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Everything You Need To Know About The Metaverse

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Everything You Need To Know About The Metaverse

Metaverse

The metaverse. How often have you heard that word in the last few years? It’s a complicated sounding concept that has complicated sounding implications. But what is it? And what does it do? And why is it? Also, what is it? Did I ask that already? We hope to figure out at least one of these questions as we attempt to make sense of whatever this is.

What Is The Metaverse?

Well, this is a surprisingly difficult question to answer. The simplest answer is “we don’t quite know yet.” The metaverse is still very much in its infancy and I’m positive that in twenty years, someone will add this blog to a “Look what fools in 2022 thought the metaverse would be” list. However, we do know a few things about the metaverse and where experts think it might go. 

The simplest way to think of the metaverse is in terms of how we interact with the internet. Currently, we interact with the internet. We look at a computer screen or a smartphone screen and manipulate what we see with our fingers. With the metaverse, however, we will operate within the internet. It is what experts call “ambient computing.” You, as an avatar, exist within a computer, rather than accessing a computer. That may sound a bit too “Matrix-y” for some people, but the idea is a little less post-apocalyptic than it seems. 

It simply means that you and your avatar interact with others in a digital environment in a particular rendered environment. This is an idea that has been around for a long time. In fact, the term “metaverse” was first introduced in the sci-fi novel Snow Crash in 1992. Similarly, the book/movie Ready Player One describes essentially what tech billionaires hope the metaverse will be. That movie shows a highly developed (and highly nostalgic) virtual gaming world where our digital lives are just as important as our virtual lives.

Metaverse and Gaming?

In fact, games are where the most advanced examples of the metaverse currently exist. Games like Fortnite and Roblox already have a whole meta economy and world where users spend hundreds of hours playing as their avatar. Remember the game Second Life? That was an early example of the metaverse. It was an online social network developed by Linden Labs nearly twenty years ago where people created digital avatars of themselves. They used those avatars to interact with others, do activities and even get virtually married. You could also shop, build property and start a new life (all activities most millennials are only able to achieve within the metaverse). 

Both of those games only existed on a two-dimensional platform. However, another huge component of the metaverse (or what we assume the metaverse will be) is virtual reality. VR is another way in which the Video Game industry has excelled when it comes to the metaverse. In 2016, Sony released the Playstation VR and has plans to release another VR headset for Playstation 5. The company Meta (formerly Facebook), of course owns the Oculus VR headset. Both of which provide a surprisingly full and mind bending experience. The games are limited, but it only takes a few minutes in one to see the potential for extreme advancement in the next few years. Those of course are just stepping stones to a complete metaverse. One in which we can live and shop in a truly immersive 3D environment.

The other component to the metaverse is of course, a social one. You probably read that Facebook changed their name to “Meta.” This was a very real sign that the tech industry is treating the metaverse as a promising and lucrative future. In fact, known human Mark Zuckerberg has described the metaverse as “an embodied internet where you’re in the experience, not just looking at it.” They even set up their own metaverse platform where you can build your own house, buy fun li’l clothes for your avatar and even have work meetings. At the moment, this is an interesting, if impractical way to hold meetings. The social aspect of the metaverse seems to me to be the most important one. According to venture capitalist Matthew Ball

The metaverse is a massively scaled and interoperable network of real-time rendered 3D virtual worlds which can be experienced synchronously and persistently by an effectively unlimited number of users with an individual sense of presence, and with continuity of data, such as identity, history, entitlements, objects, communications, and payments.

That’s obviously a lot to digest, but the key word for me is “interoperable.” The metaverse will be a place, much like the real world, where you can go and see and communicate with others without leaving your home. However, this is still a bit far away.

A big problem for the metaverse at large is that each company is building their own metaverse. At the moment, this is as good as it gets; a few different metaverses, each offering their own features and opportunities. However, users are unable to switch from metaverse to metaverse. At the moment, you need to create a new avatar for every platform you use, which of course, as we remember from Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2, can be tedious. Because of this, we are still far away from having a single cohesive online world like we see in The Matrix or Ready Player One. And as more companies venture into this field, and as these technologies advance, they will surely seep into other aspects of our lives.

