Featured Story To Metaverse or Not to Metaverse? Consumer Attitudes and Business Opportunities The metaverse is a virtual universe where users can interact with a computer-generated world. The concept is not new, but recent developments have made it a hot topic. The metaverse is predicted to change the way people interact, communicate, shop, and work. According to industry watchers, by 2026, at least 25% of people worldwide will spend a minimum of one hour a day in the metaverse for digital
activities.
While businesses are already exploring the metaverse as a marketing tool, many consumers are still unclear about what it is and how it works. According to a survey, 47% of US consumers can define the metaverse relatively
accurately. The survey also showed that 49% of US adults are not interested in experiencing the metaverse, slightly more than those who said they would be interested. For businesses, the metaverse is a new opportunity to engage with consumers, but it is not without its challenges. The development of the metaverse is a long-term investment, and early adopters are likely to reap the benefits.
Businesses need to navigate three main obstacles to engage with VR and the metaverse: understanding who is engaged with VR now, the impact of the metaverse brand, and the importance of hardware in driving further adoption. Brands are actively engaging in the metaverse for product sales and overall workplace efficiency, but the metaverse as a business tool is still far from being on solid
ground. Many advertisers had to hustle to find new ways to connect with audiences in 2022. For 2023, some industry experts predict that the metaverse will not be scalable, pushing brands back to real-life experiences. Brands need to know that the metaverse is not a quick-gain opportunity. The metaverse is expected to drastically change the 9-to-5 routine in workplaces. The new technology
will alter how teams communicate in a post-pandemic world in a major way. Creating a virtual space for employees in both the office and remote locations to interact is just the surface level. With time, the metaverse can change how employees conduct business, undergo training, and communicate with others, both internally and externally. Brands are still figuring out the best ways to market
within the metaverse, but some opportunities are taking shape. Johan Liljeros, general manager and senior commerce advisor for Avensia, an omnichannel commerce strategy services company, sees brands growing their consumer goods sales within the metaverse. Opportunities include selling digital representations of products like fashion and makeup, buying advertising space in games, or AR environments where you can now purchase airspace for your ad or coupon. The metaverse is not without its skeptics. Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook’s vision of the metaverse in October 2021. Its development is still years away from that vision. Recent moves from Meta have increased the narrative that the metaverse is doomed, given Meta’s losses in the stock market and the company’s significant layoffs. However, brands need to recognize that the metaverse is a major digital transition, much like
the internet. A recent survey by Morning Consult revealed that 49% of U.S. adults are not interested in experiencing the metaverse. However, this technology is still in its early stages, and it would be a mistake to dismiss its potential. The metaverse presents three primary challenges - identifying the core audience, branding and lack of a transformative product. To overcome these, brands
must focus on the utility of their products or services in virtual reality and not just how their brand looks in the metaverse. The first challenge is to identify the core audience. New technologies typically excite early adopters, who are more forgiving of early bugs and limitations. The population can be segmented into three groups - the base, the reach and the swing. The base -
individuals who are already sold on the idea of virtual reality - accounts for 21% of the consumer market. They are primarily young, male, and own a Meta Quest 2. The reach, accounting for 28%, is not interested in virtual reality. The swing audience - 36% of the consumer market - is where the opportunity for brands lies, with 74% seeing promise in virtual reality. The second challenge is
branding. Consumers are more excited about virtual reality than the metaverse. Even among the base audience, only 63% were interested in the metaverse compared to 100% in virtual reality. Therefore, brands should talk about their virtual reality offerings in terms of a virtual reality experience, avoiding reference to the metaverse or a platform. The final challenge is a lack of a
transformative product. The current headsets will be replaced by those reflecting the most recent advances in hardware, and the VR market that is most engaged is still growing up. Brands must authentically solve problems for consumers in this space and avoid simply jumping on the bandwagon. Despite consumer skepticism, 57% of U.S. consumers are interested in or can be convinced to take an
interest in VR, with adoption most prevalent among younger generations. If that prediction materializes, organizations will need to grasp the mechanisms of the metaverse and how to market to consumers within it. Brands need to understand and navigate the challenges of the metaverse to engage with consumers. Much like in the Dot Com era, companies that don’t know how to market with this new tech will be perceived as laggards. The metaverse is a fascinating concept that promises to revolutionize the way we work, communicate, shop, and interact with the world around us. Despite the excitement among businesses and some consumers, there are significant challenges to the adoption of this technology. As The Daily Beast has noted, businesses must navigate the obstacles of identifying the core audience, branding, and the lack of a transformative product to engage with the metaverse
successfully. Moreover, while some experts predict the metaverse's scalability may be an issue, brands must recognize the metaverse's potential and invest in its long-term potential. Businesses are still figuring out how best to market within the metaverse. According to industry experts, the best opportunities lie in selling digital representations of products, buying advertising space in games, or AR environments. However, brands must recognize that the
metaverse is not a quick-gain opportunity. Instead, it requires a long-term investment in the development of hardware and software that can meet the needs of consumers. Those who focus on the utility of their products or services in virtual reality and not just how their brand looks in the metaverse are likely to succeed. |
All the news you need today, in a format that isn't TL:DR, summarized for the busy executive.
Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is introducing an updated version of its "Why am I seeing this ad?" feature globally to increase transparency in advertising. The update will provide users with a better understanding of how the company's machine learning algorithm works, including
how user activity on and off the platform influences ad targeting. Users will also be able to view their competitors' targeting preferences through the "Advertiser choices" option, while potential customers can select Ads Preferences to view the reason for seeing an ad. The improved feature could be useful for businesses to gain insight into their competitors' strategies, but it may also make ads vulnerable to snooping and increase the likelihood of users opting out of unfavorable
ads. Google's Universal Analytics (UA) will stop processing user data on July 1, so users will need to migrate to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to avoid a period of time without any data at all. While the transition process may be stressful, users can make use of Google's Setup Assistant to identify their KPIs and goals and set them
up as "conversion events" within GA4. It is recommended to start the migration before UA sunsets to allow for more wiggle room for changes, and to install Google Tag Manager (GTM) to smooth the transition from event triggers in UA to reported events in GA4. Users should be careful to identify crucial KPIs and find a way to record them within GA4, as it may be difficult to set up new events or conversions and compare them to previous UA set up once UA is gone. Additionally, as GA4 is still going
through revisions and updates, users should keep track of everything. Elon Musk asked for help in solving an engagement problem across Twitter, as a tweet of his supporting the Eagles during the Super Bowl received fewer impressions than a tweet by President Biden supporting the same team. The Twitter CEO later flew his private jet back
to the company's headquarters and demanded answers. A system was subsequently created to ensure that Musk received previously unheard-of promotion of his tweets, with engineers creating code to automatically "greenlight" Musk's tweets and artificially boost them by a factor of 1,000, enabling them to bypass filters. Coca-Cola is working to
integrate its sports drink acquisition, BodyArmor, with its Powerade brand. The company is trying to improve the synergy between the two brands following some hiccups in 2022. The sports drinks segment of Coca-Cola grew 1% over the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to the same period the previous year. The company's stock has been flat, and Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey has acknowledged the need to do better with the double act of Powerade and BodyArmor. The two brands have been brought
under the same umbrella, and each is planning a significant marketing push. Despite the disruption, the company reported an operating income of $2.1 billion, an increase of 24% compared to the same period last year, and overall revenue of $10.1 billion in the quarter, up 7% year-over-year. During challenging economic times, it's common for
businesses to adopt a conservative approach to marketing efforts. However, research has consistently shown that reducing marketing budgets during a downturn can be a costly mistake for current and future revenue. Companies that invest in marketing during challenging times can gain a competitive advantage. For example, Etsy more than doubled its marketing spend in 2020, leading to a 111% increase in full-year revenue compared to 2019. Similarly, Kellogg's became the dry cereal category
leader during the Great Depression by doubling down on ad spending, and Toyota became the top auto importer during the mid-1970s recession by investing in marketing. Other companies such as Amazon, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut have also thrived by continuing to invest in marketing during downturns, while their competitors cut back. Shopify has
released over a hundred updates to its Shop App, designed to make the mobile shopping experience smoother and more streamlined. The new features include Shop Minis, which allows developers to extend the Shopify app functionality to the Shop App, Shop Store customizations for branding, Shop Cash campaigns for targeting high-value customers, and Sign in with Shop to identify these customers earlier in the buying process. Shopify has also introduced a one-page checkout and a drag-and-drop
Checkout Editor to build an entire checkout experience without the need for coding. These improvements are aimed at boosting sales and reducing abandoned carts on smart devices for Shopify merchants and developers. Republican Federal Trade Commissioner Christine Wilson has announced her resignation from the US antitrust regulator. In a
Wall Street Journal op-ed, Wilson criticized Chair Lina Khan's "disregard for the rule of law and due process" and stated that Khan should have recused herself from the FTC's lawsuit against Meta over its acquisition of virtual reality developer Within. Wilson also expressed concern over declining morale at the agency. With Wilson's departure, the FTC will have two empty commissioner seats that are required by law to be held by Republicans, in addition to three seats held by Democrats. However,
