Generation Z, Don’t Run Away! PacSun Is Hooking You In The Metaverse!
Hello Generation Z,
The metaverse is opening to you. Welcome to the new world!
Youth apparel retailer PacSun has launched a “metaverse experience” that includes virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), live streaming, and a video game for its young target audiences. Presenting in the metaverse with modern virtual technologies is part of the retailer’s Spring/Summer 2022 campaign, including Emma Chamberlain, a Gen Z influencer. According to the theme, the movement is “centered on gazing toward the future and the dream of escape.”
The news is attractive to me, so I clicked the link instantly because I am one of PacSun’s target consumers and Gen Z. That is a sweet coincidence, I thought! Therefore, let’s dig out why and how the young brand dives into the metaverse.
Meet Generation Z
First, say Hi to Gen Z! Globally, almost 2 billion of Gen Z are born between 1997 and 2012, the largest generation ever, comprising nearly 30% of the world’s population. According to Into Z Future (research), this generation is made up of “hyper-connected, highly opinionated” people who are naturally at ease using digital creative tools to express themselves. As a result, brands that understand and embrace Gen Z’s “creative language” and create opportunities for self-expression, both electronically and in person, are more likely to interact with them.
In addition, finding and experimenting with chances for co-creation is the key to staying relevant in the minds of Gen Z. Indeed, with the popularity of metaverse or augmented reality, more and more brands are seeking chances to collaborate with online user-generated platforms. Since on those platforms, co-creation is a natural element of community interactions in which anyone may construct, create, design, and come up with incredible ideas that brands can’t even dream of.
PacSun hopes to catch and engage with Gen Z customers as a youth clothing brand. But how can the brand include interactivity and co-creation into its strategic plans?
Enter The Metaverse
The first step, PacSun developed a video game that is only available on PacSun mobile application. Players are able to explore underwater worlds and join PacSun’s guide Puck in search of underwater coral and materials to unlock new levels and aquatic planets guarded by an underwater serpent, and players can receive “pieces to build their own PacSun the Game closets.” Though it is only an application, we can see the logic behind the action. PacSun allows users to choose how to interact with a branded experience and offers them creation opportunities because users can construct their own unique closet with those prizes.
The exclusive experience turns passive users into active contributors because of novel technology and following the brand’s strategy. Brands that embrace new customer participation methods will be able to successfully attract Gen Z audiences’ attention and maintain their relevance in both the real and virtual worlds, as well as active participants feel a sense of loyalty and ownership toward the brands they choose to connect with.
Considering the following steps, PacSun will launch virtual reality at their physical stores and augmented reality on social media platforms. (However, by the time the article is published, PacSun has not activated new functionalities.)
Besides the mobile game, VR, and AR, the brand also put a figure and catalog on Roblox, a welcomed virtual platform with tens of millions of daily active users. The collaboration with this platform will provide an immersive environment where a visitor can accomplish things with their friends and connect with them via shared virtual experiences from anywhere. Anyone can envision what they see in the actual world in the digital realm, but there are no restrictions.
Conclusion
Though the metaverse of PacSun has not already been completed, in my opinion, we can still find some benefits of constructing a virtual world.
The metaverse is moving and evolving at a breakneck pace, accelerating even more during the global pandemic. Consequently, lots of brands, ranging from technology companies to fashion enterprises, are inclined to rush to this modern world. The rewards of success in the metaverse are numerous for both the company and the consumer. Consistent brand presence in the metaverse may establish global audiences and generate new revenue streams by bridging the digital and physical worlds sustainably and inclusively.
On the other hand, brands should invest time and resources in learning about the universe and everything going on in the metaverse. Additionally, brands also need to express their values entirely and understand how their target consumers would want to engage with them in the virtual world.
