How Brands Are Leveraging Opportunities On Metaverse

Metaverse is slowly but surely shaping up as the new marketing matrix for brands. Top firms and personalities in India and the world have already joined the metaverse bandwagon, if not integrated into it already.

Many of the top companies and personalities in the world have embraced the new trend.

In the Indian context, from Daler Mehendi's metaverse concerts to Amitabh Bacchan's NFTs, from Prabhas' movie trailer launch on metaverse to Kamal Haasan's movie screening, Bollywood has spearheaded the lapping up of the novel medium for marketing their movies. The metaverse approach lends a USP to the stars and their films, garnering attention and a new set of audience while promoting the new platform itself.

The #metaverse market holds immense potential for a wide gamut of commercial opportunities to enterprises. Technology, media, and telecom companies will gain directly by delivering technological enablers, such as 5G, next-generation Wi-Fi or broadband networks, and new operating systems, app stores, and platforms to create a breeding ground for more content creation. #AugmentedReality (AR) and #VirtualReality (VR) tools are being actively explored and used in industries ranging from health care to industrial goods production.

In the fashion sphere, Gucci, the ultra luxurious #fashion brand has crafted The Gucci Garden #Experience to sell products digitally, and in 2021 retailed a virtual-only digital twin of a Gucci purse for a higher price than its real-world equivalent. The firm had already gone virtual in June 2021, opening bidding for a new #Non-Fungible Token (#NFT) inspired by its autumn-winter collection.

Louis Vuitton has unveiled Louis the Game, which combines nearly 30 NFTs into a smartphone game that was crafted to mark the company’s bicentennial. Similarly, Burberry partnered with the Blankos Block Party game to introduce its first NFTs in August 2021.

One of the globe's most popular football clubs Manchester City is creating its own Metaverse at a cost of $100 million for which Sony has been granted the contract and is slated to be ready by 2024. A similar experience has already been unveiled by the US Major League Baseball team, the Atlanta Braves.

Nike has picked up RTFKT Studios, a start-up design company mastering in virtual footwear and collectibles. And in January 2022, Adidas and Prada brought the Adidas for Prada Re-Nylon collection to the Metaverse in their third collaboration.

Similarly, Emirates Airlines in 2022 announced that it will enter the Metaverse and provide customer service via this avenue.

In April 2020, American rapper Travis Scott conducted a live Fortnite concert in the Metaverse that mustered 27.7 million unique attendees – way more than a typical physical concert venue can hold – and was viewed 45.8 million times, meaning millions of players logged on to attend, multiple-times, over the event’s five-day run.

In this light, India's leading management consulting firm Technopak Advisors has forged an alliance with Trace Network Labs. Technopak comes with a vast multi-industry exposure such as those prominently in retail, beauty, fashion, apparel besides understanding of the ever-expanding landscape of challenges and opportunities.

Over a span of 30+ years, the consulting major has lent its services to brands like Reliance Brands, Aditya Birla Fashion Ltd, Arvind Brands, Best Seller Brands, Bata, Manyavar, Blackberry, Woodlands, Forever New, Calvin Klien, Celio, Mufti and many more in the fashion industry.

Trace Network Labs for its part is a leading player in creating enhanced brand experiences for fashion and lifestyle players in metaverse, with promising new possibilities for brands and retailers alike.

The Technopak-Trace Network Labs synergy seeks to create of a series of experiential and immersive brand stores in the metaverses for fashion brands to connect them to their customers.

These stores will be created in a manner to display the special line of digital fashion wear as NFTs that can be bought from the virtual stores itself. The users’ avatars created via Trace Network’s BUDDY can then visit these stores to take a look at these products, check out details via the NFTs, try the product by actually wearing them on their avatars and then make a purchase decision. The platform offers consumer-facing companies the opportunity to provide to the consumer new ways to shop, such as virtual storefronts, with virtual try-ons and an opportunity of combining their physical & digital side of the business.

As an awareness initiative, the duo has unveiled a string of knowledge dissemination webinars under the banner of 'DECODING THE METAVERSE' to help simplify complex concepts in the new immersive landscape for brands and consumers alike.

For more information on possibilities for your brand/product in Metaverse, please reach out to Sunayana Shah at: [email protected]