Spectacular virtual concerts. Collector items digitally that are worth thousands more than their original price. Brand-specific immersive worlds. Marketers are increasingly focusing on what they believe is the next frontier of advertising as the metaverse news cycle expands and virtual worlds become more affordable. These are the three most prominent ways that brands and organizations have been appearing in the metaverse thus far.

Some brands have used their status as status makers to gain authentic entry into the metaverse. Gucci, a luxury fashion brand, was the first to introduce direct-to-avatar goods (D2A). In May 2021, Gucci launched a limited-edition line. 

Roblox, a video gaming platform, released branded merchandise. This limited-time release featured items that players could wear with their avatars in Roblox.

Although the original price of the items was US$6 in Robux, the game’s currency. Resellers quickly listed them on the game marketplace for much more. One sold just days later for US$4,000 of the game currency, approximately US$1,000 more than its real-world counterpart.

In December last year, Nike acquired RTKFT, a shoemaker that makes only digital footwear. The brands also announced in February 2022 the launch of a limited edition non-fungible token and a physical shoe pair with the special edition “Flying Formation Air Max 1”.

Both Gucci and Nike’s cases showed a strong correlation between their Miami digital marketing strategies and their physical world marketing tactics.

“Nike dropping an NFT makes sense because it is the way Nike engages with its customers via a sense of exclusivity,” Lewis Smithingham, director of creative solutions for MediaMonks. “When we talk of showing up in spaces, it is important to speak about being authentic – not like Steve Buscemi carrying a skateboard on his shoulder. It must create value.”

Live events 

The metaverse was a way for musicians like Travis Scott and Ariana Grande to keep in touch with their fans even when it was difficult or impossible to do so due to pandemic restrictions.

Scott was the central point of Fortnite’s 2020 “Astronomical”, an in-game reimagining of a concert. Alexander Rea, SVP, global director of creative technology and critical mass, cited that event as a turning point in the metaverse’s future. It attracted more than 27,000,000 unique participants.

Rea says, “It occurred before the metaverse hype cycle started, and I had brands call me asking me what I could do in Fortnite.” Rea’s immersive concert experience has been replicated by other artists within Fortnite as well as outside it with mixed results.

Ariana Grande, a pop superstar, had her virtual concert that brought in an estimated $20 million. Meta, which hosts events on the Horizon platform that have featured Young Thug, David Guetta, and The Chainsmokers, has been struggling to draw attention to its events.

Two factors are critical to success or failure in virtual events. The first is authenticity.

“There were many virtual versions of analog events that were canceled because of the pandemic. Rea says that most of them weren’t very good. Rea says that most of them were not very good and that people were in a hurry to do things. You must create something authentic for these virtual worlds if you want them to succeed.

Execution is just as important as authenticity. The Fortnite “Astronomical” concert created a completely new experience that did not recreate the concert experience. It featured stunning visuals and action-packed sequences. This video transported players into a fully immersive music video that didn’t follow any real-world rules.

This kind of amazing experience is what metaverse users expect.

You don’t need gravity. Rea says that you don’t have to have two arms or two legs. “Why take the chance of creating something digitally?”

The Balenciaga fashion brand may be able to answer this question. The brand created Afterworld: The Age of Tomorrow, a metaverse game to reveal its Fall 2021 collection. The game was essentially a digital fashion show where players walked around wearing the brand’s new clothes. This was in conjunction with the launch on Fortnite of merchandise emblazoned with the Balenciaga logo.

The brand’s trip to the metaverse caused quite a bit of attention. It even committed to starting a metaverse business unit. The fashion world took notice and organized a Decentraland Fashion Week in the second half of March 2022.

Total immersion 

Brands are now using platforms like Fortnite, Decentraland, and Roblox to connect with people who are completely immersed for long periods. The success or failure of these initiatives comes down to authenticity and ownership of the brand behind them – as well as if the experience adds value to users who are native to that platform, says Cam Wykes (VP and head content at MediaMonks).

Critical Mass EVP and ECD Steve Savic point to an unbranded experience of Reporters Without Borders, the Uncensored library, which began in March 2020. The Library included digital copies of banned reporting from Egypt, Russia, Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia. It subverts the concern that some brands have about security in unregulated spaces by allowing users to access material that would otherwise be prohibited.

“This is not a traditional brand trying to sell products – it stands for something bigger and uses the digital space most authentically. It created an unfiltered space where people can have their say,” Savic said.

“While many brands are being challenged by the lack of censorship [in metaverse], Reporters Without Borders is using it to their huge advantage.”

Rea loves Miller Lite’s Decentraland “Meta Lite” bar. The beer brand created a virtual bar to show the Super Bowl LVI spot when it was barred from advertising.

Miller created its moment by doing this, Rea says.

In the metaverse, success is a relative term. Primarily, there aren’t yet universally accepted metrics. One reason is that the metaverse doesn’t seem to be able to drive real-world conversions.

Rea says, “There is no funnel. The metaverse right now is a bowl.” These experiences work well at getting PR but we don’t know if they are successful because none of them tie into loyalty, rewards, CRM, or any other things we used to track.