given the current Democratic majority on the FTC, Wilson's resignation is unlikely to have an immediate impact on enforcement actions. Vice Media has borrowed an additional $30 million from Fortress Investment Group as it continues to search for a buyer for some or all of its assets. Fortress was among the companies that lent Vice $250
million in 2019 and is one of the digital media company's key creditors. The investment firm extended the maturity on an existing loan to Vice that was due at the end of last year. Vice Media's CEO Nancy Dubuc last month informed employees that the firm had relaunched a sale process in an effort to find a buyer. In 2019, the company was in talks to sell to Greek broadcaster Antenna, but the discussions collapsed due to disagreements over the price. Instacart is reportedly developing a version of its site called "Instacart Business" specifically designed for small businesses, in a bid to increase its revenue ahead of its potential public listing. The new platform will display a curated selection of items, such as cleaning products, office supplies, and snacks. The move comes as the company has been keeping its IPO paperwork
up-to-date and is expected to go public once market conditions improve. The new platform will also represent a challenge to Amazon and Walmart, as Instacart seeks to expand its market beyond home grocery deliveries. Although the NFL is known for aggressive policing of its trademarks or “overzealous trademark bullying," you can still say "Super
Bowl" in some instances, even if you are a business. "Put simply, Pop's Pizza Pub in Petoskey can't claim it's the official pepperoni purveyor of the Super Bowl," per the Detroit Free Press. "But if it wants to run an ad saying Pop's pepperoni pizzas are a perfect pregame pickup for a Super Bowl party, that's entirely in bounds." |
You're looking for an edge in your online marketing. Interest: ADOTAT.com is the answer. Our library of resources has been compiled by some
of the world's top internet marketing experts, and it's constantly updated with new information, case studies, and strategies. We want to help you succeed online - that's why we offer this information for free. It's our way of giving back to the community and helping people achieve their business goals.
Sign up now and gain access to our entire library of resources!
Want to advertise? Contact pesach@lattin.us |
|
|
Yahoo is planning to lay off more than 20% of its workforce, with over 50% of its ad tech employees losing their jobs, over 1600 people, as part of its restructuring of the ad tech unit. The cuts will mark the end of Yahoo's attempt to compete with Google and Meta for digital advertising
dominance. READ MORE
The year 2022 and 2023 will be remembered as a time of interesting and controversial decisions in the entertainment industry. With the recent merger between Warner Bros and Discovery, there have been numerous changes and headline-making moves that have left many in the industry scratching their
heads. One such decision was the initial plan to merge the streaming services of HBO Max and Discovery+. Instead, Discovery+ will remain a separate streamer, as the company fears that many subscribers would not be willing to pay the increased fee for the new mega channel. READ MORE NOW
Fixed URL! Sorry about that Inside the Advertising Sectors Abusive Hiring Process. Stories of job interviews gone wrong are not uncommon. Candidates often find themselves subjected to rude and hostile behavior from potential employers, leaving them feeling trapped and obligated to stick it out until the end. But why do job seekers put up with such treatment during what should be a two-way assessment? READ MORE OF THIS STORY
GumGum, a leading global digital advertising platform, has announced a new accreditation from the Media Rating Council
(MRC) for its contextual intelligence platform, Verity™. The MRC has granted Verity™ a new accreditation for the measurement of English-language content-level classification and URL reporting through the Verity™ API for Connected TV (CTV). This new accreditation adds to GumGum’s existing MRC accreditations, which include classification and reporting for desktop and mobile web. “The addition of accredited content-level classification for CTV to GumGum’s existing MRC accreditations is a noteworthy achievement,” said George W. Ivie, the Executive Director and CEO of the MRC. “It speaks to GumGum’s commitments to both transparency and innovation, and we’re pleased that advertisers and others now have the benefit of an MRC-accredited solution to help them navigate this critical emerging space.” READ MORE
The world of video games and advertising has changed dramatically in recent years, with
big brands and marketers taking note of the massive success of popular games like Fortnite and using them to target specific audiences with their advertising. This is a big shift from the past, where video games were seen as just a form of entertainment for children and teenagers, and marketers were hesitant to invest in this type of advertising. But now, with more than 80% of gaming adults saying they would be interested in seeing a brand advertise within a game, the trend has shifted towards
in-game advertising. So, what is driving this trend towards in-game advertising and why are brands so interested in using video games to reach their target audience? To answer these questions, it’s important to understand what makes video games so appealing to consumers and how they can be used to reach them. READ MORE OF THIS STORY |
|