Meta State of Mind
“Real” human connections are irreplaceable, they are magical and nothing can replace them. The rise of the internet, social media, ZOOM has helped people stay connected digitally but nothing is like the joy of having an actual human physically present. The pandemic has proven this, well not for you if you’re a misanthrope. With the next step of the rise of digitalization comes the introduction of the metaverse. The verse everyone (professionally and personally) is talking about. The hype of this is created — but how?
Stepping Back a Bit
For those not familiar with the term, the metaverse is an immersive, digital environment with virtual avatars representing actual people focused on social connections. Still not clear with what it means? Think of the game Fortnight, a virtual reality game where avatars, fought each other and attended events in real-time that were held in a particular verse — the metaverse. Every person playing in real life had their avatar, a personalized digital representation.
Meta Verse of Demand
With a large number of metaverses to choose from, ordinary people wonder which one should they join and which one will stay. Thus the battle of metaverses begins. To stay relevant and attract more members, metaverses are conducting events in various industries. The latest one is fashion week.
Second Life, the metaverse which hosted designer Jonathan Simkhai presented 11 designs from his Spring/Summer 2022 collection in the metaverse, a day before the physical presentation at the New York Fashion Week. Models, influencers, celebrities, and journalists from fashion, tech, and lifestyle industries were among the VIP guests, who appeared in personalized avatars dressed in Jonathan Simkhai. This created a buzz and every fashion enthusiast like myself thought — I want to be there
Decntraland, another major metaverse announced that it will host the first and biggest Metaverse Fashion Week in late March of 2022 with runway shows, fashion experiences, pop-up shops, and afterparties, featuring some of the most renowned names in the global fashion world from London, Paris, New York, and Milan. Hearing this I was in awe, imagining brands like Dolce&Gabbana, Elie Saab, Franck Muller being present and I thought — I need to be there
Meta Verse of Market
This change in “want” and “need” was created through the messaging, by creating awareness, interest, desire and ultimately leading to hope. Hope for action — joining a particular metaverse. As someone who is quite old-school, I wasn’t so keen on joining the metaverse but my interest in a particular industry is driving me towards it. The metaverse is currently highly dependent on perceived value which can be received from earned media, word of mouth, and paid media.
That Being Said
This topic caught my eye since the transformation of physical events to digital could mean a lot of change, especially for marketers. Changes in strategies, audiences, channels, and branding. This also changes the landscape of messaging for brands since we are digitalizing the emotion and soul of a brand.
The metaverse may be here to stay or maybe just a fad but I can’t help but wonder if these technological advancements are further away from reality — as the stronger “connection” here is of the internet and not humans.
Sources:
Metaverse Fashion Week
New York Fashion Week Took On the Metaverse
A Deep Dive into Metaverse Marketing
