From a retailer in Texas to a lipstick maker in India, brands around the globe are already on the road to the Metaverse — a set of virtual spaces, which users can create and explore along with others. Metaverse is not just a buzzword for the future but something the brands will need to transition to faster than they know it.
While there is no substitute for physical touch, the pandemic has shown the world that there are use cases where consumers will want to be digitally immersed for a deeper experience, according to Sandeep Bhushan, Director and Head of India GMS for Meta.
Bhushan, who was addressing a knowledge session on the third day of Goafest 2022, pointed out that while the Metaverse is in the future, the tools for it already exist today. Consumers are digitally engaged, whether through rising video usage or accelerated adoption of online shopping.
Growth in ‘virtual economy’
Stating that consumers are increasingly interested in ever-evolving tech, Bhushan said that people’s interest in the virtual economy grew by as much as 85 per cent from July-September 2020. In the same period, interest in the Metaverse grew by nearly seven times.
Stressing that businesses will need to prepare themselves for this shift, he added that whether it is workplaces, gaming, online shopping, hospitality or retail spaces, Metaverse is expected to make all these experiences more immersive.
He added that marketers will need to play a key role in simplifying the user journey from discovery to purchase with interactive tools in the Metaverse. But with digital spends estimated to be twice that of TV spends by 2025, businesses are staring at some key challenges.
Blockchain solution
Addressing a session at the Goafest 2022, Gowthaman Ragothaman, CEO, Aqilliz and Co-Founder, Web3 Marketing Association, said that while consumers have growing concerns around how their private data is used, platforms want to be able to offer relevant personalisation of content to keep their users engaged.
He pointed out that blockchain is emerging as the solution for some of these emerging problems.
“Decentralised clean rooms (that store consumer data in a manner that they do not leave the server premises) are now being used as a methodology for safe and secure use of customer data. Recently, we have partnered with Airtel to work on this initiative,” he explained, adding that “brands and platforms can now work on distributed ledger or blockchain to record the proof of transactions and NFTs to have a good relationship with their consumers”.
Published on
May 08, 2022
