聽By Charles Stanton, CMO at and
2021 truly was the year of the Metaverse, at least it felt that way with the explosive growth in popularity of blockchain Metaverse projects The Sandbox and Decentraland, alongside the surprise move by Facebook to rebrand to Meta in October 2021.
With this growth has come an increasingly urgent realization for brands, that one day soon they too will need to embrace this brave new (virtual) world in order to remain relevant to consumer with shifting online behaviors.
So what are the top 5 things to consider for brands entering the metaverse?聽
Are you in it for the long haul?
The metaverse is an exciting space, there鈥檚 a growing number of incredible platforms waiting with open arms for brands to participate – whether by opening a virtual shop on High Street or by creating their own race car on REVV. With all of this said, the open secret is this: We. Are.Early.聽
Will you have thousands upon thousands of eager metaverse avatars virtually queuing around the block to enter your new branded experience? It鈥檚 unlikely. If you鈥檙e looking to take your brand into this space you need to know this is a long road, not a quick win.
Brands that experiment, invent, iterate, and optimize will be more than ready for the coming wave of adoption, perfectly positioned to reap the positive attributes that come with being a pioneer.
Are you staying true to your brand?
The metaverse offers a wealth of opportunity for brands to bring their values to life in ways that were previously impossible, creating out-of-this-world experiences for their customers and catapulting the visibility of their brand to new audiences of early adopters. However the question you need to ask yourself is 鈥淐an I honestly achieve my brand objectives this way?鈥�
If you have a dynamic, disruptive brand (or you aspire to do so), then the metaverse is the perfect playground to pioneer new and creative ways to engage users. Whether it鈥檚 virtual concerts, gaming experiences, or exclusive virtual meet-and-greets, there鈥檚 lots you can do to showcase how your brand is leading the way and embracing Web3.
If your brand is focused on a more traditional market with little interest in the current iteration of blockchain-based worlds then you may find a foray into the metaverse alienating for your core demographic.聽
Have you done your research?聽
Something that many brands won鈥檛 be aware of is the sheer scale of available options when it comes to metaverse platforms, both current and upcoming, that can offer everything from 鈥榬eal-world鈥� simulations to intergalactic space wars. Where do you even start?
Sometimes the best approach is to look at multiple platforms to test what works best, and focus on those for the future.
That鈥檚 easier said than done, of course, but there are an emerging number of service providers out there who can support brands and advise on where to focus their energy, as well as building successful experiences that are designed to be implemented across many metaverses. Do your research.
Do you own any metaverse land?
This one might sound obvious, but in case it wasn鈥檛 – you can鈥檛 build anything unless you either own land in that metaverse, or you鈥檙e able to rent it. Metaverse land, especially for the top protocols, can quickly become expensive depending on the size and location required. Want to be next to Snoop Dogg in The Sandbox? You鈥檒l need to shell out ..听
And of course once you have your land you鈥檒l still need to find an expert able to design and build your structure or experience for you, often under very strict technical requirements.
Luckily there鈥檚 a growing number of businesses able to support here, so try to select one with priority access to your chosen metaverse so that you know they鈥檙e fully up to date with build limitations. You don鈥檛 want to craft an incredible virtual building or world only to find it doesn鈥檛 work quite as you鈥檇 planned once it鈥檚 up and running.
Does the technology allow you to do what you want?
Entering the metaverse isn鈥檛 easy, many seemingly simple things we take for granted in Web2.0 have never been tried before or aren鈥檛 possible in a metaverse context, so if you鈥檙e not careful development costs can spiral.
Want to sell 鈥榬eal鈥� products within a metaverse in a similar way to ecommerce sites? That鈥檚 going to be tricky to say the least! Sadly there鈥檚 no 鈥楽hopify for metaverses鈥� (yet)! Not to mention most metaverse platforms are purposefully quite limited when it comes to ways of commercializing your land, to ensure you鈥檙e adding value to their ecosystem.聽
It鈥檚 always best to first understand what can be done, either through existing platform tools or through additional development. If you want to do something 鈥榦ut of the box鈥� you鈥檒l need to be pretty close to the metaverse platform鈥檚 dev team, as it will almost certainly require their time (and be prepared to pay for that too!).
If your answer to all 5 questions is 鈥榊es鈥� then you may very well be on the verge of an incredible opportunity for your brand in a brave new (virtual) world.聽
Welcome, we鈥檝e been expecting you.
