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Digital Media, Metaverse, Student Articles, Thought Starters

How the Metaverse will impact Digital Media

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A month ago, Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the change of the company’s name to Meta Platforms Inc. Shortly after we could already see the Meta logo when we open our Facebook and Instagram apps.  

The Facebook entry on the metaverse world brought immense attention to something that was already happening. This new world will transform the way we connect in the upcoming years.  

Besides needing our usual gadgets, like smartphones, we will also have to resort to augmented reality glasses and virtual reality headsets. But regardless of any gadgets or technology, we may need to access this world, we will need content creators to create a whole new universe of content.  

The metaverse will be an extension of our physical lives, and it will bring new ways for us to consume content, communicate, shop, play, and interact with brands. It will also change the way we work, facilitating virtual meetings and business presentations.  

There are endless possibilities of what can be done here. For the tourism industry, for example, you’ll be able to travel without leaving your living room. Retail is already strong on the game and fashion brands are selling digital clothes and creating their own virtual universes.  

Gucci has collaborated with Roblox to sell a collection of digital-only accessories. It was called the “Gucci Garden Experience”. A virtual bag they started selling for U$6 reached the price of U$4.115 at some point.  

Nike is another brand that has created its virtual showroom on Roblox, called “Nikeland”. Users that enter “Nikeland” can try on sneakers and other apparel, all surrounded by colourful designs matching the brand’s visual identity.  

Other brands that had their debut on the metaverse are Balenciaga, Clinique, Dyson, and Vans. Obviously, all the other big players will follow, and content creators working in the metaverse will have to be ingeniously inventive in creating a world, campaign, and interaction that resonates with the brand’s DNA, while effectively engaging with the audience.  

Companies from all segments will be creating their worlds on metaverse platforms. This means potential for endless collaborations between platforms and brands, which translates into lots of business and money to be made.  

Video game companies had a head start, and some of them are metaverse pioneers. The Roblox platform is definitely one of the main metaverse players, with currently 42.1 million daily users. Fortnite has raised U$1 billion for their metaverse building plans.  

The prospects for this year bring us an estimate that approximately 85 million users will experience AR or VR at least once in 2021. “Metaverse” word search on Google has already reached 677 thousand results this year. On Twitter, the #metaverse is used more than 500 times per hour. By these numbers, we can already have an idea of what is coming. 

For the time being, metaverse platforms are free to use. This might be the perfect time to get in there and start familiarising yourself, learn about the tools and features of each one. In the near future, instead of writing blog posts, or Instagram reels, our job as creators will be to create whole universes full of details, immersive experiences, digital products, and who knows what else. 

Since the creation of cryptocurrencies, blockchain, and NFT’s, the virtual world is getting stronger and more competitive than our old real one. All these technologies will intertwine, creating endless possibilities for business, payment methods, and profits.  

At this very moment, you can even buy your little piece of virtual land. Earth 2 is currently selling virtual real estate that is going quick and every day more expensive. In about 10 years, all industries will be functioning on metaverse somehow, and now is the time to start thinking about how to achieve that. 

It does not matter if your industry is luxury, games, music, events, tech, or fashion, you will be in the metaverse soon. Avatars that can be 3D versions of yourself, or a completely different version, trying on virtual apparel, going to a concert with friends, playing and travelling. It will be online but it will feel real in your soul and wallet.  

Imagine all the possibilities, and that aligned with the times we are living in. The pandemic is not yet gone, and maybe we will be living in some sort of lockdown for many years to come. This will make the metaverse even more successful, and an ally for us craving connection and fun.  

Microsoft secured their place, and have big plans on the metaverse. They want to integrate AR and VR, using avatars in an office focused environment. Nvidia announced they will be creating avatars using facial tracking, speech recognition, and 3D animation. The project will be called the “Nvidia Omniverse Platform”.  

I believe it’s clear that the metaverse is here to stay, and it is undeniably our future. We must understand how this will impact the digital media industry, and be quick to be a part of this universe. There will be an infinite amount of content to be created, so I hope you get quickly acquainted with this whole new world.  

