Move over multiverse, it’s time for the metaverse.
First up, what is the metaverse?
Simply put, it is a “digital world” with real people being represented by digital objects. When I read this, the first thing that came to mind was Club Penguin.
Club Penguin was a massive multiplayer online game where players played as penguins. However, this kid-friendly website does not even come close to what’s planned for the foreseeable future.
After further research, I learnt that the metaverse is intended to be fully immersive. It’s comparison to the movie Ready Player One helped me grasp its concept better.
With this, urban cities have already started planning to get a foothold of this new fad. For instance, Seoul, the capital of South Korea intends to become the first major city government with a metaverse communication ecosystem.
So how does that affect marketers?
As investments shift towards virtual worlds, so does public interest. Consequently, wherever the consumer goes, businesses follow.
Paris Hilton, the pioneer of selfies, is known as one of the original influencers. Always quick to catch on with trends, she released Paris World in October 2021.
A virtual oasis of fun, possibility and, of course, #sliving (slaying & living my best life fused).
I did what any curious marketer would do after finding out about Paris World, I signed up and played. Needless to say, I was impressed. Walking around the ‘virtual world’, I found 2 billboards sporting the boohoo name.
Boohoo who?
Boohoo is an e-commerce fashion retailer that mainly targets 16–30 year olds. It was founded in Manchester, UK in 2006, and is currently one of the biggest pure players in the UK.
The Paris World’s Fashion Week was the first live celebrity fashion show in the metaverse, premiering on the 20th of February, 2022. Thus, boohoo jumped at this opportunity, claiming to be the first brand to advertise in the metaverse during a Fashion Week event.
Despite billboards being part of our everyday lives, it was unsettling seeing it in the metaverse. It felt like a sponsored post had come to life. This definitely felt like it was just the beginning of something major.
This shows as large fashion brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Elie Saab, and Dolce & Gabbano have signed up to participate in an online fashion show in March. It’s meant to resemble a real-life fashion show, with big name DJs and the typical Mercedes-Benz sponsored after party.
Is this our future? I think it is.
Do I like it? Not really.
