Marketers Are Reassessing Their Impact in the Metaverse

The metaverse is in its infancy. It’s a new type of internet (or part of Web3, if you want to be more specific). And despite what Meta might want people to think, no one owns it or really regulates it either. For now, it’s a series of always-on, virtual destinations hosted on hundreds of platforms where people use avatars to work, play, interact and shop. They might want to build games on Roblox, attend a fashion show or buy nonfungible token (NFT) shoes in Decentraland. In the metaverse, brands need to put aside all their old social media strategies, where everything revolved around data.Morten Grubak, global executive creative director of innovation, Virtue As marketing has increasingly been tied to real business outcomes, CMOs have understandably become fixated on measurement. A recent study from The CMO Club shows 89% agree that the ability to extract value from a channel influences their decision to invest in it. What, then, does this mean for the metaverse? With Bloomberg Intelligence forecasting the metaverse will represent an $800 billion market by 2024, its very existence presents a challenge and an opportunity for marketers. Ever since Meta unveiled its own blueprint for a simulated digital world, brands have been spurred to dip a toe into the deeper pool. Nike, Papa John's, Coca-Cola and Lego are just some, and the list is growing daily. The long-term partnership between Lego and Epic Games will aim to "shape the future of the metaverse to make it safe and fun for children and families." But how they are measuring the ROI of campaigns launched into the virtual ether—and whether they should—is something marketing teams are still figuring out. Dropping the data mindset Morten Grubak, global executive creative director of innovation at Vice’s agency arm Virtue, has been conceptualizing digital experiences for brands such as Carling and Coca-Cola since 2018. For him, the metaverse is experimental. “Brands need to put aside their old social media strategies, where everything revolved around data,” Grubak said. That's because they're talking—and selling—to a host of digital avatars rather than a carefully segmented audience. “My advice is have fun with it," he continued. "Marketers always have KPIs and questions about their audience, but this is an opportunity to speak to people about what they find interesting." Basic approach Measurement in the current internet is still a test for marketers. Years on from P&G chief brand officer Marc Pritchard’s takedown of the “murky at best, fraudulent at worst” digital advertising ecosystem, questions remain about the effectiveness of almost every channel. Karen Boswell, VMLY&R’S chief experience officer for EMEA, believes once marketers have settled on a metaverse strategy, there are simple steps they can draw from Web2 to start measuring the impact of their spend in the next iteration. “They’re probably not going to be able to put a full attribution model in place from day one," Boswell said. "I would start with tracking complementary data points and touch points and connecting these new interactions to your customer journey.” Start with tracking complementary data points and touch points and connecting these new interactions to your customer journey.Karen Boswell, chief experience officer, VMLY&R She suggested building a funnel analysis to visualize how an audience moves through the experience and the sequence of events for them to take the desired action. Brands should then measure the steps in the funnel and where they lose their audience to improve the experience, she added. A shiny new toy? As ever, agencies are reconfiguring their offerings and launching metaverse-dedicated arms to help clients navigate the space. VaynerMedia, for example, established VaynerNFT in 2021 and is already working with companies like AB InBev, while VCCP launched a global gaming offering called VCCP+ to encourage clients take a more strategic approach to virtual worlds. "The metaverse is light-years away from having a meaningful impact on reality," Sashi Nair, head of strategy at VCCP+, said. He cautioned that this obsession to embrace a "shiny new toy" is sending marketers down a path where previously held measurement standards for all aspects of communications are disregarded. It’s impossible to determine success because no one can put a finger on what the metaverse’s meaningful role in the real world is.Sashi Nair, head of strategy, VCCP+ He instead pointed them toward the existing, measurable and "undervalued" world of gaming as an entry point into what will become the metaverse. VMLY&R's Boswell added that marketers must remember the metaverse isn't built for them—it's built for people. "To thrive, brands must create safe, inclusive, human-led experiences," she said. "As with any investment in good experiences that answer a need, the return will follow."

Metaverse

Marketers Are Reassessing Their Impact in the Metaverse

CMOs have increasingly become fixated with measurement to determine if they want to experiment with the virtual world

Rebecca Stewart

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Rebecca Stewart