WELCOME TO THE EXPERIENCE ECONOMY.
Hi everyone,
Welcome to the experience economy.No wait, scratch that. Welcome to the virtual experience economy. The Metaverse. We kind of need to talk about it, right? And for all of you asking yourselves, why? Just ask your kids. They’ve been metaversing for a while now.
First things first. What exactly is The Metaverse?
It’s a space between digital and physical existence, including the sum of all virtual worlds, currently living on the well-known internet. We’re heading towards a space where you (or your avatar) can virtually walk around in 3D on the internet and express yourself as you would in the physical world.
So yes, the internet itself is still the foundation of this phenomenon. However, the metaverse we’re heading towards will most likely replace a big part of the internet that we know today. It will definitely change the way we purchase, connect and teleport around the world.
Essentially, The Metaverse is something that we’re all gradually working towards. And there’s still a way to go. The hype around web 3.0 in general, boosted by NFTs and the blockchain does accelerate the process quite a bit.
But let’s make all of these hype-words a bit more specific, right?
The Metaverse as we know it today is not just 1 platform or technology. There are several. And many more to come in the next few months. I’m talking about Roblox or Decantraland. Or Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality. And the web 3.0 at the foundation of it all. Whatever platform or technology, it’s a place where people experience a certain type of freedom. A place where they can connect with real people across the world. A place where they can be themselves, express themselves or be a completely new version of themselves.
The growth speaks for itself. At the beginning of this year, Roblox had an average of 45 million daily users. Spending almost 3h per day on the platform. Just let that sink in for a second. Those are huge numbers. And social media is still around, right. But the fact of the matter is that a whole lot of people engage way more (and longer) on platforms such as Roblox, Fortnite and others. Platforms like these are based on 2 pillars. Play and community. Fun and connecting. They are playgrounds for immersive experiences and have been fan-driven from the start. Hence these incredible growth data.
It’s a beautiful time for fans and customers if you will. Because, now more than ever, it’s the end-user who’s at the heart of the metaverse. Not the brands. Brands obviously still can facilitate environments or immersive experiences for their customers, however, they’ll have to turn the wheel over to the creators, the customers, the fans. The Metaverse almost pushes brands into reimagining their relationship with their fans or customers. Instead of being rewarded for correctly guessing what they want, brands are winning by just listening.
“THE METAVERSES PUSHES BRANDS INTO REIMAGINING THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH THEIR FANS OR CUSTOMERS”
So, dear brands, what’s next?
I wanted to conclude with a couple of next steps that you can keep in mind, when thinking of the question a lot of marketers ask themselves today: how can our brand be relevant on The Metaverse? This is definitely the right question to ask. Just quickly jumping on a trend train that passes by is just not a good idea. The Metaverse is here to stay, it requires vision and long term strategy.
1. Gaming is serious business
Gaming is no longer the solo player on the couch in a dark basement. It’s World Championship events, with millions of spectators across the globe watching their favorite team take home the title. And it’s at the core of The Metaverse. Think about how you can include gaming into your brand, pick the right platform to facilitate your environment and let your fans engage. Vans did this extremely well with their Vansworld on Roblox.
2. Community eats individuality for breakfast
It’s all about bringing people together. Now more than ever. And it’s never been easier to do that in The Metaverse. Think about Travis Scott’s concert on Fortnite. Over 27 million people partied together during an eleven-minute long concert. Think about that for a second and imagine something like that happening in NY’s Madison Square Garden. It’s about creating a space where your fans can come together, connect and interact with each other (and your brand).
3. Two stories are better than one
Collaborate! Your fans do it all the time. And while they might love your brand, they definitely like so many others as well. Gucci for example collaborated with Tennis Clash, and included a completely virtual clothing line into the game, so people could dress up their avatars, wearing their favourite outfits.
4. Don’t say it, but let people experience it
This line used to say: “don’t say it, but show it”. It’s all about experience these days. Don’t even mention your product. Let people engage in an immersive way. Just like AT&T did during Comic-Con in Las Vegas. People were flying over Batman’s Gotham City and not for a second the 5G service was mentioned. And that’s the kind of advertising people are more than willing to experience.
It’s safe to say, the future holds a lot of virtual. The value of digital is going up, while it used to be cheap and simple. Now a digital piece of art could be worth a whole lot. It’s also all about channel strategy, where does your audience hang out. And it seems to be that your kids will tell you that it’s someplace in The Metaverse. Today, we definitely see a lot of brands mimicking the physical world into the virtual one. And I believe that to be the first step, as an introduction for people into the Metaverse. However, once we’re used to that, who knows what the Metaverse will look like because when it comes to digital, possibilities are quite limitless.
