The Metaverse and Influencer Marketing
A TRILLION DOLLAR INDUSTRY
We’re seeing elements of the Metaverse being successfully adopted by businesses in the fashion industry. Moving beyond the obvious brand and retail adoption the influencer market also can leverage this multi-billion dollar opportunity. According to McKinsey & Company, the Metaverse has the potential to generate up to $5 trillion in value by 2030, an opportunity too big for companies to ignore.The question begs: how will influencers apply this to their business model?
Two aspects of influencer marketing can be expected to change: brand monetisation structures, and the use of virtual models. Current brand sponsorship deals include social media posts, PR packages, and social media takeovers. While these are all effective methods of establishing a presence, with an influencer’s following it does not stimulate engagement. Working in Metaverse, however, can allow for collaborations to be immersive, largely increasing marketing efficiency by tracking promotional efforts against actual participating followers.
New monetisation structures also stand to be more beneficial for collaborations. The Metaverse creates options for creators when it comes to advertisement deals. This is all possible because of social tokens which are crypto assets on the blockchain that, when distributed by a creator or community, allow holders exclusive rights. Social tokens are what puts the power back in the hands of creators. Instead of relying on ad revenue, creators actually create the demand themselves by monetising their own following.
CGI INFLUENCERS
Demand is tied to how popular a creator is and ultimately allows them to create content that appeases their audience instead of advertisers. Influencers will now have free rein on what brands or products get mileage on their platform. Ethically ambiguous brands will see the most effects with this change as they no longer will have the power over creators. Influencer marketing will transition from a free for all where those with enough money control the game to a creator regulated platform prioritizing their audiences interests.
The surge of virtual Influencers is also a growing trend of the Metaverse. Virtual influencers are computer generated avatars that, just like humans, have their own personalities and values. Virtual influencers like Lil Miquela, a digital avatar with 3 million Instagram followers, took over the world by storm in 2016. With many following these types of virtual avatars religiously, the market for these virtual influencers is projected to take over in the next decade.
lil miquela x ugg ad
FASHIONS BRANDS IN THE METAVERSE
Fashion brands like Calvin Klein and Balmain have collaborated with existing digital influencers with fashions even launching their own virtual representatives. Prada recently relaunched their own digital ambassador, Candy for their new fragrance collection. Candy appears in a multitude of advertising formats including a print campaign, a series of short films, and on social platforms such as Twitch, Snapchat, and Tiktok. In these advertisements, Candy is seen interacting with a real life fragrance bottle mixing both reality and virtual reality.
Digital influencers are enticing to brands for a variety of reasons. With existing independent avatars, brands have a high degree of control over how their model appears. By developing a virtual brand ambassador, a brand can completely craft a digital presence that reflects its essence, values, and target audience. An example of an avatar created to embody the brand’s identity is Daisy, created by Yoox. This avatar was created to share the brand’s values of sustainability and social issues helping establish the brand’s ethos.
Assimilating the metaverse into influencer marketing strategies have proven to be an effective way of gaining a competitive edge in an industry that is ever so evolving. Nevill Spencer the founder of The Virtual Influencer Agency says, “Brands need to look at the metaverse like a future CRM where they can have a full-on, engaged emotional relationship with their audiences”.
candy, prada’s cgi influencer
As marketing strategies within the fashion industry begin to work closely with virtual intelligence, fashion brands are also looking for ways to evolve their B2B markets to be more Web3 friendly. Currently, the ORDRE Group is offering these brands a solution to advance themselves on Web3 through ORDRE Meta. This virtually immersive platform creates unique individualized virtual showroom experiences for luxury brands looking to expand on a global scale. With the ever-changing landscape in the physical world due to flight delays, pandemics and fuel shortages, ORDRE Meta offers a digital solution to override such real life intermediaries. Learn more on how ORDRE Meta can create these unique virtual showroom experiences for your luxury goods brand here.
