Metaverse and Marketing – Top or Flop?

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Making friends, shopping and earning money are all things that already happen online and that almost everyone is familiar with. In the metaverse, this is taken to a new level, moving interactions into virtual worlds.

Currently, metaverses are very broadly positioned and not always technically mature. Examples of this are Journee, Decentraland or Horizon Worlds. Gartner also estimates that by 2026, 25 percent of people will spend at least one hour a day in a metaverse.

Today I will clarify the following questions: What is this trend and how will these worlds specifically affect the marketing and communication of brands?

Horizon Worlds by Meta – restarting the discussion
Even though metaverses are not the exclusive preserve of the parent company Meta, it is currently a large part of the newly initiated debate. In December 2021, Meta will introduce the new platform Horizon kuwait consumer email list Worlds. Here, the company's focus is on bringing social interactions into its own universe using self-developed VR technology. However, every beginning is difficult and Meta has also had to contend with harsh criticism from within and outside in recent years. Employees criticize the change in focus from existing platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to Horizon Worlds and users complain about the poor graphical performance.

"It's truly puzzling that Meta spent over ten billion dollars on VR last year and the flagship's graphics still look worse than a 2008 Wii game."
Kevin Roose via Twitter

Kevin Roose on Meta, Source: Twitter

According to the Wall Street Journal, this criticism could also have an impact on Meta's goals. Instead of the planned 500,000 users in October 2022, Meta was only able to record 200,000 users on Horizon Worlds .

Nevertheless, the journey for Horizon Worlds continues. We are currently unable to test the platform in Germany and a release date is also unknown. But the European region has already been conquered with Spain, France, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Virtual offices to strengthen team culture
The opportunity to communicate via virtual worlds is not only offered by Horizon Worlds. If we look back at the last few years with Covid-19, it is clear that virtual spaces have received jobs, friendships and socially important offers during quarantine. Everyday working life has changed noticeably during this time.