Role of the Metaverse, AI and digitalization — Are brands and consumers prepared for the new era?
“Siri. Could you please request Alexa to update my avatar’s profile picture on the metaverse. I have a big date and want to look my sharpest.”
This is happening. Whether we like it or not.
Just when we started to think that the digital world is saturated and that there is nothing new that we can experience anymore, the metaverse came into play. But did it?Metaverse, as a ‘place’ has existed since years. We’re only recognizing and realizing it now, thanks to billions of dollars and terabytes of data deployed by Big Tech globally. It is a universe unbound, cranking up excellent scope of growth for gaming, commerce, trading – in fact, everything under the Blockchain sun. It has no boundaries, walls and limits and is a space that is extremely difficult (read: impossible) to exhaust. A universe that extends as far as one’s imagination does.
Using technologies like VR, AR, AI, IoT, 5G and many more, the metaverse is our future, in our present. Anything that seemed to be unreachable can now be reached; and then experienced. In other words, fiction just got real. It is an ecosystem that uses software as well as hardware technologies and combines them and holds great potential for the birth of new technologies that result in helping brands create a true experience for their audiences. These experiences in turn, will influence consumer behavior and buying decisions that translate to sales, both in the real world as well as the ‘other’ one – the metaverse. It is no surprise that this alternate reality is gaining serious popularity, since the pandemic forced the world to go digital. Anyone and everyone, no matter how educated they are, is now experiencing and participating in the metaverse unintentionally or intentionally.
To answer whether brands and consumers are ready for this high-tech world, most of the biggest brands in the industry like JPMorgan, Facebook, Adidas, Nike, Gucci and Balenciaga have already entered the metaverse and started moulding it their way, while consumers are intrigued to see what they can do next. Thanks to decentralization in this new world that is not owned by anybody, brands can do what they wish to and the way they like it. The fashion giant Louis Vuitton launched their NFT game, Louis the Game, as a homage to their founder. In the game, the player must collect 200 candles while going through 6 different types of worlds. It also includes 30 collectible NFTs that one can find throughout their experience. The player is also dressed in LV inspired outfits. This experience for a consumer, is tough to create in the real world even for a luxury brand like Louis Vuitton but was made possible through the NFT game.
Why create a good consumer experience? A detailed study by the Journal of Consumer Psychology surveyed a set of 5,000 people over a period of four years. The results stated that investing in the experiences of consumers increases happiness. It mentioned that people were more satisfied with their lifestyle because of the experiences that they chose.
