Brand Strategies for the Metaverse

Engaging Hybrid Consumers With Dynamic Marketing & Experiences

The metaverse represents an emerging and exciting channel to connect younger, digitally-savvy consumers to brands, their products and values – but brands need to approach with a mix of creativity and common sense.

Most participants, or consumers, today are primarily focused on playing and creating. Brands have a role as long as they are contributing to the overall experience in a meaningful way.

In addition, social interaction and community building within the metaverse show promise. For the moment, there’s more value in brands acting as connectors rather than active participants – and while the metaverse provides unique and imaginative spaces for brand building and storytelling – most consumers still gravitate towards brand experiences that have familiar parallels from the real world.

While virtual world technology and experience remains nascent, there is intense business interest in possible metaverse opportunities. PSFK researchers have already published a report on the retail opportunities but in this sibling-report, our trends and innovation analysts study the new ways brands can interact with their audiences.

The study presents ways that brands can host metaverse spaces for workshops, entertainment and even wellness. Researchers found that game-based challenges encourage consumers to explore brand worlds through rewards and perks. The report also outlines a strategy for experiential activations that simultaneously take place in the real and virtual worlds, and the paper presents a business case for avatar influencers for 1:1 interactions and community events.

Series Overview

In our report series ‘Exploring The Metaverse Opportunity’ we deep dive into the ways brand strategies are being reimagined to deliver immersive, interactive and value-driven experiences across the metaverse landscape. In this report, ‘Brand Strategies for the Metaverse’ we look at how marketing teams are leveraging platforms like Decentraland and The Sandbox to elevate the brand-customer relationship through the lens of six strategies. You’ll learn how brand personalities like influencers and even mascots are coming to life in virtual worlds to engage visitors and see the ways companies are rewarding and engaging their audiences with activations that connect them to social experiences and playable versions of their IP and assets.

Highlights from PSFK’s US Metaverse and Brands Survey, March ’22

The metaverse represents an emerging but exciting channel to connect younger, digitally-savvy consumers to brands, their products and values.

Consumers do appreciate how corporations are trying to get involved with virtual worlds. When PSFK asked US adult virtual world users if their perception would change if a brand they knew was operating in a virtual world, 39% said their perception of a brand would be improved while just 6% said it would worsen.

While the metaverse provides a unique and imaginative space for brand building and storytelling – most consumers still gravitate towards the familiar parallels from the real world.

When they experience them in a virtual world, consumers don’t want brands and retailers to be trying anything radically new. In fact, PSFK researchers found that 58% of US adult virtual world users would most enjoy a brand experience that is similar or very similar to the ones they find in the real world.

Most metaverse participants are primarily focused on playing and creating. Brands have a role as long as their contributing to the overall experience in a meaningful way.

Brands and retailers need to remember US adults just want to have fun when they log into virtual worlds. When asked by PSFK researchers what they like to do there, the top responses were play (57% of US adult virtual world users), visiting meta-versions of the real world (45%), hanging out with likeminds (38%) or remixing the world they discover (37%). Interaction with companies ranked lower on the list – with 33% interested in testing products and only 20% enjoying shopping.

Social interaction and community building within the metaverse show promise. For the moment, there’s more value in brands acting as connectors rather than active participants.

When it comes to meeting other avatars or players in virtual worlds, PSFK researchers found that US adult virtual world users overwhelming preferred people they know (Friends 57%, Family 37%, Co-Workers 17%) but there is some interest in interacting with avatars that can teach or instruct (fitness & wellness coaches 22%, advisers & mentors 20%). Only 16% would prefer to interact with known social media influencers or corporate representatives.

For a copy of complete survey findings, contact:?[email protected]

Featured Examples

Fans Will Find Jake From State Farm In Video Game NBA2K

State Farm, the?NBA’s official insurer, is turning their mascot “Jake From State Farm” into a digital character in the?NBA 2K22?video game.

Seoul’s Local Government Builds A Metaverse Counterpart

South Korea is investing $187M in a?metaverse project?as part of what the country calls a “Digital New Deal.”

Atari Builds A Las Vegas-Style Casino In The Metaverse

Video game company Atari is building a cryptocurrency casino in the virtual world Decentraland as part of a district called “Vegas City.”

Download This Report Today