Marketers, adapt before the Metaverse meteor hits you and pushes you into extinction

Authored by Swati Nathani, CBO and Co-founder at Team Pumpkin.

“What is real? How do you define real? If you're talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, and then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain.” - Morpheus in ‘The Matrix’ (1999)

If that is real, let us look at virtual reality. A virtual reality space is where users interact, within an ambience created by the computer, with each other as well as the environment. A deep 3D simulation will ensure a near real-life experience. This is eerily similar to what Morpheus tried to explain to Neo in ‘The Matrix’ and this is what Metaverse is trying to achieve. It is a virtual world within a real world, a virtual universe with infinite possibilities that can impact our real lives too. The potential for brands to extend their digital marketing to this space is immense. In times to come, this will be the space to look forward to as brands jostle with each other to influence digital audiences in the Metaverse for real-life business outcomes.

Cut to 2022 - We are already living in the early stages of what was depicted in ‘The Matrix’. Active social media, high-definition graphics, and collaborative gaming are all here and being actively consumed by an internet-crazy population. The pandemic showed us that virtual meetings were a great replacement for real ones and equally effective. They allowed collaborative working between team members sitting remotely and eliminated the limitations of time and distance. The future looks clearly exciting as brands and businesses have found a new space to raise awareness and position themselves in the minds of their target audience. It wouldn’t come as a surprise if we see most of the digital marketing action switching to the metaverse in the next decade given the advanced technologies like Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality that promise to simulate real experiences for prospective customers helping them make more informed purchase decisions.

A recent Verified Market Research report pegged the Metaverse Market size projection for 2030 at $824.53 billion, growing at a CAGR of 39.1% from 2022 to 2030. This gives you a fair idea of the kind of impact the Metaverse is expected to have on businesses. Against such a compelling backdrop, it is natural for digital marketing to adapt to the new universe and use the new technology to create immersive experiences for customers.

The Metaverse offers digital marketing agencies a splendid opportunity to think completely out of the box and come up with novel ideas that will appeal to the new generation be it in the form of digital collectibles, NFTs or any other virtual experience that will resonate with their real life as well. As lines blur, you may see brands promoting virtual products with physical counterparts where the customer may choose to convert the virtual experience into a real one.

However, currently in the agency world, the usage of Metaverse is still at an exploratory stage. Starting with educating clients and having walk through meetings in the metaverse, to product launches and activities, which are more focused on generating PR than engagement is what is dominating the industry practices right now.

The lines of what we call Metaverse are also blurred. Sometimes using simple web based applications like Gathertown and Nowehere also accounts for being present on Metaverse. Others like Partynite offer very custom solutions to client specific to events. Needless to say, the bigger players like Roblox, Decentraland and Sandbox are for brands who are much more invested in the concept of Metaverse.

It is true that every digital entity is currently taking metaverse seriously and they are trying to find their own space. While large scale consultancies are guiding brands on their operations, creative and digital agencies are focusing on brand experiences in both offline and online set ups. This sets path for the fact that all of us acknowledge that Metaverse is here to stay and we are dedicating resources specifically to focus on Web3 and Metaverse.

The times ahead are changing and do seem exciting for marketing agencies as the virtual and real worlds will fuse to create new immersive experiences for customers. This would be a paradigm shift and will require agencies to reimagine themselves and their offerings to be able to excite the target audience and create wow experiences. Those who write off the Metaverse will do so at their peril as traditional marketing may soon find its dinosaur moment. Adapt before the Metaverse meteor hits you and pushes you into extinction is the mantra for the coming future.