MaaS (Metaverse as a Service) Will Transform The Future of Community
Scott Cullather is the President and CEO of [INVNT GROUP]® THE GLOBAL BRANDSTORY PROJECT™ , and CEO of INVNT.ATOM, the group’s digital and Web3 innovation division based in Singapore. The GROUP operates across nine offices, in six countries and four continents. As storytelling recognized industry leader, over the last 30 years Scott has led diverse teams driving innovative strategy, design, production, and execution of thousands of large-scale live, virtual, and hybrid B2B and B2C brand experiences, in over 40 countries.
Innovation is only as impactful as your storytelling.
The Metaverse Revolution
Our innate desire as humans to stay connected has fueled our collective imagination for decades. Often depicted as a culprit for the lack of human connection, the metaverse as a concept has long existed in the minds of thinkers and writers as a figment of futurism and science fiction.
Are we really less connected now than we used to be? In fact, I would argue that we’re more connected than ever.
The metaverse concept can be traced back to science fiction writer Stanley Grauman Weinbaum’s 1935 novel Pygmalion’s Spectacles, which describes an immersive, fictional world using a pair of goggles that enabled ‘a movie’ to tap into sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch.
Metaverse literacy entered the social consciousness in 1992, when American science fiction writer Neal Stephenson released the novel Snow Crash; reimagined as the Oasis in Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One in 2011, which was later adapted into a feature film by Steven Spielberg in 2018. In the early 2000s, Second Life is often viewed as the first real-world iteration of the metaverse.
In our time, a vast digital and immersive world is being co-created by people from many perspectives worldwide, with multiple access points from mobile phones and web browsers, to augmented and virtual reality software and tools.
The transition from Web1 to Web2 to Web3, included home internet, AOL (America Online) chatrooms, and Myspace profiles — fast forwarding to DAOS, Crypto, static and dynamic NFTs (one-of-a-kind, non-replicable, digital assets that change their value or functionality over time, powered through AI (Artificial Intelligence) ). Dynamic NFTs also have the unique ability to morph and evolve based on other collectibles and utilities already within in your wallet, offering neverending possibilities for content, creators, and digital assets.
More than ever, traditional business industries like automotive and music industries are evolving their brand stories and jumping into the next frontier of communication and connectivity across Web3, NFTs, and the metaverse.
We’re bullish because we believe that Web3 is the next great frontier for storytelling for an ecosystem of brands, organizations, creators, and more. Being able to connect with audiences successfully accelerates and maintains relevancy, making it critical for brands to engage with next-generation tools, channels, and spaces from the metaverse to NFTs.
In 2022, [INVNT GROUP] and INVNT.ATOM — The GROUP’s Web3-focused digital innovation division — strategically set out to digitize the last Lamborghini Aventador LP 780–4 Ultimae Coupé ever produced, and introduce the first metaverse NFT supercar twin to the world.
In collaboration with Lamborghini, leading metaverse artist Krista Kim, 2x Grammy nominated artist Steve Aoki, and the historied collector car auction house, RM Sotheby’s, [INVNT GROUP] auctioned the world’s first supercar 1:1 NFT connected to the last physical production supercar Lamborghini Aventador Ultimae Coupé; unifying design, music, and cutting-edge technology to create a new digital universe for Lamborghini.
The 1:1 NFT plus the last physical Lamborghini Aventador Coupé auction closed at $1.6MM — over 3x the standard suggested retail of a Lamborghini Aventador Coupé — placing the purchase price in the top 10 new Lamborghinis ever sold at auction.
BZAR™, [INVNT GROUP]’s patent-pending, decentralized metaverse — established as a marketplace for physical and digital transactions, NFTs, entertainment, social, and gaming experiences — hosted an exclusive viewing and experience of 1:1 NFT. In the future, the NFT’s associated GLB file (GL Transmission Format Binary) will allow for the car to be interoperable across any metaverse platform, along with a host of VIP utilities including, exclusive virtual previews of limited-edition Lamborghini car models for future release, invitations to VIP events at the winners local dealer, and a private tour of the Lamborghini Museum in Sant’Agata Bolognese, Italy.
While in beta, BZAR stands to bring next world metaverse and exclusive ecommerce experiences to the global audience.
