Demystifying challenges of Metaverse in Marketing

With Facebook’s rebranding to meta, metaverse has attracted a wide range of organisations and academics worldwide. While multiple immerging virtual worlds connect with one other, the internet will play a vital part in the metaverse’s architecture. Metaverse is still in its infancy, with tech companies and regulators to agree on the open-source infrastructure, interoperability and data privacy policy.

What is Metaverse?

The word “meta” is derived from a Greek word that means “beyond” and the verse “from universe”. The term “metaverse” may be traced back to Neal Stephenson’s novel Snow Crash, published in 1992. The metaverse isn’t something out of a science fiction novel. Some argue that the metaverse, an immersive digital future, is inevitable.

As defined by Oxford English Dictionary [1], Metaverse is a virtual-reality space in which users can interact with a computer-generated environment and other users.

Metaverse is a new era of interconnected virtual experiences based on virtual (VR) and augmented reality technology (AR) [2].

A metaverse, according to Gartner, is “as a collective virtual shared space, created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical and digital reality” [3].

What is immersive media?

Often known as ‘extended reality,’ is a catch-all word encompassing virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, and 360-degree video, in which the actual environment is recreated digitally.

In immersive marketing, “the virtual sky is the limit”.

Why this buzzword?

Facebook has taken the first step toward assisting in developing the next computer platform. Facebook plans to hire 10,000 IT workers in Europe to help build the metaverse. The metaverse has the potential to open up new creative, social, and economic possibilities. The metaverse, like the internet, will be owned and operated by no one business, and its fundamental characteristic will be its openness and interoperability. According to Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Meta (formerly known as Facebook), it will touch every product that is developed and has a mission “about bringing people together” [4].

People may live, work, and interact together in a virtual environment, and consumer, tech, entertainment, and other firms see this as the next horizon. The metaverse is expected to be the next major step forward from the internet.

With only a few organisations shaping the landscape, an article in HBR discusses how brands can enter the metaverse and what they can accomplish right now [5]. 

RTFKT (pronounced “artefact”), which Nike has acquired, uses blockchain and augmented reality (AR) to build digital shoes and other metaverse artifacts [6]. It may transform the marketing industry. On the platform, Hyundai and a host of fashion brands like Ralph Lauren and Gucci (Gucci Garden on Roblox in May 2021) created branded worlds.

What challenges exist in metaverse marketing?

• As the digital marketing of the future, “metaverse marketing” may be substituted for “digital marketing”
• Marketers that have transitioned from traditional media (TV, radio, banner advertising) to digital marketing (social media and search engines), may now transition to metaverse marketing
• Marketers may need to source ideas & inspiration from science fiction
• An immersive approach might be required to replace the present SEO to visit a website via VR
• Consumer perception of goods and services and how they are valued in the metaverse
• The opportunity it holds for luxury brands in the metaverse
• KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) in metaverse advertisements and linking them with real-world KPIs
• Ethical issues in metaverse advertising
• Privacy issues in metaverse marketing

The metaverse is still a new concept, and marketers are still learning about it, which allows for unique methods and experimentation to adapt to new virtual worlds of opportunity.