technology
meet the latest buzzword that’s here to stay: the metaverse
Virtual meetings that feel real, new ways to build and teach, plus jobs you haven’t heard of—soon it won’t be science fiction!
So, what is exactly The Metaverse?
If the internet is two-dimensional—text and images on flat screens—think of The Metaverse as three-dimensional and multi-sensory.
To simply put it, the word describes a world in which our day-to-day lives transcend a single reality. Over time, it has come to encompass VR (virtual reality) experiences, AR (augmented reality) initiatives and other digital simulations.
Cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, are among the most popular today. And this list will only continue to expand as such currencies grow in trading across the real world and The Metaverse’s digital world.
How The Metaverse can change the future of work
With Facebook rebranding its parent company to ‘Meta’, various other companies are rushing into the sphere, where music, art, and clothing take on a second, and profitable, life.
As a result, The Metaverse will also impact — if not completely redefine — the way people work. Already, the Covid-19 pandemic has certainly been the biggest test for the corporate world, shifting the world of work and its employees to remote collaboration quickly and forcing them to merge their real and virtual personas. The world saw the even more abrupt rise of platforms like Zoom and Slack, which enabled collaboration at a distance and across time zones, proving to be key in fighting for high levels of engagement and productivity in difficult times.
Various high fashion brands, music artists, and cryptocurrencies are already beginning to use The Metaverse as a dynamic new platform for exchange with new markets and business models emerging in response to The Metaverse’s synthesis of intellectual property, digital currency, and virtual worlds.
The future of commerce won’t be the same
With online shopping and delivery becoming the new standard since the pandemic, The Metaverse will only accelerate this trend. Consumers will no longer need to frequent physical stores to try new products before purchasing. VR and AR experiences will allow exploration of brands and their offerings from the comfort of customers’ homes. On the other hand, The Metaverse will also enable more interactive in-store experiences.
According to a study conducted by Bitkom, it was reported that 98 per cent of 14- to 29-year-olds and 95 per cent of internet users aged 65 and older currently shop online. What would it be like if we didn’t just have to evaluate products based on a few pictures but could see them almost real in front of us? We could “try on” clothes, “touch” them and see them in situ. Not only this but The Metaverse could also be used in other areas, such as grocery shopping, food deliveries and much more.
How brands can enter The Metaverse
For brands thinking about how to navigate this new frontier, even knowing where to begin can be a challenge. How can we work better in the future?
Brands should always be in a test-and-learn mode, and the digital landscape requires intellectual curiosity. The Metaverse could be the next evolution of how humans use the internet to connect, communicate, and transact – staying on the sidelines is unlikely to be an option for long.
Those already in it need to be prepared for the fact that all new spaces come with risk and reward; manage accordingly, knowing that it may be highly unpredictable.
We should be excited about creating experiences in The Metaverse throughout the customer journey – from acquisition and engagement, to the transaction and customer support, which has the potential to be both spectacular and stickier than ever before.
So, for now, The Metaverse is not only a place to visit, but it is also an idea of what the world could be like and preparing for this potentially very fruitful channel needs to be on at least the periphery of us comms professionals.
