Real estate, gaming, fashion, events, manufacturing, agriculture, education, marketing, retail. Even the military is taking up metaverse arms.
From Fortnite and Roblox to the Sandbox and Decentraland via digital twins, AR and VR, metaverse technologies are being used to rethink, experiment and change almost every industry there is.
Using a metaverse strategy can sound daunting for you and your brand. But to follow in the web3 footsteps of Nike, LVMH, Warner Music, Samsung, Adidas, Gucci and the increasingly prevalent list of brands winning the metaverse, it’s time to start experimenting.
Why? What are the advantages of organizing your next event in the metaverse? Here are four business reasons to get you thinking, and start experimenting.
Metaverse Events = Brand Exposure
SXSW, NFT NYC and the Metaverse Summit aren’t the only events to get mainstream media exposure. Blending the virtual and the physical creates unique events, experiences and traction for your brand. The metaverse gets the world’s media interested. That means exposure. Build your event in the metaverse and the next web3 exposé for the New York Times, Time Magazine of the Guardian of London could feature your brand.
Case study: It’s not all rock n roll. Don’t think you have to be Nike or Coca Cola to get tongues wagging. Some of the biggest metaverse stories of the past 18 months were Wendys, Samsung and JP Morgan.
Metaverse Events = Profit
More and more brands are turning to the metaverse to host events — either as a unique event, or as a hybrid — and many are doing it to access new avenues of profit.
“During Travis Scott’s 10-minute performance, his giant avatar wore Nike Air Jordan sneakers. It’s estimated that this brand awareness benefit was worth at least $518,000 for Nike.”
Sponsorship, POAPS, ticketing, NFT wearables. There are numerous avenues for profit your brand can explore with a metaverse event. It’s important to start with a budget, have a plan, set out KPIs and stick to them — just as with a real life event. The metaverse isn’t always reinventing the wheel.
With no borders, barriers for entry and a market of untold millions coupled with relatively low set up costs, the potential for brands to profit from metaverse events can’t be underestimated.
According to Mckinsey, the metaverse will be worth $5 trillion by 2030. Citibank put the future value at $13 trillion. Whether it ends up being lower, higher or somewhere inbetween, the upside for the companies who get in early is profit.
Case Study:. With their Fortnite concerts, Travis Scott and Ariana Grande have proved millions in both profit and attendance can be yours with a metaverse event.
Which dovetails nicely with the next reason to organise your event in the metaverse: community building.
Community Building
Statista says 74% of US adults are joining or considering joining the metaverse. Gartner predicts 25% of people will spend an hour a day in the metaverse by 2025. According to a survey of 5,521 metaverse gamers, the largest group of users of the top 3 games — Minecraft, Fortnite, and Roblox — are under the age of 20.
New audiences (generation Y, Alpha & Z) are seeking brands that are embracing the metaverse and NFTs. They gather around communities — and events — of like minded people. These demographic shifts and the importance of community building in web3 is the third reason your next event should be in the metaverse.
“According to a recent study by Razorfish, Gen Z gamers feel more like themselves in the metaverse than they do in the real world. Said gamers already currently spend twice as much time interacting with friends in the early workings of the metaverse as they do in reality.” — Razorfish
Sustainability
Moving your next event to the metaverse is the quickest, easiest and most effective way to reduce your carbon emissions. There are millions of events every year, many of them international, multi-day events requiring air travel, accommodation and air conditioning. Take your next event to the metaverse and help save the climate.
Case Study — UN Uniting Business Live 2020, a 3-day event originally planned for NYC but held online saved 1,136,493 KG in CO2 total emissions. That’s the equivalent of a car driving 4.5 million km, or 112 times around the earth.
Summary
Profit, brand exposure, community building and sustainability are four reasons your next event should be in the metaverse. More brands are experimenting with web3 and the metaverse every week. More money is being spent, more headlines written and new business cases explored. It’s time your brand started the journey.