Metaverse Vs. Virtual Reality Vs. Augmented Reality

VR and AR are terms you often hear bandied about alongside the metaverse. But what the heck are they and what’s the difference there? Well, virtual reality is basically what we have been talking about. A completely rendered virtual world, separate from our own. As of right now, you need a VR headset to immerse yourself into this world. If you’ve ever tried on an Oculus or PSVR headset, you know that, although the worlds are surprisingly immersive, it is a bit clunky. Still, you are completely immersed in a… well, virtual reality. 

Augmented reality on the other hand, refers to overlays on our real world. Think of the mobile game, Pokemon Go for example. In that game, your phone displays an image from its camera of the real world. Overlaid over the real world are Voltorbs, Pikachus and an annoying amount of Rattatas. As we discussed, the goal for the metaverse from most techies seems to be a 100% VR world. Many experts believe however that most people will not enjoy being stuck inside a clunky headset all day long. So, some sort of augmented reality headset is believed to be the true future according to AR fans. This will allow us to literally transform our surroundings and manipulate the way we perceive the real world. They just have to come up with a way to not make us look ridiculous while using it (re: Google Glass).

Metaverse

So, how is the metaverse changing the future of advertising?

Of course if you are in advertising or if you run a business, you have to stay apprised of whatever new technologies may help your endeavors. The metaverse is no different. Like we said, the tech industry seems to believe it is here to stay. So how will businesses utilize this tech in the future? Well, there are several ways to think about it. First, you can see the metaverse as an additional avenue for marketing. Just like you have your banner ads, your Google text ads and your Facebook ads, you’ll have to invest in metaverse ads as well. As technology grows, it will become clear what those end up looking like. Perhaps a huge digital billboard or a horrific pop up video. 

Another avenue, and one that is being explored even now, is the metaverse being used as a new form of storytelling, separate from those banner ads. In this way, brands can have immersive experiences specifically designed to sell products or services. This could include having folks with VR headsets walk through a digital showroom or participate in a virtual adventure with ice cold, refreshing Pepsi as their ultimate prize. These are not the only ways however. Other kinds of ads or branded content could look like:

  1. VR/AR Gaming Product Placement: Wherein branded elements could appear throughout whatever virtual world you find yourself in. A Mountain Dew branded virtual race car. The “Milo’s Footwear Atomic Blaster Rifle” and so on. Pokemon Go actually used their AR functionality to drive business to specific locations. Brands were able to sponsor locations within the game that brought real life people to catch whatever rare Poke-Creature happened to pop up there. Imagine being able to target players of a specific game by making it worth their while to actually show up and peruse your store.
  2. Social Media Sponsored Content: Our current social media landscape already features a mix of organic and curated content. So as it transforms into whatever the next metaverse social platform is, this will most likely continue. Yet, by the very nature of a metaverse, these will now be shared experiences. The modern cliche goes that social media can in fact be extremely isolating. Think about it, you’re staring at your phone looking at others. You see how much fun somebody had at their birthday party (that you didn’t want to be invited to anyway). However in the metaverse, you will most likely be actually interacting with people. This will mean that sponsored content will most likely be a communal event designed for multi-party interactions. In other words, a truly social form of media.
  3. VR Billboards: I kind of joked about this earlier, but even now in the early days of the metaverse, virtual reality billboards seem to be the easiest form of advertising to integrate. Billboards have been in use for hundreds of years and their easy to design and easier still to integrate into a virtual world. Whether it’s in a VR meeting on Meta or looming over a VR shopping center, these can seamlessly integrate into even existing metaversal platforms.
  4. Siiiiigh. Influencers… sigh: Okay. You’re not gonna like this one. But whether we want to admit it or not, influencers are here to stay. And as the metaverse expands, so too will the influencers. Although in the future, the influencer market may no longer be entirely composed of acquaintances from high school making diet-related TikToks. Rather, the influencers of tomorrow may be what they call “digital humans.” These would be AI powered humanoid bots specifically designed by brands to peddle their wares. This allows them to literally design their ideal spokesperson and transform how these kinds of ads are pushed. Unfortunately they will probably still beg you to “smash that like and subscribe button.”
  5. Immersive Ad Experiences: This avenue is already being explored. Basically, brands now have the agency to create completely immersive experiences that allow users to interact with their products, all while weaving a story. You could even make purchases directly in-ad without ever having to leave the metaverse.
Metaverse

How can we market in the metaverse RIGHT NOW?

Great question. There are several ways to get in on the ground floor of this next gen platform.