By Amelia De Oliveira Rodrigues

AdSpeaks, Career Advice, Creative Thinking, Marketing Insights, Student Articles, Thought Starters

What is this trickery called retargeting? Is it effective?

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Remember when you were in the market for a fresh pair of kicks or a new top to impress that not so special someone on your recently memorable for all the wrong reasons tinder date? You jumped onto ASOS and when overwhelmed with the choices thought “Fuck it I’ll look later.”. No? Well, facebook sure seems to think you did. Next thing you know your sitting in class, at work, on the train and you stumble your way online only to see banner ads from ASOS for the exact category you were perusing. Creepy. But hey no harm no foul you shrug it off right? And that weekend you’re out shopping with friends and low and behold find that perfect pair of shoes, tie, whatever, no need to keep looking but that’s not what Facebook thinks…next thing you know all you see for the next few weeks are ads for shoes over and over again to the point of irrational anger. Or is it rational?

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This is just one example of how technology is influencing advertisement and is more commonly known as ‘Adtech’. The example above highlights one of the most notorious forms of Adtech called retargeting where it roughly works like this; a website uses cookie-based technology that uses javascript code to follow those who visit the page around the rest of the web. This is done so anonymously and is done so in a way that the ad will only target those who have visited the said website. The purpose of this, of course, is so that even though Bob didn’t make it all the way to the ‘check out’, maybe he got distracted or something came up, brands and websites can subtly remind Bob about the new ultra shiny garden hose reel and other similar categorical items and hey, maybe Bob will complete the purchase at a later time and think fondly about that website.

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But is this ethical? Is Bob only buying that hose reel because he kept seeing images of it everywhere he went and now only bought it based on one initial passing thought, turned action off of subliminal advertising? More and more consumers are becoming irritated and fed up with the constant feed of adverts in their lives opting for web browser extensions that block all ads and it even caused big companies like Apple to start building these types of ad blockers into their own web browsers which have then been used as part of a selling point of their products. Innovations in technology have brought about a lot of new and amazing streams in which the advertising industry can play with but is the industry just being lazy?

The term ‘brand engagement’ is thrown around a lot these days where big brands want consumers to ‘engage’ with them but tactics like retargeting has had the exact opposite effect where consumers are actively trying to disengage with brands and ads so they can have a moment of peace from the bombardment of products and services shoved down their eyeballs. If you rely heavily on retargeting your potential consumers for your products and or services are you even offering anything of worth? Perhaps its time to think more creatively and do something that has consumers wanting to engage with your website and or brand.

By Lachlan Burdis (Bachelor of Advertising and Media student)

Featured Work

Catch Them All!

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As of April 1st 2014, April Fools Day, Google updated their Maps app with the possibility to catch Pokémon across the globe. The idea was simple, when consumers used the application Pokémon would appear around actual locations in the world. The mini-game is part of Google’s fictional recruiting search for the newly available position of Pokémon Master. The game finishes on the 2nd April. The update was merely a fun and quirky way to celebrate April Fools Day.

The challenge is to catch all 150 Pokémon available. Major locations such as Tokyo Japan and Sydney Australia have the top level Pokémon available; Pikachu and Charmander. As soon as I raided Sydney’s business district, I jumped straight to where I live…. Seems like I do live in a place where no Pokémon would travel to. It’s this interest and excitement that enabled users to be so into this simple piece of update. The idea that all different generations could explore the globe in search of Pokémon is both intellectually brilliant and fascinating.

The way the update worked was when you have spotted a Pokémon you would tap on it, then push “Catch it”, you would then be notified that you have captured the Pokémon and it will be stored in your Pokedex. You would be rewarded with small icons letting you know every 5 to 10 Pokémon caught.

One of the most astounding things about this April Fools celebration is that it made me and probably most users feel nostalgic. I am sure many of you after playing the game for a straight 4 hours would then run out of phone battery and start looking for your old 90’s game boy colour and scrounging around for those small plastic squares that released years of child hood memories. As I finish writing this I am jumping on EBay and looking for my very own.

Post by Andrew Crapis