Marketing in the metaverse

Abstract

The line between the physical and virtual worlds continues to blur as technology evolves. Add to the mix the financial world and viola!, we have reached the pinnacle of Web 3.0 with a concept most popular by the term metaverse. Metaverse is a persistent, always active, 3D online virtual space that combines users in aspects of their lives across existing virtual worlds. This avatar-powered space has generated a lot of interest among tech enthusiasts and giant corporates alike, for it provides immense opportunities for value creation like none existing at present. The self-contained nature of metaverse, along with its own financial currencies (at present cryptos), has made it a fully functional universe without any present need for a regulation agency. Although its penetration in India is minimal to negligible, it is high time to start exploring this new technology to get an upper hand before everyone rushes in like herds. The power shift to the user, with them being active participants in accordance with the evolution of brand stories, has made this a haven for giants to conduct their marketing activities. Tech giants like Meta, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon have already started investing huge resources in the development of metaverse and related technologies. The adoption of the metaverse is inevitable with the growing population of Gen-Z consumers and the advent of affordable VR gadgets. The gaming industry has been the pioneer in promoting products, brands, movies, and albums in a new-age manner that is suitable for Gen-Z and millennials. For example. Roblox had a completely virtual Lil Nas concert, and Fortnite hosted a live virtual concert of Travis Scott. This has been the stepping stone for the concept of the metaverse. Now, a number of companies such as Coca-Cola, Nike, and Gucci have adopted the metaverse technology and released their virtual products as NFTs (non-fungible tokens). Almost all consumer product industries, from automobile manufacturers to the cosmetic industry, are diving into the unknown sea of the metaverse.