How Are Big-Name Brands Experimenting in the Metaverse?

Happy New Year. I hope 2023 brings you happiness, joy and success.

Following my earlier related Metaverse newsletters, today we are trying to explore different avenues Big-Name Brands are taking to strengthen their presence on WEB3 and take advantage of the Metaverse. In this newsletter, we will explore the products and services several brands introduced. Moreover, we will look into potential trends we will notice in 2023.

When Facebook's transitioned to Meta, it shed light on an upcoming new digital age known as the metaverse. In this parallel virtual environment, people may supplement their actual lives with augmented and virtual experiences. Some businesses have already tapped into the metaverse. Similarly, others are jumping in after observing the growing excitement surrounding the concept. So, will the metaverse's reality live up to the hype surrounding it?

Hundreds of businesses are waiting for the metaverse to become mainstream, as seen by their significant investments. Many smaller brands are glad to work with various tech companies to advertise and provide their products on these platforms. At the same time, tech giants such as Roblox and Meta have established their platforms around this virtual world concept. With that in mind, here are a few big-name brands experimenting with the metaverse and how they are using it to their advantage:

Apple

Apple hasn't formally created an Apple metaverse, but it has secretly developed technologies to assist new metaverse platforms. For example, they are supporting many AR apps, updating iPhones with AR-capable technologies known as ARKit, and have prototypes for VR headgear.?

Ultimately, when it comes to tech, you can expect Apple to be one of the forerunners in the list of big-name brands experimenting in the metaverse. So, it's only time that Apple creates a metaverse of its own, and knowing the brand's popularity, people will surely try their iteration.?

Netflix

Netflix has revealed some of its intentions for its metaverse, giving the public a sense of what it means for the entertainment sector, especially the streaming service market. They are also obtaining the rights to various films and games.

Of course, Netflix hasn't published any official metaverse products, but they have hinted at prospective metaverse-based products. For example, they introduced "Black Mirror: Bandersnatch," an immersive movie where the audience has decision-making power. The story pans out according to your choices through your TV remote control. It gave people a taste of how things might look in the future for the streaming service market.?

Hyundai

Hyundai is one of the few big-name brands experimenting in the metaverse while servicing the automobile industry. They published "Hyundai Mobility Adventure" on the popular platform Roblox. They argue that when paired with the metaverse, it provides a look into the probable future of transportation.

By integrating virtual reality with the actual world, the business established a new idea of "metamobility," enabling endless movement and travel. While many of Hyundai's concepts, such as flying automobiles, appear to belong in the VR world, Hyundai intends to bring such notions into the physical world with artificial intelligence and robots.

Epic Games X Balenciaga

Balenciaga collaborated with Epic Games to create high-fashion Fortnite skins. They designed f virtually wearable skins, including Balenciaga-themed accessories, such as a bling backpack and a luxury pickaxe. An in-game Balenciaga centre and a real-world apparel line were also created. This allowed visitors of the hub to purchase cosmetics from a virtual Balenciaga store.?

An animated billboard over the virtual store depicted the hooded walking dog Doggo. Also, a billboard appeared in real life in Seoul, Tokyo, London, and New York City. Doggo's hoodie was also part of the Balenciaga Fortnight collection.

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola demonstrated to the world that the metaverse is more than simply fashion, games, and entertainment. They made their first appearance in the metaverse in 2021 when they auctioned off NFT memorabilia in Decentraland.?

As a part of their Friendship Day celebration, they teamed up with Tafi to create Coca-Cola's first-ever NFTs that included virtual wearables. They auctioned off an NFT treasure box on OpenSea, containing digital apparel users can wear in Decentraland's virtual environment.?

When opened, the Coca-Cola Friendship Box, a redesigned iteration of Coca-highly Cola's collectable vending machine, itself an NFT, contains a 1940's inspired Friendship Card and much more.?

However, Coca-Cola did not limit itself to fashion and collectables. Their next step was to make their distinctive cocktails available online. Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Byte is the name of their beverage. They then created Pixel Point, a realm within Fortnite Creative. In this environment, players can play games and sample various virtual tastes.

Disney

Disney is an entertainment powerhouse that needed to take advantage of the chance to expand its business into the metaverse. They even created a new position committed to developing their storytelling future in a Disney metaverse.

Although they have not declared any formal plans to enter the metaverse, they are providing services and utilising technologies that resemble an integrated and unified metaverse experience. For example, their MagicBand is a wristband that follows guests and stores all their data, including tickets, keys, payments, and picture passes, allowing guests to walk through their parks easily.

During the epidemic, Disney also provided virtual tours of its rides and parks to keep visitors entertained. While they aren't the same as what you could encounter in the metaverse, they have hinted at what visitors might anticipate in the future as they explore the digital realm further.

Louis Vuitton

To commemorate its 200th anniversary, Louis Vuitton created their own metaverse game. "Louis the Game" led gamers on a journey to gather 200 birthday candles over a map of six virtual realms while simultaneously recounting the narrative of Louis Vuitton's beginnings. The game has 30 NFTs that players can buy and accumulate throughout the game to progress further.?

So, why would a fashion company seek to enter the gaming market?

The worldwide gaming market is expected to reach 175.8 billion dollars in 2021, as per?Newzoo's?annual game market trends. The spread of the metaverse will force that number to increase in the coming years. That is why Louis Vuitton's game was a calculated move combining gaming with the fashion industry as the metaverse was about to arrive. They are one of the most common big-name brands experimenting in the metaverse.?

