Since Mark Zuckerberg changed Facebook’s name to Meta, various parties have been busy talking about a new ecosystem: Metaverse.
But, is the Metaverse really an ecosystem? For now, it seems that there is no definition that can actually describe what Metaverse is. One thing is clear, the technology in it could be the future for mankind.
Metaverse may not be a new thing for some people, but for the average Indonesian – it is still a big question mark. Especially for marketers, brands, and others who want to follow this trend. What can they do?
Then, what is Metaverse?
Reporting from kompas.com – Zuckerberg as CEO of Meta, stated that Metaverse is a program which there will be a fusion of boundaries between the physical and digital world.
Metaverse is a new virtual ecosystem.
As mentioned above, the absolute definition to describe the Metaverse does not seem to be able to be revealed – however, the things that can use this technology are actually not much different from human activities as usual.
Metaverse is often used to represent a new virtual world in playing games, working, and even communicating with each other in one environment. All of this is made possible by the presence of one of the technologies that have been present before such as Virtual Reality (VR).
Although so far VR has only been used like playing games or videos – the various technologies in Metaverse allow VR to become one of the fundamental tools to enter the world of 3D simulation.
Based on technology that continues to develop, it is possible that many things will happen in this Metaverse – including brands that want to go further in this virtual and digital world.
Unti now, many brands have tapped into this trend and technology. They plunge into the world of Metaverse with NFT. NFT or Non-Fungible Tokens is one of the breakthroughs of cryptocurrencies and Metaverse technology.
Many brands end up participating in making NFT collections – apart from being able to earn from the circulation of sales and purchases of these collections, the brand’s steps into NFT can be seen as their strategy to attract more target audiences.
But, is it that easy to profit from NFT and Metaverse?
Notes for Brands
Remember our previous article about cryptocurrencies which stated that young people or Gen Z – who are already very close to the internet, are not just FOMO to try, buy, even own these digital assets.
They do their research, they read a lot, and they are quite careful about their next steps. This can be interpreted that they can also analyze which ones can make them profitable and which ones can make the unlucky.
This is also related to the part of their close relationship with the internet. The daily lives of young people or Gen Z are definitely filled with things related to the internet. All the devices they have must be able to connect to the internet.
Apart from all of these things, the note that can be underlined is that young people or Gen Z have a great curiosity for this digital realm.
So, what can Brands Do?
There are so many thing brands can do – for different purposes. Instead of meeting KPIs or predetermined targets, year-end and welcoming the new year – brands can do in-depth research for their target audience regarding their interest in Metaverse, cryptocurrencies, and NFT.
The results of this research can later become the basis for how brands should play a role. One of the roles that can be recommended for brands is mentor. Even though young people and Gen Z as the brands’ target audience are very close to the internet – they need a help to understand all the digital things.
So that brands can become mentors, brands can become translators form them to more easily understand all these digital things.
Then, can brands have their own collections at NFT and others? Why not? This does not rule out the possibility that next year the brand could have a collection of digital assets in the NFT or Metaverse ecosystem.
However, it is not just done that way because brands need research for that.
It is quite important that brands need to remember the spirit as the fundamentals of this movement. The spirit of helping each other in this new digital world can be underlined by brands. Given that educative communication can be a strategic step for brands to get closer to their target audience.