Table of Contents for Metaverse for Brands (Opportunities & Benefits):
- Metaverse - what is it about?
- What is the vision of the Metaverse?
- Companies and the brave new digital world - is that possible?
- Many brands are already in the Metaverse
- Why the metaverse is already ubiquitous now
- Conclusion Metaverse: A real opportunity for pioneers
- FAQ about Metaverse
Everyone is talking about the metaverse - but what is it actually? And above all: What does it have to do with brands? Is there any way to take advantage of this new trend? We at Danthree Studio deal with brands in the metaverse and want to bring you closer to the topic of metaverse.
Metaverse - what is it about?
For the past year or so, the tech scene has been buzzing about this term. Mark Zuckerberg is closely associated with it. But he didn't invent the metaverse, and in fact other company bosses in Silicon Valley also see the future of their companies in this mysterious virtual world.
The story really took off in April 2021, when Epic Games (creator of Fortnite, among others) announced a funding round of one billion US dollars. The money was to be used to implement the company's vision in a kind of digital reality. Only a few months later, an announcement came from Mark Zuckerberg in the direction of investors that the corporate complex behind Facebook and Co. would become a "metaverse" company in the future. Satya Nadella, head of Microsoft, followed suit and announced that Microsoft would also build such an ominous thing.
For the first time, the science fiction novel "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson used the term "metaverse". The novel was published in 1991, and the term here describes a form of global virtual reality. People enter this reality as avatars. Stephenson's novel also has something dystopian about it, combining digital with steampunk themes and painting an unpleasant future full of social problems. However, the Metaverse can also be compared to today's massively multiplayer online role-playing games. Subtract the gameplay, high scores, and set goals, and there you are. Daniel Suarez, thriller writer, picked up the theme in the 2004 novel "Daemon," also about a kind of digital reality where people meet, live, do business. Suarez calls the digital space "D-space." In it, an artificial intelligence, grown from unixoid operating systems, intervenes in people's reality. Of course, it ends badly - it's a thriller.
What is the vision of the Metaverse?
Basically, this vision of a meta-universe is not so different from today's Internet. Matthew Ball clearly defines the rules of the meta-universe in an essay in 2020. He writes:
- The metaverse is always running, it can neither be stopped nor paused.
- Everything is live, it takes place in real time.
- There are no upper limits for the number of participants.
- There is a separate economy, companies and individuals interact like in the real world. This also includes paid work, which is remunerated in this digital space via a currency that is valid here.
- The metaverse encompasses digital and physical worlds equally, but additionally offers closed platforms.
- Digital objects such as items from video games can be exchanged and thus used away from their original context.
Thus, this new space should encompass even more areas of our daily lives than today's Internet. One of Ball's expectations is that the "new Internet," with its expanded capabilities, would generate even more revenue than the Internet already does today. And this is where companies come in: the 10 most valuable public companies in the world today are leading Internet companies. Those that make timely investments in the metaverse are also likely to come out ahead in the future. So Zuckerberg, Sweeney and the other tech chiefs felt compelled by Ball's predictions to invest as early as possible.
Companies and the brave new digital world - is that possible?
Yes, there is quite a lot going on. For example, t3n reported on December 1, 2021, that the company Republic Realm had acquired a plot of land in the metaverse of "The Sandbox" for $4.3 million. You have to let that roll off your tongue: This plot is a digital construct, which basically means a few (very many) lines of code and many, many small colorful pixels to visually represent them. A virtual (i.e., only digitally existing, consisting exclusively of electricity pulses) plot was sold for $4.3 million.
The Metaverse already has its own functioning economic system. People already meet here, hold business dinners, present themselves and their companies. And just like in "real life," it's all about appearances, hip things, fashions, representative items. These are "only virtual," but that also applies to this text here. It's not written on paper either, but basically consists of a bit of code and a few pixels. So we have to take all the hype about the new digital space and virtual properties seriously.
Virtual land is built on with virtual labor, remunerated with virtual currency. Buildings are constructed, apartments are rented or sold, office space is rented, stores are set up. People move through this world in the form of their avatars. The buildings have interior furnishings. The avatars wear clothes. Unlike Pacman, they can even change clothes. Avatars want to wear sneakers that are in style. They want to store and show it-pieces. Because behind every avatar is a real person who expresses himself, his personality and interests, through the design of the avatar. This person experiences what the avatar experiences through the VR glasses. The human looks down at himself and sees the cool pants, the wacky sneakers. Virtual space and the physical world have long since become one.
Many brands are already in the Metaverse
As the marketplace of the future, the importance of digital alternative reality is growing, and the end is not yet in sight. Numerous well-known brands are already represented here and market their products digitally. Take Nike, for example: the sports and fitness brand has been advertising for many years in a fun-oriented way with repeated references to sports competitions. One of Nike's Metaverse projects is located in the Roblox system. Here one finds Nikeland, a place where sports and play are integrated into a lifestyle. Equipped with parks and courts, running tracks and obstacle courses, Nike presents itself here as a Metaverse brand with a focus on sports and play. However, the company's products are also sold in digitalized versions, clothing and shoes are available here.
Zara is also represented as a clothing brand in the Metaverse. The appearance is a joint project with the South Korean fashion collective Ader Error and the app Zepeto. The project allows users to apply virtual clothing and makeup to customizable avatars in the app. Zara connects the digital world with the real one: users can switch between the two, and the shopping experience is seamless.
Less well-known, but all the more spectacular for it, is the approach of Stella Artois. The brand belongs to AB InBev, one of the largest beer breweries in the world and also sponsor of famous race tracks. Stella Artois has teamed up with Virtually Human Studio to create a unique digital racing platform. Zed Run, as the platform is called, is one of the first sports sponsorships in the fledgling meta-universe. In Zed Run, viewers watch 3D horse races, but people can also actively breed horses that they can buy and sell to use in the races. Unique breeds and horse skins are offered by Stella Artois itself. Even a branded 3D race track is in the works.
Gucci, Adidas and Atari, Burberry and Forever 21 now also exist as digital "offshoots". Delivery trucks, Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger, Balenciaga and other brands are taking advantage of the brave new digital world. Balnciaga, for example, is currently making sure Fortnite is outfitted with digital fashion. Brands are clearly working together here to unite multiple worlds for the user and the user. Brands can be experienced through activities - for users, this is more than consumption - it may mean an expansion of their own identity.
Why the metaverse is already ubiquitous now
What brand will be able to afford not to serve this business segment? Of course, it's still a niche today. But the Internet was also a niche for a long time. Internet-capable cell phones were available very early on with the Blackberry, and with WAP, a kind of mobile version of the Internet was already available. But the big breakthrough came with the iPhone 3G - and today you are permanently online with your smartphone, probably looking at this text on our mobile website and enjoying one or the other 3D visualization from us. Why should it be different with the "Metaverse"? Presumably, the hype that is only really taken seriously by a few wacky tech freaks today won't catch on in the final weeks of 2022. But in the end, it will happen very quickly. The transition from Web2 to Web3 will be smooth. It's time to make your brand metaverse.
Conclusion Metaverse: A real opportunity for pioneers
We think you should future-proof your brand and your products and take advantage of the metaverse opportunities. We have seen the developments from Web1 to Web2: Back then (not so long ago), many a top dog was slain because they simply slept through the developments and didn't make the leap into the digital space quickly and comprehensively enough. Now it's all about Web3.
With CGI, you have everything you need to present your brand in the metaverse. Welcome to a new world!