SaaS to MaaS: From Cloud to Community
Enterprise cloud innovation has powered businesses and organizations for over two decades, completely transforming the way industries operate and grow.
Some of the most powerful SaaS companies of this digital generation are those providing invaluable technological integrations that span from creative to telecoms — AWS (Amazon Web Services), Adobe, Microsoft, Salesforce, Shopify and more. Salesforce has a market capitalization of $188.9 Billion, with AWS leading the industry with a market capitalization of $1.02 Trillion.
Web3 brings the future of the web where creators own their work; are rewarded for cooperation and can connect from all over the world. This expands the notion of remote connectivity and redistributes the cloud to community.
MaaS is a concept based on an enhanced SaaS model centered around recurring revenue for those in the ecosystem, from creators to collectors, cultivators, and brands. Smart contracts represent revenue in perpetuity and partners of the creators, in perpetuity of the secondary sales market.
MaaS also offers a consistent stream of buildable storytelling campaigns and content, powering growth and transformation.
Decentralized users from all over the world are now connected through the metaverse through moments (airdrops, experiences, events, etc.); commitments (subscription, token ownership, voting, etc.), and community (membership, social media, shared experiences, etc.).
MaaS is community building and storytelling for how the future demands — elastic, digital, virtual, hybrid, and often live. It gives users new ways to gather, interact, invest, and play.
Creating our favorite versions of every space we inhabit and every person we encounter — it’s part of human nature — to create and commune. The metaverse gives everyone the opportunity to dream, create and own their version of the future.
SaaS amplifies productivity and recurring revenue streams. MaaS does all of that and then some, electrifying creativity, connection, and engagement, while simultaneously building and blending communities.
The metaverse creates a vivid ecosystem that empowers decentralized creators and builders to connect and co-create. Through the metaverse, they can now grow and build communities, bringing access and experience to new global forums.
Ecosystems like that were led by the humanistic principles of people like Steve Jobs.
Together, and in partnership with News Corp, we previously launched the first and only digital newspaper for Apple’s iPad, The Daily, and introduced the candy-colored iBook platform to the world. When it came to communication and presentations, regardless of the length or magnitude, Steve believed in the power of rehearsing. He challenged himself and the people around him by delivering slightly different rehearsal presentations each time, so everyone could move with him and dance to the circumstance of something unexpected. Powered by that communication ethos the launches of these products proved impactful in evolving Apple’s BrandStory globally.
Like those cultural-driving tech progressions, Web3 is a digital vehicle for innovations that instantly connects more and more people with their own stories, with potential ownership over their content and digital selves, providing in the history of the world the first true IP (Intellectual Property) for products and individuals — enhancing the original SaaS model.
To reach those audiences and spaces, you must diversify your voice, and authentically amplify your message — through Web3 and past the metaverse.
On the business front, MaaS enables collaboration with some of the greatest creators of our generation (and probably the next). Culture is ripe for new integrations be it NFTs, Trading Cards, ESports leagues, event tickets, retail coupons, product authentication, experiences, and even Memes — the technical possibilities often strengthen in strategic collaborations.
E-sports, gaming, and social media platforms have connected us to more than ever possible before, from all corners of the world. The new digital stories being told span across social-gaming platforms, in-person experiences, and metaverses like Decentraland, Fortnite, BZAR, and Sandbox.
Winning Web3 (and beyond): MaaS is Storytelling
Like SaaS companies, MaaS provides a continuous end-to-end model allowing brands, organizations and creators, to offer digital-first community building and storytelling that is authenticated and ownable.
Powerful stories get passed on through centuries of global civilizations. The most impactful brands are best known for the role they play within a culture. Brands, organizations, and individuals seeking cycles of relevancy must learn to strategically tell impactful and diverse stories.
The most powerful marketing strategies and programs that permeate a culture center around four tenets of communication and engagement we lead with: Cadence, Clarity, Focus, and Volume. These four tenets should define your amplification and output. It is no different in championing the metaverse.
Community is the goal and the rewards are without measure.
If you found this post helpful, and would like to learn more Web3 insights or need a hand in onboarding your audience into Web3, drop us a message on Twitter or email atom@invnt.com
