Loading Your Metaverse Tool-Belt
There is a big opportunity for consumer-facing companies in the metaverse. There are numerous business applications for virtual reality, from training future surgeons to showing products to retail employees. Consumers are likely to use the metaverse more than ever before to communicate, transact, and connect. Are you ready for this generation of the internet? The […]
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There is a big opportunity for consumer-facing companies in the metaverse. There are numerous business applications for virtual reality, from training future surgeons to showing products to retail employees. Consumers are likely to use the metaverse more than ever before to communicate, transact, and connect.
Are you ready for this generation of the internet?
The metaverse is still at the infancy stage but it has incredible potential; as the technology surrounding it and the adoption grows, more spaces will be created in these virtual worlds for people to interact.
The metaverse is a once-in-a-lifetime business opportunity, and now is the right time to build your Meta muscle. As Elizma Nolte, Regional Manager for Sub Saharan Africa and Meta (formally Facebook), said at Vibe Martech Fest’s South Africa edition, “As an enterprise, you don’t want to be behind in understanding the new world. Don’t end up in that space ten years later when the metaverse comes to life.”
Here are some ideas about how to establish a business on the Metaverse;
Creating Metaverse Real-Estate
Samsung opened Samsung 837X, its metaverse presence, in Decentraland earlier this year. At the same time, sporting goods giant Adidas bought a piece of property there that it plans to fill with exclusive branded experiences, merchandise, and content.
The metaverse will be very similar to the universe we live in. People there will also use their property as they do on earth. In the metaverse, people trade land, rent it or use it for advertising their business. Platforms like Decentraland and The Sandbox have already offered lands even before they could see the metaverse. Ten years down the line, people will buy land, build houses, and furnish it with virtual goods, paintings and other similar things to decorate their homes.
Shopping Across Physical and Virtual Stores
Chinese online shopping platform Taobao has launched a “metaverse art gallery” campaign, curated by popular virtual human Ayayi. ZARA launched its limited-edition capsule collection, LIME GLAM, eight designs perfect for spring dressing in reality or Zepeto’s virtual playground.
ZARA’s Lime Glam
In the Meta Store, you’ll be able to get hands-on experience with all hardware products. Metaverse brings immersive shopping experiences and serves as the ideal platform for introducing new and complex products. Brands like Alibaba and Nike have already entered the Metaverse. The blend of the metaverse and the retail sectors will introduce new and complex products. Nike is selling pieces from its collections as exclusive NFTs.
Organising Events
Radio juggernaut iHeartMedia is launching its own dedicated space in Fortnite to host events and concerts. The headquarters itself includes a virtual broadcast recording studio and a replica of iHeart’s real headquarters in New York City. Inside the virtual playground, the State Farm Park stage features a massive screen for watching performances, a red carpet where you can snap selfies, and a lawn area with vendors selling emotes and virtual fireworks in exchange for gold which users can earn by playing mini-games. Twenty events are currently planned for the virtual world over the next 12 months, the first of which was a pre-recorded performance from singer Charlie Puth.
With the help of the metaverse, virtual event planners can conduct events where attendees feel both physical presence and safety.
Making Payments
Metaxion’s MetaPay payment system allows users to pay for purchases in the Metaxion universe. MetaPay is the native token of the metaverse-based payment system, also known as MPay. MetaPay tokens are required to invest in the Metaxion universe, so it’s a straightforward payment method. It’s in the testing phase, but Meta announced that the virtual wallet will work on Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Working out of the Metaverse
One of the early adopters of this feature was Nestlé. The company chose Workplace as its internal communication tool to empower 210,000 employees worldwide. In 2019, the food and beverage giant began the process, which took over nine months to execute, starting with adoption in Mexico, Brazil, the Middle East and South Africa. The impact was immediate, claims the company, with 25-times higher engagement per post and very high rates of mobile adoption. Managers are using Workplace to connect directly with employees at different locations, while sales teams use it for daily check-ins and to share information and best practices.
Think of it as an all-in-one business communication platform from Meta that securely combines chat, video, groups and your intranet with the work tools your enterprise already uses.
“Within the next two or three years, I predict most virtual meetings will move from 2D camera image grids…to the metaverse, a 3D space with digital avatars,” Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said about transitioning to virtual meetings. The benefit of this approach is accessibility, as anyone who attends a virtual meeting can do it without physical or geographical limitations. As a result, businesses could use the benefits of improved participation in any sort of event, from business meetings to concerts.
Worth exploring is also Microsoft Mesh which enables presence and shared experiences from anywhere – on any device – through mixed reality applications.
Conclusion
The sky’s the limit when it comes to products that Meta is developing for businesses and brands to capitalise on the virtual world. But it’s not enough to add to the noise. Brands that can be first movers stand to gain a competitive advantage. The success of your metaverse firm will primarily depend on how effectively you can capitalise on its advantages. The availability of a shared, persistent, open environment is one of the metaverse’s key benefits for business.
Priya Patel-Chomel, Head of Product Marketing, Middle East, Turkey and Africa, Meta (formally Facebook), suggests thinking about it as the three Cs. “Co-presence, continuity and co-creation. Think about how you could take these principles forward. These are the three things to think about when you are thinking of creating and delving into the metaverse,” she said at Vibe Martech Fest in Dubai last week.
There is more to come. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said he wants to build a company called The Enterprise Metaverse. But more on that later…
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