The metaverse, the great hope to transform marketing, yet to define its model

In 2021, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook would change its name to Meta and presented his own particular vision for the metaverse. Since then, there has been constant speculation in the marketing world about the impact of this new tech on consumers, brands and the relationship between them. Now, a double study led by Dr Méndez Aparicio, Dr Izquierdo Yusta and Dr Jiménez Zarco, researchers from the i2TIC group at the UOC's Faculty of Economics and Business, has taken a holistic look at this phenomenon. According to the findings, despite the great potential of this new platform, the metaverse has not yet reached a sufficient level of maturity to define what its model will be and how brands will adapt to it. What does seem clear, however, is that it will be a lasting and transformative reality.

The metaverse has been conceptualized as an alternative vision of life where users – through their avatar, virtual reality and gamification – discover new needs in a parallel virtual world modelled according to their own criteria. At present, however, neither the technology required to access it has been democratized nor is there a large volume of content and activities available in this virtual space.

"There are currently many metaverses that are not connected to each other. Each company is doing something different, they are not connected, and no one knows which model will prevail. It's a concept that has yet to be built," explained Jiménez Zarco, who is also a professor at the UOC. Therefore, from a commercial point of view, "it's not at all easy to integrate current marketing practices, which combine face-to-face experiences with digital ones, and this will be the big challenge for companies".

Nevertheless, the metaverse is here to stay. Dr Mendez Aparicio said: "People love to play and the metaverse brings back the flow experience of the early websites from the challenge of technology. The ability of messages to penetrate through gamification represents an excellent advertising opportunity for brands, as well as a new channel, in a growing sector such as video games, which is forecast to reach a turnover of $401 billion by 2027."

The UOC researchers give an overview of the level of maturity and future prospects of the metaverse in two separate papers: one in the UOC's journal Oikonomics and one in the University of Navarra's Revista Empresa y Humanismo. Méndez Aparicio and Jiménez Zarco explained that although some companies are already using the metaverse to simulate proofs of concept and stress tests for products (such as BMW), or to improve safety in extreme environments (Iberdrola) or in the field of health (the new surgeons of the metaverse), it is still a stretch to think of the metaverse as a meeting point between companies and consumers. "There is a new versatility to the metaverse that changes the rules of the game. It's a fluid reality. There, I can be whoever I want to be, and I can change, and that creates a discontinuity that is hard for companies to manage," they said.

According to the papers, the new metaverse represents a world of speculation in which realities for interacting, shopping and working can be invented, constructed or reproduced. "This requires companies to undergo a significant transformation and to meet the needs of customers who are 100% digital and who may require new currencies and payment methods that have yet to become standard and legislated," they explained.

Given that today's marketing is very different from that of a few years ago, and that it is based on the relationship between the brand and the user in a holistic sense, we will have to wait and see what kind of interactions arise in this environment in order to avoid problems or distortions, and whether it is a suitable channel for information, interaction and even sales.

According to the research, in addition to virtual production and payment, and changes in advertising strategy, some of the big unknowns that have yet to be resolved are the validity of traditional metrics and KPIs, whether it is considered owned or earned media, the concept of sponsorship and various ethical issues.

Lack of data and research

Given the novelty of the phenomenon and its transformative potential, the new metaverse will require input from research. According to Jiménez Zarco, this is difficult at the moment because the advances and incursions of companies in this field are still at an early stage and there is no data on social behaviour or consumption in the metaverse. Therefore, future research into this new way of conceiving reality will have to involve areas of knowledge as diverse as law and political science, the arts and humanities, economics and business, health sciences, digital literacy, urbanism, computer science, multimedia and communication, and education, among others.

This research, in which the UOC is involved, supports the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 9, industry, innovation and infrastructure.

Reference papers:

Mendez-Aparicio, M.D.; Jiménez-Zarco, A.I.; Izquierdo-Yusta, A. (2023): "Metaverse, a Holistic Vision of the New Virtual Reality". Revista Empresa y Humanismo, 26(2), 99-130

Mendez-Aparicio, M.D.; Jiménez-Zarco, A.I.; Izquierdo-Yusta, A. (2023): "Innovació en Màrqueting. Metavers, una anàlisi 360". Oikonomics, 20.

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