Seriously, What is the Metaverse?

From Thursday, March 24 through Sunday, March 27, Decentraland, a virtual world on the Ethereum blockchain, hosted Metaverse Fashion Week. The online-only event attracted more than 70 designers and brands, including Tommy Hilfiger, Estée Lauder and Dolce & Gabbana. Philipp Plein, the German fashion designer, displayed his latest digital-only NFT collection in his newly acquired $1.4-million “Plein Plaza,” a 176,528 square-foot plot of metaverse real estate in Decentraland. Meanwhile, Avery Baker, president and chief brand officer for Tommy Hilfiger Global, told Cointelegraph that “as we integrate the digital and physical worlds, the metaverse offers endless opportunities for creativity, collaboration, storytelling and community building…” What!? What is the metaverse!?

If you’re wondering what the heck all this means, you’re not alone. I’ve been doing digital marketing and social media for almost two decades, and I’ve been confused. That’s why I did my research, and I’m outlining here what we do know about the metaverse to date — so at least we’re not left to drown when the floodgates open. If the floodgates open. If there are even floodgates.

What is the Metaverse?

Recently, at my daughter’s birthday party, I asked a 15-year-old computer whiz named Emmett to explain the metaverse. He referenced Fortnite and Second Life (a favorite of the hacking group Anonymous), ran through NFTs, crypto and blockchains, and then said, “Really, it’s just a vibe.” Really!? A vibe!? 

Actually, this sounds about right in today’s online world dictated by Gen-Zers and Millennials. But it’s not at all helpful to organizations striving to keep up with Google, Facebook and all those pesky tech-centric startups. So, I pressed the young man: “Does the metaverse exist already?” Yes, he said. “Fortnite and Second Life are the metaverse.” And here’s where my understanding kicked in. 

The metaverse does not exist today, at least in its final form, whatever form that final version may take. However, elements of what would comprise a metaverse do, all over the internet. As my young friend told me, “As long as it uses AR and VR to create the experience, it’s part of the metaverse.”

And I think Eric Ravenscraft, a tech expert with WIRED, would agree. “Broadly speaking,” he says:

The technologies that make up the metaverse can include virtual reality — characterized by persistent virtual worlds that continue to exist even when you're not playing — as well as augmented reality that combines aspects of the digital and physical worlds. 

Prasanna Singarajum, a Forbes Council Member and co-founder and chief digital officer at Qentelli, simplifies it further. “In simple terms,” he says, “the metaverse is a virtual yet hyper-realistic alternative world where the users can coexist, transact and interact through VR and AR technologies.”

In other words — like Second Life, Fortnite and even World of Warcraft (where Ted met a date in How I Met Your Mother), with their user customizations, digital-only events and cross-brand collaborations — the metaverse would serve as an alternative to our offline life where we could be who we want to be and do what we want to do. What remains unclear is how (or whether) the metaverse would interact with our real lives? Based on some of the ads Facebook (now, tellingly, Meta) has run, the metaverse may one day allow us to attend concerts as holograms or order products in the real world that we can access both online and off.

And this is where forward-thinking companies are investing their time, energy and marketing/advertising budgets. The meaning of the metaverse is far more expansive than merely providing a new world for gaming. For instance, as Ravenscraft explains, it “also translates to a digital economy, where users can create, buy, and sell goods. And, in the more idealistic visions of the metaverse, it's interoperable, allowing you to take virtual items like clothes or cars from one platform to another.”

So, the question you should be asking yourself is: What can we create for the metaverse that would facilitate personal interactions (and transactions!) with consumers and prospects. Without appearing inauthentic.

What does the Metaverse mean for Digital Businesses?

Some have said the metaverse buzz began with Mark Zuckerberg renaming his ‘networking’ company Meta. Gamers and young techies, like my daughter’s friend, typically say they’ve been in the metaverse, at least since the release of Fortnite. And researchers like myself have dated it back to Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash. 

The truth is: it doesn’t really matter. What matters is where the metaverse may take us. And how we can leverage it authentically.

Apparently, the metaverse is a $1-trillion “revenue opportunity.” Digital cartoon artworks (created by teenagers!) are selling for millions of dollars as NFTs. Companies and countries alike are adjusting to work with cryptocurrencies. “Land” in Decentraland has been valued in the thousands of (real) dollars. Blockchain technology is revolutionizing fraud protection and transaction processing. And it’s been forecasted that in less than four years 25% of people will spend at least one hour each day “in the metaverse!”

For you, this means your digital ads (and products) have to take new forms. Really, it means you need to reconsider your entire 360-degree marketing strategy to incorporate an entirely new world. But don’t worry, this is not cause for alarm. Your starting point is the same as almost everyone else’s, and the only way to plant your flag in the metaverse is to start small and scale. 

Like any new, flashy trend, the metaverse isn’t a guaranteed goldmine, so simply shifting to create for it will not suffice. As always, you need to be strategic and holistic in your approach. You need to formulate a metaverse strategy that aligns with your core mission and core values. And if you don’t, sophisticated consumers will catch it and call you out — and your metaverse experiment will fail.

The Top 10 Tips for Mastering CX and Digital Marketing in the Metaverse

1. Establish your niche
2. Define what you want your inclusion in the metaverse to mean for your customers
3. Define what you want the metaverse to do for your business
4. Update your overarching marketing strategy to incorporate metaverse marketing (metaverse-specific strategies, goals and tactics)
5. Be sure not to neglect your values, your value proposition or your core offerings
6. Consider re-branding and/or updating products/services based on your updated strategy
7. Don’t hesitate to learn from and incorporate your own version of initiatives from big corporations
8. Focus on connectivity and ease of communication
9. Ensure any metaverse marketing or advertising adheres to the five essentials of effective customer success: 
1. Authenticity
2. Transparency
3. Consistency
4. Empathy
5. Personalization
10. Get creative!

Image Credits (in order of appearance)

1. Photo by Florian Olivo on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/Mf23RF8xArY
2. Photo by Martin Sanchez on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/JQ0YVavMKLo
3. Photo by Unsplash+ in collaboration with Getty Images on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/o5FCkI-3QRM