What Leading Brands are Doing in the Metaverse (10 Examples)
Where are you spending your time these days? You may not realize it but you may be spending a lot of your time in the metaverse. What is the often talked about but hardly understood metaverse? While there is a lot of confusion over what the metaverse is and isn’t, here’s a simplified definition: “a metaverse is a virtual world where people can game, work, shop and communicate.” Within the metaverse there is a marketplace for virtual goods ranging from skins used to dress avatars to unique nonfungible tokens also known as NFTs.
That may not sound too exciting so here’s the real reason why people are excited about the metaverse. In the third quarter of 2021, more than 11 billion hours were spent by people on Roblox, an online gaming platform. More than 50% of Roblox players are under the age of 13 and the fastest growing demographics on the platform are people between the ages of 13–17 and 17–24. If you are a marketer you are salivating by now. In case you are wondering, Roblox has a market valuation of nearly $40 billion.
Where eyeballs go, brands follow searching for ways to boost revenues. If you are curious about what your favourite brands are doing in the metaverse or if you want to get into the action yourself then consider the moves these top brands are making.
1. Nike is one of the retailers leading the way in trying to monetize consumers spending time in the metaverse. The footwear and clothing giant made its first foray into gaming in 2019 when in a collaboration with Fortnite, Fortnite players wore Jordan branded sneakers. Then in November it launched Nikeland on Roblox.
Nikeland is a 3D virtual world modelled after Nike’s employee headquarters in Oregon. Gamers entering Nikeland can play games with their friends such as tag, the floor is lava, and dodgeball. Players are given rewards such as blue ribbons and gold medals for competing in games in NIkeland. Gold medals can be used to acquire virtual clothing for each player’s avatar. There is also a Nike showroom in Nikeland where players can dress their avatars in Nike merchandise including Air Force 1 and Air Max sneakers. Nikeland has had more than six million visitors since it launched in November.
Nike has also filed trademarks to sell branded merchandise in online virtual worlds. "Brands have an incentive to be there [in the metaverse] because that's where people are," said Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities.
2. Gucci. Last year Gucci unveiled a virtual garden on Roblox. Visitors entering the garden walked though rooms with different themes, including one called “urban romanticism” and another called “Tokyo tribe.” During the two-week pop-up on Roblox users could purchase virtual Gucci merchandise to outfit their avatars.
The Gucci merchandise was only available during certain windows of time creating a frenzy that drove prices up. For example, a digital replica of Gucci’s Dionysus bag which was available in the garden in Roblox for a limited time ended up selling for more than $4,000. That’s more than what the bag costs in real life. The digital version of the Dionysus bag originally cost less than $6 on Roblox demonstrating that the scarcity principle (think limited quantities of Yeezy sneakers that drive up prices) translates quite well to the digital world.
That isn’t Gucci’s only venture in the metaverse the brand also auctioned off its first NFT last year, a video, a for $25,000. The four-minute short film was inspired by Gucci’s Aria collection. The film was directed by Alessandro Michele, Gucci’s creative director and award-winning photographer and director Floria Sigismondi. All proceeds from the sale were donated to UNICEF. Gucci also released its first virtual sneaker at a cost of $12 last year called The Gucci Virtual 25 which can be worn on Roblox and VRChat.
With the increasing potential for commerce within the metaverse, Gucci has hired a team to work on digital products. “The idea that everything has to be physical is very quickly being disproven. We had 19 million visitors to the Gucci Garden within the Roblox metaverse,” said Robert Triefus, Gucci’s executive vice president for brand and customer engagement. “It might be about branding, or a revenue share, or a combination of the two. I won’t tell you how we structured our different deals [but] what I can tell you is that we have proven to ourselves through these collaborations that the virtual world can create a very significant new revenue stream.” Triefus added that “Roblox has a remarkable market capitalisation… and they’ve only been around for a very short while. This demonstrates that they have become very successful at understanding how to monetise virtual experiences. We know that people are willing to pay good money for NFTs, for digital collectibles, and to have a second life in the metaverse. So the revenue potential is absolutely there,” said Triefus.
3. Gillette’s Venus brand, the largest female hair removal brand in the United States, launched a campaign last year in partnership with popular video game Animal Crossing. The campaign called, My Skin. My Way allowed Animal Crossing players to add different skin types to their avatars. Some of the 19 skin types available include freckles, cellulite, acne, scars, stretch marks and vitiligo. Overall 264 different skin tone and type combinations are available.
“Even though gaming is an escape, you want to be able to represent yourself as accurately as you want. It’s about connecting with her on a virtual means,” said Anthony Van Dijk, senior brand director for Venus. “This is a brand that started off in 2001 with a very heavy TV and print presence,” he said. “The media landscape has changed immensely since then, and our consumer is obviously now on social and gaming, and does a lot of shopping online. That’s also where we have shifted our investments.” The My Skin. My Way campaign generated nearly 1 billion impressions.
