How to Grow Your Brand in the Metaverse

Marketing and advertising have changed dramatically over the years as digital technology has evolved. Gone are the days when brands were reliant on traditional forms of advertisement to break through the noise. Now with the rise of the metaverse, brands have the power to build virtual environments, using VR and augmented reality technologies to engage with their audiences. The metaverse is a complex digital landscape, which has been regarded by many tech experts as “the future of the internet”, as it promises a range of exciting opportunities for brands.

Empower your brand with a community

The metaverse is primarily a social experience. It’s a network of 3D worlds that offers an escape from the real world, but it’s also an effective way for brands to engage with their audience. In the metaverse, users can interact with others using a digital avatar. Therefore, the social experience of the metaverse enables brands to easily create a sense of community and long-lasting connections with customers, all the while promoting their products and services.

For example, Atari – which is one of the most iconic consumer brands – launched Sunnyvale in The Sandbox metaverse. It’s a virtual space that celebrates classic games, and players can participate in different quests and engage with others. Through the metaverse, Atari has been able to create a virtual community and help grow its brand awareness. The metaverse has the power to enable brands to expand their reach and target new markets, customers and create a socially driven communal experience. 

Prioritise brand consistency

The importance of brand consistency can’t be understated. With consistent branding and message across all channels, this signals to the customer that a business has a strong brand identity that is easily recognisable and memorable. The metaverse can serve as a creative and experimental space for businesses to position their brand identities, as well as evolve their offering.

Several brands have already moved into the metaverse and made efforts to evolve while staying true to their core identities. Nike, for example, launched Swoosh – which is a metaverse marketplace platform for athletes and Nike consumers. The platform allows users to collect virtual products, such as footwear and explore an engaging digital community.

In this way, Nike has been able to further develop its brand and promote its products to the same audience, showing a level of consistency. With the metaverse, brands can create environments that reflect the purpose and ethos of their identities and build even stronger relationships with their target consumers.

Game mechanics

Gamification is a highly effective marketing strategy. It’s a technique that focuses on applying games to business actions to increase engagement, and interest and to inject a sense of fun and competition into the experience. By creating an in-game experience, brands can position themselves as highly creative and drive further growth.

According to research, the gamification market is estimated to grow by 30% by 2024, so brands should seek to capitalise on this demand. In 2022, Walmart entered the metaverse with the launch of Walmart Land, which offers consumers a range of gaming and live events. This is an example of how brands can use gamification in the metaverse to evolve their digital presence and reach new customers.

Brand experience

Brand experience is a holistic and all-rounding relationship between the brand and the customer. It incorporates the conditions, services and user experience created by a company and how it makes the customer feel. The metaverse can help brands in any sector create an immersive and tailored experience for customers.

Having a brand presence in the metaverse allows for creative expression and builds experiences for the next generation of customers, which will be more tech-savvy and likely to spend more time in digital and virtual environments. Samsung launched a week-long virtual event for the launch of the Galaxy S22 to connect and engage their customers and provide an immersive, branded experience.

While the competition will remain fierce, brands can utilise a range of tactics in the metaverse to pave the way for growth. Metaverse platforms enable businesses to deliver unique experiences and unlock exciting opportunities. There’s now a high level of innovation in the digital world, which is only going to scale further in the future.