset libraries.
The other issue concerns how to determine the return on investment. Creating end-to-end digital assets can be time-consuming and costly, and marketers will need a way to track the returns they earn after spending money on advertising. This should be as clear as in other digital channels and domains.
The end
Procrastination in the metaverse is the new future trend in the world of digital marketing. As this platform gains a position at the forefront of digital technology, it will open up new opportunities for brands to exploit it. However, the metaverse digital marketing may prove to be more relevant to some brands than others.