Retail Brands on Metaverse

Have you heard everybody talking about the metaverse right now? Facebook has changed its name to Meta, everything you read online mentions the metaverse, and, to top it all, your children spend all their time on Roblox, Fortnite, or another metaverse. Well, don’t expect this trend to go away any time soon.

As a business, you’ll know that half your work is appealing to the needs of consumers as their behaviors and habits change. If you sell shoes, you need to design products that people want to wear. If you sell blankets, you need to choose designs that appeal to people and make them want to choose your brand over every other.

Now, it seems as though advertisers need to meet the needs of customers in the virtual world as well as the physical one. If you need evidence, companies like Gucci and Nike are already designing and creating products for Roblox, Fortnite, and other metaverses. That’s right — users are choosing to customize their avatars with Nike Blazer and Air Force 1 designs.

If this tells us anything, it’s that companies are betting on the metaverse. While industry experts and other important bodies are discussing the validity of metaverses, companies are doing their talking with their actions. Millions of people this year will shop Nike products in their branded stores around the world, and millions more will shop the virtual stores of the brand.

Initially, smaller brands will shy away from this trend and think that it’s all just a marketing exercise. Well, it is a marketing exercise, but it’s also generating income for Nike and similar brands. Not only are consumers paying for items in the virtual sphere but they’re also buying them second-hand from the reselling market.

When brands release limited-time collectibles, consumers scramble to get their hands on them on the second-hand market. Just recently, a Gucci handbag went for over $4,100 (the product was originally sold for $6). Eventually, the market settled and the average price on the second-hand market fell to just under $1,600. To put this into perspective, this is higher than a real Gucci bag.

How have consumers responded to this new environment? At first, users of the Gucci Garden Experience on Roblox almost laughed at the fact that items weren’t free. However, they were soon won around when Gucci released products during time-limited windows. The brand managed to generate FOMO culture around its items and the scarcity drove demand (and prices!). In other words, Gucci now has a similar culture with its virtual products as its physical products.

While on the topic of consumers, the user base on Roblox and similar platforms has expanded in recent times. For example, we mentioned in the introduction that your children might spend all their time on Roblox. Yet, the reputation of Roblox as a children’s website is steadily evaporating.

For instance, the target market for metaverses like Fortnite and Roblox is now between 12 and 36. What’s more, Roblox is actively attempting to attract older users. Having gone public, Roblox is one of the most successful platforms ever to hit Android and iOS stores. In an open world, users can socialize with their friends, play user-created games, buy items from stores, and even attend events.

We mentioned that retail brands are betting on the metaverse, and further evidence of this is present with Vans and other apparel brands. As you’ll notice in this article, Roblox and Fortnite are two of the hottest properties in the metaverse industry; this is only because they are two of the biggest metaverses around right now. Eventually, the niche will expand to other video games and non-video game worlds.

With this in mind, we return to the virtual world of Roblox because Vans has launched a skatepark experience for all users. As well as playing and virtually skating with friends, users can also purchase exclusive Vans items. As we saw with Gucci, scarcity generates demand while the skatepark provides an opportunity to put all the fantastic Vans merchandise to good use.

According to Vans, this foray into the world of the metaverse has improved brand awareness while also generating income. With over 40 million active daily users, it’s no wonder that brands like Vans are putting their resources into virtual experiences, stores, and products. You don’t need us to tell you that this is a sizeable audience; not only is the audience impressive in size but this user base is engaged too.

The Metaverse for Brands

As a brand, you need to take the metaverse seriously. If you don’t, your competitors almost certainly will. Companies are investing heavily in the metaverse (as we’ve seen!), and the metaverse fits well within the expected shift toward the third iteration of the World Wide Web: Web3. In short, this will take the internet from a centralized system reliant upon Big Tech companies to a decentralized system where consumers have control over their data once again.

Businesses have various opportunities within the virtual world, and we’ve seen one of the biggest with product placements. Can you make virtual products for metaverses that consumers access? If you charge a fee, you’ll earn revenue on top of the brand awareness that you’ll get from the campaign.

In addition to product placements, you can also utilize in-universe advertising and events. As mentioned, the user base on Roblox and Fortnite is getting older, and the industry will also welcome non-gaming metaverses (especially if Facebook and other large companies have their way). In the early months of 2022, Disney announced its decision to hire a new executive to lead the transition into the metaverse. Now, we’re talking about Nike, Vans, Gucci, and Disney — this trend isn’t just touching the minor echelons of the business world, the very biggest brands in the world are betting on the technology.

In 2022, we’re in the early stages of the transition and this means that you still have time to act. According to some predictions, the future of VR technology and metaverses could be as little as two years away.

If you’re looking to invest some of your remaining marketing budget in a new area, let this area be metaverses this year. The earlier you start to experiment, the more likely you are to find the winning combination before competitors have even got to grips with the new technique. In addition to learning, starting early also gets consumers used to your experiences. With this, the brand builds credibility and authority that will remain even as competitors join the fray.

If you’re looking for an example of a non-gaming metaverse, Dyson recently announced that it would venture into the Meta Oculus metaverse. As time goes on, the brand is likely to prove that it’s not all about games and entertainment. Instead, the well-known vacuum brand will allow prospective leads and customers to test products using VR.

For example, users of the Oculus device can test straighteners, hairdryers, stylers, and other products without even leaving their homes. One of the most impressive things about this transition is that the company didn’t need to invest too much money. Why? Because the technology that fuels the VR platform is the same technology that the brand already used behind the scenes to develop new products.

This year, Dyson has nearly 320 stores around the globe and its new VR showrooms will complement this offering. Eventually, Dyson wants to add salespeople to the showroom to help consumers with their queries and questions. What’s more, it will also contain e-commerce features. With this, customers will browse products in the virtual showroom, test them, speak to a salesperson, and purchase items (all from the comfort of their own home).

Conclusion

If you take anything from this article, let it be that the biggest brands on the planet are investing in the metaverse. Typically, this is a sure-fire sign that the industry is heading in a certain direction. By reading this article, you’re already ahead of the curve. Now, it’s time to implement a new metaverse strategy and build the foundations for the betterment of the strategy but also to build credibility and authority before other brands in your niche.

As a further example, Coca-Cola launched loot boxes of NFTs last year. Consumers could buy loot boxes and unlock wearable items in Decentraland, an open-source gaming platform. In total, it’s thought that the company raked in over $1 million from this single campaign. Alongside the campaigns from Nike, Gucci, and Vans, this should show you that people are willing to spend on their virtual avatars.

If metaverses can offer interoperability, it won’t be long before people take their favorite items between one world and another rather than being restricted to using them on one. Retail brands are betting on the metaverse, and so are companies like Facebook and Disney. Why not take advantage of the wave today?