How the Metaverse is Gradually Expanding its Footprint

But First a Bit About Metaverse

A metaverse is a hybrid realm that combines virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and 3D holographic avatars to provide users with a social virtual world experience. When Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, stated that his firm, Meta, would be focusing on establishing the metaverse, it received a lot of attention.

However, he is not the one who came up with the concept or coined the term. Nearly 30 years ago, science fiction writer Neal Stephenson created the word "metaverse" in his novel "Snow Crash," in which he discussed life-like avatars meeting in VR.

Facebook's metaverse, also known as Meta's metaverse, is being lauded as a better version of reality as well as a better version of the internet. We shall, according to Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, "socialize, learn, create, and play" in an interconnected 3D virtual realm he refers to as "embodied internet." This arena, according to Zuckerberg, would be built by a network of creators and developers, not by a single firm.

But Zuckerberg is not the only one chasing the metaverse dream. Nvidia, Sony, and Microsoft are other major technology companies that are betting on this new universe.

According to Bloomberg Intelligence, this digital environment has such promising economic possibilities that it is predicted to reach 800 billion dollars by the middle of this decade and 2.5 trillion dollars by 2030. Given these figures, it's easy to see why the large tech giants see the metaverse as the internet's future.

Oh! The Wonder (The Future Scenario/Course of Action for Metaverse)

Since the COVID-19 lockdowns began, both large and small companies have been developing avatar-based solutions for remote and hybrid working. Horizon Workrooms, a Facebook project that uses Oculus VR headsets to imagine a near future in which people meet virtually in a lifeless, floaty virtual world, envisions a near future in which people meet virtually in a soulless, floaty virtual world. Microsoft's Mesh for Hololens 2 aims to facilitate similar corporate mixed reality meetups, and Shopify, a Canadian e-commerce platform, recently launched Shopify Party, a browser-based game in which employees dress up as their favorite avatars to spice up one-on-ones, icebreakers, standups, and other team events.

Economy

Companies will need to shift their marketing strategy away from online ad purchases and toward a shared, virtual economy. In the metaverse, businesses will need to conduct market research on their new clients. People's behavior and tastes in the metaverse may be quite different from their behavior and shopping habits in real life. It all starts to make sense when you add in the layer of business from robot to customer, where virtual assistants and robots own the relationship with the consumer.

Culture

CMOs must be acquainted with the culture within the metaverse, just as they must be in the actual world. Brands can be influenced by digital clothing, world-building, or marketing. GTA V revealed clothing options in December 2019 that looked identical to what the protestors in Hong Kong wore. "Players disguised as Hong Kong protesters took to the (fictional) streets of Los Santos," according to the game. Gamers rioted in the game, dressed in black and wearing yellow hard hats and gas masks. Players in China took note, dressed up as cops, and battled back against the protestors disguised as gamers.

Individuals will not be walking around in the metaverse. Friendships and connections (with autonomous NPCs, holograms, or other individuals) will influence their choices. Brands will need to continue to adapt to different types of play and interactions in relationships. Customers will be able to interact with brands in 3D form, rather than just talking to them on social media.

Shopping

In the metaverse, online purchasing is a given. But it's more than just digitally trying on items that customers can buy in person. In the metaverse, virtual fashion, avatar "skins," and virtual real estate (houses, automobiles, etc.) will all have their own value. Companies will need to create brands for people at various stages of prosperity. People that put a lot of money into the metaverse may have their own businesses and property, so they can cooperate with companies that don't exist in the real world.

Fashion plays a significant role in the creation of a character or the representation of an avatar. Virtual fashion houses and designers now have the opportunity to break into a whole new market of digital-first apparel. 

Entertainment

Celebrities from entertainment, political and other fields that play Fortnite, and other gamers can all enjoy the same degree of fame and popularity. "Most streamers aren't substantially different from the friends' players already spend time with in real life," according to a 2018 Reach3 Insights report, "making those streamers that much more personable and important." Brands won't be able to hide behind the scenes with pre-made ads, commercials, or products in the metaverse. They must be friendly and approachable themselves.

People flock to Wendy's Twitter in order to be roasted. People will connect with brands in the metaverse because they have a connection with them, not because they have a need for their product or service. Wendy's is one corporation that has already begun to dabble in the metaverse.

They set up a "Food Fight" task in Fortnite and streamed it live to Twitch in November 2018. Wendy's did not appear in the game, but players were encouraged to go after the in-game establishment Durr Burger (as a dig at Wendy's competitors). Wendy's gained about 7,400 Twitch followers and received around 43,500 comments during the game.

Wendy's senior director of media and social, Jimmy Bennet, explained that they didn't pay for Twitch or Fortnite since paid promotions are more exhausting than organic outreach. "We didn't have to do as much heavy work or invest as much money into it because we were able to organically lean into the experience," Bennet explained. This is the mindset that CMOs and brands will require in the metaverse.

John Legend's recent Bigger Love virtual concert, which used the Wave XR's technology to broadcast a virtual John Legend, collect donations for charity, and was viewed by 500,000 live attendees, is another fantastic example of how the metaverse is starting to show itself in entertainment.

There's nothing to prohibit unconscious prejudices from creeping in, whether a corporation embraces specific components of the corporate metaverse or employs it for all aspects of remote work. “It’s easy for companies to just invest in the technology, but businesses need to understand the psychology driving people to use it,” said Roshni Raveendhran, professor at, University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. “Can employees thrive within that sort of universe? What would allow them to thrive?”

Despite the fact that virtual and augmented reality businesses have repeatedly promised the world and failed to deliver, a 2020 report from consultancy PwC forecasts that almost 23.5 million occupations would use AR and VR by 2030 for duties such as staff training, meetings, and customer care.

Although the ability to create a near match of how you look isn't quite there yet, it can be seen that people in the future would be opting for a more attractive avatar. As in the actual world, this could result in built-in aesthetic hierarchies. In video games, this is already the case.

If the internet has exacerbated societal faults, the metaverse runs the risk of amplifying them even further. 

A Huge Opportunity

If a company decides to use one of the various virtual workplaces available, they must first figure out what protocol they should use and how they should conduct things. And if something isn't working, businesses should be willing to change their strategy—or abandon a platform entirely.

If, and this is a big if, the workforce enters some form of metaverse, Meta-owned or not, the rules and defects of these virtual worlds will become increasingly important. Behind these avatars, we are all humans at the end of the day. We must be aware of our biases when translating and understand that the blows will not be any less severe just because we are in a virtual environment.