What is the Metaverse and Why Should Marketers Care?
The Best That I Can Explain It
Up until about a month ago, I thought the Metaverse was the MultiVerse (i.e. Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse). This term is used as a strange “explanation” of phenomena that happens within the Marvel Franchise. It explains things that really don’t make any sense, but slap that word on a comic book movie and all is well.
But then I was seeing it pop up in regards to marketing and social networks like Facebook.
So I did some digging.
What I came up with was that the Metaverse is an idea. A constitute of where we are as a society both digitally and in the physical world. If we break it down, the word “meta” in Latin means after or beyond. In Greek it means post or add. In a song, a verse is one portion of an entire song.
Put all that together and you come up with “Beyond (or After) the Verse”. What I took this to mean is that the Metaverse goes beyond just one aspect of the digital (i.e. Facebook) and expands into a physical or personable representation (a community rather than a company). From what I researched, this seems fairly accurate.
Cathy Hackl from the podcast Metaverse Marketing puts it this way.
[The Metaverse] is “Web 3.0; connecting people, places and things in both the physical and the digital world.”
Craig Donato of Roblox takes it one step further. He states that there are 3 factors at play in the Metaverse. A diverse experience where your “mind’s eye” is part of the experience, the social experience, and the “expansive and ever changing universe”, i.e. the digital platform. “The nature, container, and the shared fabric puts them all together.”
Jamie Burke, CEO of Outlier Ventures, puts it this way.
“[The Metaverse is] a convergence of hardware and software that blurs the physical and the digital.”
So here’s my “official definition”.
The Metaverse is how future (and present) technology “feels” more and more connected to our physical bodies and physical activities.
Community Driven Not Company Led
Another factor to this convoluted concept is that the community has control. So in a “utopian” Metaverse, Facebook is not in control of how the Metaverse is run; Jake and Sarah and a thousand others in their network call the shots.
The Metaverse is a vehicle to unifying communities through an open system.
A great example of this would be Cryptocurrency operated through Blockchain. Crypto is still baffling to me but from what I understand, there is no centralized bank system. Control is through a community of leadership. Millions of ledgers spread over a global community of ledger holders runs the show. The tangible end of it is that you can now use your digital currency in some places to pay for things like your utilities and your rent.
Marketing in the Metaverse
This is not at all easy to unpack so don’t feel bad if you’re confused (I am too) but it’s something we should be paying attention to simply because this is not a fad; this is where we’re headed.
We are still distanced physically but craving connection. The idea of a Metaverse is how we can acquire connection through a digital community.
Sensorial Perception Within the MetaVerses
You’ve heard me talk about it before. The senses matter in marketing because it is what makes a product “human” (relatable and believable). When you communicate through the senses, you are communicating as a human would. And what better way to give an inanimate object a way to relate to the consumer (or the other way around) than by communicating as if it were corporeal.
The Metaverse is not just visual or just auditory. It’s also not just digital or just physical.
The Metaverse is multi modal just like the senses.
When we process an ad, we use more than just one sense to decide if we purchase or pass. Our brain goes through a series of processes to decide if yes I want this or no I don’t.
Case in point, my breakdown on our brains reacting to sound.
The Metaverse is the opportunity for marketers to have more than one experience associated with their brand. That experience, however it may be designed, can transfer from one community to the next both digitally and physically.
Connection Happens in Both Worlds
To stay relevant with our consumers, we must address the very real thing happening here. Connection happens whether we’re together or not. If you’re only focusing on connecting to the consumer via brick and mortar or only while online, you’re not just missing out on an opportunity, you’re losing business. Both experiences need to be taken into account.
For more in depth discussion defining (and further confusing) you on the Metaverse, check out this article:
What Next?
So how can your brand explore this Metaverse and the multiverses surrounding it further? How can you keep your brand relevant in this science fiction world we now live in?
The Universe is the limit.
Learn More
If you are a brand and you are looking to create a sound experience or need a consultation on sound strategy, go to www.DreamrProductions.com and let’s chat.
To learn more about my research in sound in marketing, go to www.SoundInMarketing.com or come find me on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Let’s make this world of sound more intriguing, more unique, and more and more on brand.
