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Metaverse Marketing: Future or Fad?
- umamacommunication
- Apr 11, 2022
- 2 min read
In the last year it seems as if every company imaginable is trying to get their virtual feet in the metaverse. Facebook’s name change to Meta on October 28th of last year not only signified the company’s focus on “building the metaverse”, but also prompted other businesses to begin taking the metaverse more seriously. While the metaverse and other digital technologies like cryptocurrency and NFTs are certainly here to stay, it remains to be seen how it will affect the marketing space.
To start, the “real metaverse” does not actually exist yet, and is years away according to Matthew Lieberman from Forbes who claims, “The basic idea of the metaverse is pretty similar to what science fiction writer Neal Stephenson came up with 30 years ago: a stunningly realistic, 3D digital world where you can do almost anything that you can do in the "real" world. I put on virtual reality (VR) and extended reality (XR) headsets for work pretty regularly, and I can tell you, this kind of metaverse doesn't exist yet”. This affects how companies enter the space because they are jumping in head first to virtual worlds that soon won’t be relevant.
This also begs the question: do consumers really care if a company is in the metaverse? In other words, is seeing Chipotle on Roblox going to make me want to buy a burrito more? In some ways Chipotle’s presence in the metaverse serves a digital advertisement, but “brands experimenting in the metaverse are outpacing actual consumer interest in virtual worlds” according to Mike Proulx of Forrester Research. Proulx also went on to include that “Forty-three percent of U.S. adults indicate that they would actively avoid a brand-sponsored experience in an immersive digital platform.” That being said, the general consensus is that it is important for brands to be interacting with the “metaverse” and begin to develop an understanding of how consumers respond to different tactics.
Other examples of industries breaking into the metaverse include fashion and music with the last two weeks seeing the first ever Metaverse Fashion Week and The Recording Academy hosting a virtual Grammy week on Roblox. Both used the virtual experience to sell NFTs and direct people to engage in the digital world. President of Estee Lauder said, “When people discover Estée Lauder in the metaverse, it’s a gateway for them to engage with Estée Lauder online and in the physical world.” This was also the strategy of The Recording Academy who also used the metaverse Grammy week to promote artists, hoping digital performances and meet & greets would convert to real-world fans with artists like Glass Animals and Camilo.
There is a long way to go with metaverse marketing and companies are testing what works and doesn’t work in real time. But the digital space is only growing, and it is necessary for marketers to work on pace with innovation and continue experimenting with these new technologies.
By: Jordan Chesebrough
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