4. Balenciaga. Last year Balenciaga launched a campaign where it designed four high fashion skins and made them available to Fortnite players. The skins were modelled off of previous Balenciaga collections. In addition to the skins Balenciaga and Fortnite released a limited run clothing collaboration that could be purchased in select Balenciaga stores and online. “Fashion has a long history in the Fortnite community, where players have the agency to show up however they want in our world,” said Adam Sussman, Epic Game’s president (Epic Games owns Fortnite). “Self-expression is one of the things that makes Fortnite so unique, and there couldn’t be a better first fashion partner than Balenciaga to bring their authentic designs and trendsetting culture to millions of players around the world.” The market for digital skins within video games was estimated to be worth $40 billion last year alone leaving many brands trying to figure out how the can get a piece of this growing revenue stream.
Speaking about the partnership with Fortnite, Demna Gvasalia, Balenciaga’s artistic director said: “our partnership with Epic didn’t start with Fortnite, actually.” “It started with our own first video game, Afterworld, which we built using Unreal Engine to debut our Fall 2021 collection. From there, we have continued to be inspired by the creativity of [the] Unreal and Fortnite communities. It made total sense, to me, that we collaborate further by creating these authentic Balenciaga looks for Fortnite and a new physical Fortnite clothing series for our stores.” Balenciaga is also planning to create a team focused on marketing and commerce opportunities in the metaverse.
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5. Adidas. Last year Adidas made its first foray into the metaverse when it released 30,000 “Into the Metaverse” NFTs. Each NFT cost about $800 and Adidas made $22 million within the span of a few hours from the sale of the NFTs. The NFTs include wearables for blockchain based game The Sandbox and other platforms.
The NFTs aren’t just about a digital experience they can be exchanged for exclusive physical merchandise. “Throughout 2022, there will be product redemption windows. During these time periods, go to the website, connect your crypto wallet and verify that you still own the NFT and place an order for the physical product, at no additional cost,” says Adidas on its website.
6. Chipotle is the first restaurant brand to launch a virtual space, a restaurant, on Roblox. For a Halloween promotion called Boorito that took place last year, the first 30,000 players who visited the cashier in Chipotle’s virtual restaurant wearing Chipotle’s digital swag were given a code which they could use to get a free burrito IRL.
Chipotle made $1 million worth of free burritos available for the promotion. If a player was not within the first 30,000 visitors they could get a code to get a $5 burrito, bowl, salad, or taco entrée. "As a digital innovator, we are always experimenting on new platforms to meet our guests where they are," said Chris Brandt, chief marketing officer at Chipotle. "Roblox's popularity has boomed over the past year, and we know our fans will be excited to celebrate the next evolution of Boorito in the metaverse."
7. Louis Vuitton. In 2019 Louis Vuitton entered into a partnership with Riot Games to design a capsule clothing collection for the both the real and virtual worlds. The collection included prestige skins for Riot Game’s League of Legends World Championship Finals. Which could be purchased for around $10.
Then Louis Vuitton released a League of Legends World Championship clothing collection for the real world with merchandise spanning a $170 bandeau top to a $5,600 leather jacket. At the time the collaboration was called the "first-ever collaboration between a global eSport [company] and a luxury fashion house."
Speaking about the mashup between the fashion and gaming worlds Liam Osbourne, a global client partner at FLUX said “fashion has always been used as a building block of identity, so what you wear says something about you, as a person in the real world.” “As we’re seeing things get more advanced digitally, it’s only natural that your avatar or virtual version of you gets given the same level of importance and attention.” “With virtual worlds being richer, you are allowed to experiment and play with makeup or clothes in a way that you couldn’t do — or afford to do — in the real world,” said Osbourne.
8. Vans also has a virtual world on Roblox called Vans World. It has 3D virtual skateparks where players can practice their skateboarding tricks and participate in competitions. This is Vans’ first venture into the metaverse. The virtual skateparks are modelled after popular skateparks around the world. Gamers in Vans World can design their own sneakers and then buy the same pair in the real world. Vans World has had over 50 million visitors and people playing in Vans World have clocked more than six million hours.
9. Coca-Cola launched its first ever NFT collection last year to celebrate International Friendship Day. The NFTs included a friendship box which contained three additional one of a kind NFTs including a bubble jacket that is "wearable" in the VR platform Decentraland, a friendship card that features refreshed artwork from 1948, a sound visualizer illustrating the recognizable sonics of enjoying a Coca-Cola and a vintage coca-cola cooler.
"We are excited to share our first NFTs with the metaverse, where new friendships are being forged in new ways in new worlds, and to support our longstanding friend and partner, Special Olympics International. Each NFT was created to celebrate elements that are core to the Coca-Cola brand, reinterpreted for a virtual world in new and exciting ways." said Selman Careaga, president of the global Coca-Cola category. The proceeds from the sale of the NFTs went to the Special Olympics International. The NFTs generated $575 million in an online auction that took place over a 72 hour period. The winning bidder also received a fully stocked Coca-Cola refrigerator for enjoyment in real life.
10. Zara. Last year Zara made its entry into the metaverse with a streetwear collaboration with South Korean fashion brand Ader Error called The AZ Collection. The collection is featured on Zepeto, a South Korean social media app where users can purchase digital clothing and makeup for their avatars. Zepeto also is also home to other fashion brands including Ralph Lauren, and Nike The streetwear collection can also be purchased online and in select stores around the world.