Presented by LandVault
The metaverse has tremendous opportunity up for grabs, but also needs best practices for activating properly. In this VB On-Demand event, learn how to separate the hype from the reality, and position your organization as a driving force behind the reimagination of our digital lives.
The metaverse, and what it might mean for both consumers and organizations, is only just beginning to take shape. It’s also at an inflection point, where companies eyeing the space need to decide whether they’re going to help spearhead the shift into a Web3 world, or just hedge their bets and watch how it plays out. Right now, there’s no wrong answer, but some of the reasons for leaping into the fray might be better than others, says Samuel Huber, founder and CEO of LandVault.
“Earlier this year, a lot of brands jumped in the metaverse purely for FOMO, hype and press. Now as the momentum builds and there’s more excitement, companies need to be more strategic and deliberate about what an investment in the metaverse means for the long term.” Huber says. “Brands entering the metaverse need to think about their play in exactly the same way they would if they were entering any other platform or doing any other kind of marketing campaign — and know whether the metaverse can achieve those goals in a way other platforms couldn’t.”
What the metaverse does best is experiences, Huber says. It’s a unique new way to build a strong and engaged community that can help create momentum around a product, and for some companies, that’s worth the price of entry, which at this point is still fairly high.
Building a metaverse experience
Because the metaverse is still such a nascent platform, it’s still expensive to build an experience, because there’s very little in the way of backend infrastructure to support building and running campaigns. Companies like LandVault are taking up the slack by developing new protocols and building blocks to democratize access to the metaverse, as well as the analytics tools and dashboards that can track consumer behavior and help them design experiences and mechanics to maximize results.
“The metaverse shares the same components of any compelling social game — it’s a shared experience in which total immersion and engagement encourages users to buy things along the way,” Huber explains. “The gaming industry has shown that if you build exciting, dynamic content, then people will play time and time again for hours.”
That could even mean an event that is continually changing, such as a Fashion Week experience where a rotating selection of designers get the spotlight, or a series of unique events with new encounters. It’ll mean 3D try-before-you-buy experiences, live sports, concerts, all in a centralized environment, each living in its own pavilion — a shopping district, a sports events zone, a concert and shows realm — for easy access.
With the blockchain as the financial backbone, the transactional engine is already embedded within the fabric of the metaverse. In Web3, the payment mechanism sits at the protocol layer, not on the application layer, which means that it’s available for brands or anyone who wants to set up and sell. But if creators aren’t given an incentive to keep creating, there’s no economy.
“The better we help them monetize their skills, the more content they will keep creating. The more content, the more users, and the more users, the more we monetize, creating a crucial flywheel,” Huber says. “There are multiple ways to generate money and revenue, and so many of these tools are already integrated within the fabric of the metaverse. We are very much focused on building more ways to help creators generate more revenue and create more.”
Consumers are buying virtual goods, whether they’re shelling out to upgrade freebies from a game or purchasing virtual goods to dress up their avatars. LandVault technology can build product placements, which is a great way for creators to recruit other brands to sponsor existing activations and generate revenue. That could be as simple as a billboard on the side of a stadium, or a branded shop available inside another experience.
“Our vision is that within the next five to 10 years, every single company that is doing business on the internet is going to need to have a presence in the metaverse as well,” he says. “To us, the metaverse is an insurance policy to future-proof your business, to make sure that you stay relevant to the up-and-coming consumer audience. You might not see the impact quarter-by-quarter, but this is a much longer-term plan that will pay dividends soon.”
To learn more about the opportunities in the metaverse, what successful marketing and monetization campaigns look like, how to take the first step and more, don’t miss this VB On-Demand webinar.
Agenda
- Identifying opportunities in the metaverse: distinguishing the hype from reality
- Best practices and missteps to avoid
- How to approach your brand’s metaverse strategy
- How the metaverse economy will be accelerated
- And more!
Presenters
- Sébastien Borget, Co-founder & COO, The Sandbox
- Samuel Huber, Founder & CEO, LandVault
- Victor Dey, Techn Editor, VentureBeat