As far as its biggest cheerleaders like Mark Zuckerberg are concerned, the metaverse is set to fundamentally change how we all live our lives. Instead of waking up in the morning and commuting to an office, or meeting a friend for coffee, we could soon be working, playing, and socialising entirely within virtual spaces and through engaging experiences of unprecedented proportions.
For brands, this new technological frontier presents new marketing opportunities, and the chance to promote products in a way that’s never before been possible. Changes are already taking place, and could begin making a widespread impact as soon as 2023.
One of the leading platforms driving this fundamental change in how businesses reach their customers is Horizon Worlds, a metaverse platform created by tech giant Meta. Before we look at three key ways that Horizon Worlds will transform product marketing, let’s explore what this metaverse actually is, and the opportunities that it presents for businesses.
Horizon Worlds and its business potential
So, what is Horizon Worlds? The sprawling digital landscape has been referred to by Meta as a VR social experience that shares many of the properties of games like Roblox and Second Life.
“Today I think we look at the internet, but I think in the future you’re going to be in the experiences,” said Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, and it’s clear that this prediction is coming true through Horizon Worlds.
Not only is Horizon Worlds a space for collaborating and socialising, there’s also a range of special events that occur within the worlds. The platform saw a concert by Post Malone, while Monkeypaw Productions created a creepy experience for users within Meta’s metaverse to coincide with the launch of Jordan Peele’s horror film NOPE.
Crucially, Horizon Worlds is built on player creation, meaning everything built within the platform is created solely within the app by players. This has opened the doors for creators to build all kinds of content and to collaborate with brands, generating huge marketing potential for businesses around the world.
While the metaverse has become an industry that some research firms are declaring to be worth over a trillion dollars, we can see that much of this value comes from business opportunities like advertising and social commerce. This shows that metaverses like Horizon Worlds will ultimately become much more than a platform for social interaction and collaboration – they’ll be a thriving ecosystem where brands can resonate with their audiences on an unprecedented scale.
Let’s take a deeper look at how this is already becoming a reality in Horizon Worlds, with three ways in which the platform can transform product marketing as soon as 2023.
1. In-world purchases
One of the biggest innovations beginning to sweep through Horizon Worlds is being able to sell virtual items and let users gain access to branded products and experiences inside the worlds.
Meta has highlighted these innovations as a new part of their ecommerce equation. The tech titan will monitor the situation as more services are rolled out to empower creators in the leveraging and selling of in-world products.
“From the very beginning, we’ve envisioned Horizon Worlds as a creator-friendly VR environment featuring top tier social world-building tools. And by developing those tools and listening to and incorporating feedback from creators, that’s just what it is,” said Meta in a statement, as reported by Social Media Today.
“But we’re always working to make it even better. For example, last month we launched our first asset library, a collection of pre-made items that creators can use any time they want. Plus, we’ve also committed $10 million USD to help creators get their worlds off the ground.”
Virtual marketplaces empower creators to build and sell items and effects in the worlds they create. The beauty of Horizon Worlds is that this premium content can relate to anything – from access to private sections within the world through the purchase of keys or tickets, as well as avatar jewellery or any other digital item.
Horizon Worlds’ asset library will be central to the evolution of the metaverse, and Meta is intent on helping brands to generate fully fledged 3D models of products and new items that could be relevant to the brand. This enhances the online shopping experience and also improves functionality within the virtual reality landscape.
The potential for product promotion in this space is enormous. Horizon Worlds’ vision of how brands can appeal to audiences in a virtual environment is a clear indicator of what the future holds.
2. New horizons for brand engagement
Horizon Worlds is already making it possible for brands to engage and interact with customers in a way that defies traditional forms of marketing. Through virtual reality and the vast worlds that Meta has built, brands can construct their own virtual space through the help of certified Horizon Worlds creators.
In April 2022, we saw this roll into action as renowned restaurant chain Wendy’s launched its own virtual space within Horizon Worlds.
The creation of the space, dubbed the Wendyverse, means that anyone with Meta headsets can access and experience a finely crafted virtual Wendy’s restaurant and explore this world. For those who wish to pay the 3D restaurant a visit, users can venture behind the counter, meet with friends, complete quests, and play games like hamburger basketball or burger shuffleboard all within the space.
"For years we’ve been meeting our fans in unexpected ways and places with our unique approach to social media, gaming and engagement," said Carl Loredo, CMO at The Wendy’s Company.
"We’re excited to take this to the next level by launching the Wendyverse in Meta’s Horizon Worlds and bringing a totally new dimension of access to our fans."
These fully 3D rendered worlds help brands to showcase their products in a new format. Users can interact with these renderings and try them out in VR before making a purchase decision. It’s even possible to introduce metaverse-exclusive promotions to accompany products purchased in the real world – items like avatar accessories, tickets for exclusive content and NFT collectibles can all be used.
3. Gamification and reimagined loyalty programmes
Gamification has been growing in popularity in the age of social media, but the metaverse promises to transform this into a fully immersive VR experience. Marketing and gaming will evolve to become a seamless fit in the age of the metaverse. From organic product placement to game-based experiences with a branded twist, the metaverse defines a whole new future for the term content marketing.
"Metaverse is essentially about creating games,” claimed Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s chairman and CEO. “You and I will be sitting on a conference room table soon with either our avatars or our holograms or even 2D surfaces with surround audio. Guess what? The place where we have been doing that forever . . . is gaming."
As marketers get creative in the metaverse, rewarding users through loyalty programs built on the NFT and blockchain frameworks will be ever-present.
Already we’ve seen brands like Balenciaga move to create its own video game as a platform to showcase a recently launched collection. Afterworld: The Age of Tomorrow was designed in collaboration with the studio that created Fortnite. It begins with players in a Balenciaga retail store seeing a list of challenges that need to be completed before avatars are rewarded with their own digital replicas of the latest season’s range.
This ability to build an immersive, interactive 3D experience to bolster product discovery empowers brands to expand their reach and connect with new audiences.
We’re not yet in the all-encompassing metaverse that Mark Zuckerberg has predicted, but we can already see a revolution in product marketing form within this engaging new landscape.
Some of 2022’s biggest success stories pave the way for greater adoption in 2023. As Horizon Worlds opens up its doors to new innovative gaming experiences and exclusive in-world purchasing, the sky's the limit for marketers hoping to jump on board.
