The Metaverse in easy language
It's hot & happening, the Metaverse! You see this term everywhere, but what does it exactly mean? We will answer this for you. We also look at what Metaverse can mean for Gobsmacked® and the customers of Gobsmacked®! Curious? Keep on reading!
The Metaverse
The Metaverse is a spectrum of different items. It is not possible to explain the Metaverse in one word. According to Neal Stephenson, the Metaverse is a digital world parallel to the real world. How do we define the term? Metaverse is all-encompassing for the interaction that we can have in the digital world through 3D techniques. When people think about Metaverse, people quickly think of VR or AR. These two broad concepts are part of the Metaverse, but that’s certainly not all. The Metaverse was mainly developed to create more engagement between people. Think, for example, of visiting a Metaverse concert together.
Meta
Why the Metaverse is so upcoming lately? This is mainly due to the Facebook platform. Mark Zuckerberg has changed the name Facebook to Meta. Why was this chosen? Mark Zuckerberg believes it fits better with what Facebook wants to do in the future. For example, they have already invested billions to do research into the possibilities of the Metaverse. We are curious about the developments in this area!
Metaverse is all-encompassing for the interaction that we can have in the digital world through 3D techniques."
As mentioned above, AR and VR are a large part of the Metaverse. The difference and the precise meaning of these two concepts are still unclear to many people…
AR
Augmented Reality, can be briefly described as the world, with a layer over it, for example, a Snapchat filter where you suddenly see something on the road, or the app Pokémon Go where the Pokémons can be found through the streets.
VR
In VR the emphasis is really on (the name says it all) the virtual. VR lets you experience things that are different from reality. This is often done with VR glasses.
The difference between AR and VR is with AR you can still see the real world and with VR it has become completely virtual, nothing is the same as the real world.
How can we let a brand grow or flourish using Metaverse?"
Branding & Metaverse
Can these two concepts be combined?
Metaverse is quite interesting, but combining the Metaverse with your brand can be even more interesting. This is something we, as a creative agency, would like to find out about and be early adopters in. Combining the Metaverse with certain customer cases is something we want to investigate. How can we let a brand grow or flourish using Metaverse? What can Metaverse do for your company….
Web3 or “the Metaverse” provides new opportunities for brands to interact with their target audience. Where you previously were limited to advertisements or videos on a 2D screen of your smartphone, you now can enrich the real world (AR) with branded content or maybe even better, create an entire utopian virtual branded world, which makes your brand live. Web 3 and the Metaverse will not only be used for leisure or entertainment, there are already people working eight hours a day in the Metaverse right now.
H&M in the Metaverse
To give an example of how a brand can grow from the Metaverse, let’s take a look at H&M. This retail chain has opened its first store in the Metaverse. This shop in VR is made to get (clothing) inspiration, in addition, clothes can be bought with accepted cryptocurrencies. The photo below shows what this awesome Metaverse store looks like.
Spotify in Roblox
The Roblox platform is getting more and more popular by the day. Roblox is a game platform on which you can create your own games. This gaming platform is a perfect example of games in the Metaverse. There are already several brands that have built a game in Roblox. For example, Vans has built an actual Vans-World in Roblox and Nike has also built its own game on this popular platform.
Spotify could not be left behind and can be found as the first music streaming service on Roblox. Spotify Island is a place where artists can come together with fans to discover everything about new music.
VR Challenge
We are going to investigate! We are going to take a look at all the possibilities in the field of Metaverse, for which we have purchased several VR glasses. To properly research the next step in branding and advertising in the Metaverse, Jeffrey Sistermans (our creative director) is going to do a VR Challenge for a month. This way he gets to know all the ins and outs of working in the Metaverse. In May, he will work in VR for at least 2 hours a day. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this and what is possible… We are very curious, are you too!? Follow Jeffrey’s VR challenge now on LinkedIn here!
