• by Stacey Jones , August 17, 2022

The metaverse is on course to reshape our day-to-day life just as the internet has done since the 1990s. Beyond being simply a site where people can meet, interact and stay connected, it will be a new place to make money. In fact, JPMorgan sizes it as a $1 trillion annual opportunity for business and the economy.

Business leaders across the world are still wrestling with their understanding of the value that the metaverse will offer their organizations. Yet, 42% of executives believe it will be “breakthrough or transformational” for their organization, according to an Accenture study. Another C suite-level poll we fielded found that only 11% of executives consider themselves highly informed about the metaverse—but 93% believe it will have an important role to play in their organization’s growth.

I’ve thought a lot about how marketers and communicators will extend their current work to include this new virtual universe, but also help shape it and engage others to join this journey.

We can begin by thinking of the metaverse as a continuum of the physical world, not something separate and distinct. As we move between these worlds to connect with and advise stakeholders, we can help pioneer this fast-approaching shift.

Treat the metaverse as a strategic priority. Devote the time, invest in learning and training for yourself and your teams, and get the best thinking from your people and your agency partners.

Develop your narrative about your organization’s opportunities in the metaverse. How are you already talking about it? What are your competitors saying—and why are you different? 

Embrace the possibilities. Imagine what could happen when storytelling becomes an immersive experience. You could launch a product or service all around the world at once, take your company’s investors on a 3D tour of your new facility or acquisition, or hold a press event in a digital twin “building” that demonstrates a new product or way of working, eliminating the need to travel.

Right now, BMW is building digital twins of 31 factories that will bring together designers from across the globe to experiment with new factory designs and training simulations.

Look before you leap—but move ahead! The time is now to work through how this new continuum will not just fit, into but expand your overall business strategy. In one example, a company bought Oculus Quest 2 headsets and supplied them free of charge to employees to explore, meet, socialize and learn in its enterprise metaverse. The company also created digital twins of its offices, and virtual campuses to help onboard and welcome new team members.

These platforms are in their early days, but it’s clear that they will require us to produce and deliver more content than ever before, while simultaneously protecting your brand at every turn. Leaders need to make the critical leap from “wait and see” to the “here and now.” Now is the time to think big, start small and scale fast, put on a headset—and see where it takes you.