  1. Make your very own virtual store: Just because it’s in the metaverse doesn’t mean it’s not a real store. A virtual 3D store inside an existing metaverse such as Roblox, Fortnite or Meta can build strong emotional connections at the very beginning of this technological leap. But, teaming up with VR designers to create a true VR version of your brick and mortar, where users from around the globe can truly feel the vibe of your spot will likely be the next step in ecommerce.
  2. Insert yourself natively into existing metaverse game platforms: Rather than paying for a disruptive YouTube ad or whatnot, why not find your way into existing metaversal games via some of the avenues we touched on earlier? You could make a billboard inside of a virtual sports stadium. They do this in real life afterall. In fact, the in-game advertising platform Bidstack said that virtual billboards like these increase in-game realism for 95% of players and increased purchase intent by 12%.
  3. Copy real-life marketing inside the metaverse: Hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. One way to introduce yourself to the metaverse is to parallel what you do in real life, inside a metaverse. Not only is it an easy way to get into the metaverse, but it’s also an authentic way for folks to notice your brand. For instance, Hellman’s mayonnaise created an island in the semi-metaversal game Animal Crossing and invited users to donate the left-over digital turnips for charity. As cheesy as it is, it helped Hellman’s deliver 50,000 meals to a food waste company. 
  4. Sell virtual goods to digital avatars: Zuckerberg seems to believe that our digital look will soon be equal to our IRL look. And the stats seem to back it up as experts agree that a “direct to avatar” economy is growing. Already, fashion brands are taking advantage of this by offering digital versions of their clothing in games like Fortnite. Gucci even sold a digital bag in Roblox for $4,000. This is another area where those pesky influencers come into play. Why not shell out a few bones to have whatever popular Fortnite player exists to sport your digital sport coat.
  5. Get into the AR scene: Like we said, most experts agree that AR will fundamentally change the way shopping works. You’ll soon be able to visualize products in real time. Not only could you sell a pair of shoes, but you could even offer a digital version of those shoes for an avatar with every purchase. Kind of like when you buy a new vinyl record and get a free mp3 version available for download.
  6. Get experimental with these new immersive experiences: We touched on this above, but many companies are opting for experiences over traditional advertising. Studies show that brands who focus on experiences gain 25% more brand loyalty. This includes (the now omnipresent) digital concert. Travis Scott, The Weeknd and others have all performed digitally on various metaversal platforms. Similarly using gaming itself as an advertising platform is an ever-growing practice.
  7. Offering collectibles: You’ve probably heard the word NFT approximately one billion times in the last year or so. We could do an entire blog just on NFTs. And even though the long-term value of such collectibles are unknown, the fact remains that they are valuable commodities at the moment. You can bundle NFTs as a reward or package them with physical items (like the aforementioned vinyl/digital download bundle)

Companies already using the metaverse

Of course, several companies are already getting the most out of this brave new world. Here are a few examples…

  1. Hyundai: Last October, the motor company launched a metaverse space in Roblox called “Mobility Adventure.” It’s essentially a virtual space that allows users to create (yet another) avatar and explore the exciting world of Hyundai’s motor catalogue. Have fun, kids!
  2. In The Heights Block Party: Last year, Warner Bros hosted a “digital block party” on Roblox. Visitors could visit the central bodega, make graffiti and take part in a dance class. Just like in that movie I didn’t see!
  3. Coca-Cola:  To celebrate the very real holiday of “National Friendship Day,” Coke created digital apparel that can be worn in the metaverse. They also made a digital Coke machine!
  4. Louis Vuitton: In celebration of Louis Vuitton’s 200th birthday (he looks great), the brand came out with Louis: The Game, a VR experience replete with NFTs galore!
  5. Gucci: These folks have been all over the metaverse scene. They partnered with Roblox to replicate their real-world installation in Florence, offering various themed rooms paying homage to the brand. They’re also building an online metaverse store called “The Vault” which will hold various forms of historic Gucci memorabilia. 

Okay. So hopefully we have shone some light on whatever the metaverse is. As you can see, it’s a glimpse into the future. Or at least a beginning of a glimpse into the future. Or perhaps an inkling of a beginning of a glimpse into the future. Whatever is, we’ll be around to see what it becomes which you have to admit, is pretty exciting.

If you have any questions, or want to see how your company can venture into the metaverse, KARMA jack is here to help! Contact us today!

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