RTFKT and Nike

Nike took a significant stride into the metaverse when it acquired RTFKT. RTFKT was formed in the metaverse to be a premier maker of digital artefacts. RTFKT creates one-of-a-kind digital assets such as NFTs, virtual shoes, collectables, and more. Their goods are market leaders in virtual fashion and gaming.

Nike's purchase of RTFKT was not their first foray into the metaverse. They also collaborated with Roblox to create NIKELAND, a virtual game platform for players.

Nike took an important step before entering the metaverse: it protected its brand and phrases in preparation for selling virtual products. Licensing their brand and logo will protect them from infringements and let them manage their usage, increasing their metaverse Nike NFTs' value.

Gucci X Roblox

Gucci, one of the most well-known players in the fashion industry, wanted to take advantage of the potential to be a fashion industry innovation by investing in the metaverse. They began investing in May 2021, when they launched Gucci Garden on Roblox to commemorate their 100th anniversary. There, users may purchase NFT memorabilia during this event. Later that year, they sold their Dionysus bag for 4,115 dollars or approximately 35,000 Robux (Roblox currency).

Their next obvious step was to purchase land on The Sandbox to build its online store known as "Gucci Vault." This virtual store will provide consumers with a more immersive, better experience while expanding their NFT market. If their popularity keeps growing, their NFTs might be worth 56 billion dollars by 2030.

Microsoft

Microsoft is another one of the many big-name brands experimenting in the metaverse. When they purchased Activision Blizzard, the owner of major game titles such as Candy Crush, Guitar Hero, Call of Duty, and World of Warcraft, it invested $70 billion in the metaverse. They said that this was their first step in creating a Microsoft metaverse.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella provided further insights on Microsoft's and the metaverse's future. She claims that the metaverse will function similarly to virtual reality gaming. Concepts previously only conceivable in the gaming sector, such as social and commercial ties, are now making their way into everyday life, making the gaming sector a lucrative market to take advantage of in 2023.?

Warner Bros. Pictures-In the Heights Block Party

Warner Bros. Pictures is another one of the big-name brands experimenting in the metaverse. They organised a Roblox virtual party in 2021 to promote the summer feature "In the Heights." The block party incorporated the movie's famed Washington Heights dancing, music, and Latin American culture into the Roblox universe. Visitors to the virtual community could watch behind-the-scenes interviews and footage, including interactive scavenger hunts and other mini-games, virtual products, a choreographer's dance instruction, and contribute to murals and hang out outside the film's central gathering store.

A Few Metaverse Trends to Look Out for in 2023

With the metaverse going strong, here are a few metaverse trends to look out for in 2023:

Digital Workplaces

These days, businesses can use the metaverse to switch their operations to a virtual domain. Exciting technologies like Microsoft Azure allow customers to construct "virtual twins" of employees and workspaces, enabling them to work from the comfort of their homes and exchange ideas efficiently. This can also help them save money on things like electricity and rent.

Offices, for example, can use Horizon Workrooms to discuss ideas, hold virtual meetings, etc. Ultimately, remote work has grown in popularity in recent years, thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the metaverse provides an intriguing solution to assure optimum production while lowering expenses.

Furthermore, the metaverse realm can also be utilised for training, dealing with supply chain concerns, hiring, and other administrative tasks. Accenture, for example, has created a virtual workspace where workers may do HR functions. Employees can work remotely as long as they have a reliable internet connection.

Web 3.0 and Decentralisation

Tech experts believe decentralisation will be critical in deciding how the metaverse will evolve. Decentralised technology, such as distributed ledgers and blockchain networks, will introduce a new network free of corporate influence. This would suggest that decision-making authority will be devolved to the community rather than a single body.

The foundation of this future is distributed autonomous organisations (DAOs), which will reign over decentralised metaverse networks such as Decentraland and The Sandbox. Following the sale of ownership rights, the creation of consumer-owned organisations and virtual democracies will occur, allowing individuals to manage the company developing in the virtual world. This is one of those metaverse trends that will continue to gain popularity in 2023 and beyond.

More Realistic Avatars

The time for 2D avatars is long gone as we edge ever-so-close to total virtual immersion. This is one of the most apparent metaverse trends that will gain popularity in 2023, as we expect more real-life avatars.??

Companies like Meta have been working on developing photorealistic avatars for a long time, but there is still much opportunity for development. We can anticipate seeing life-like humans roaming throughout the metaverse in 2023, thanks to greater modelling of physical figures and more customisation choices. We'll also see avatars roam freely among multiple metaverse platforms without being tied to a particular one.?

The Internet of Things

According to digital transformation experts, IoT is an essential component of the metaverse ecosystem. The intersection of the metaverse and IoT can help organisations and people discover new and previously unknown possibilities. For example, the metaverse would provide 3D user interfaces for IoT devices, opening the way for a user-centric IoT and metaverse experience. At the same time, IoT would allow virtual spaces to interact with and access the real world seamlessly.?

Furthermore, every machine or piece of equipment in a smart factory would have sensors. The data collected by these sensors would be utilised to explore diverse surroundings and deliver intelligent feedback.

Finally,

This wraps up our list of big-name brands experimenting in the metaverse and how they are changing the digital realm as we know it. The metaverse will impact various industries, but global consumer brands will profit the most from it. Because of its nature, the immersive internet will allow for extended interaction with companies as long as the experiences are social, creative, and original.

In the next week's newsletter, we will provide tips on generating qualified leads for Real Estate Developers. With the economic turndown, companies are further looking for a good return on investment. Our mission is to deliver on performance by providing media that achieves results. Please reach out to me.

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