• by Colin Kirkland , January 17, 2024

Brooklyn-based hair-care brand Amika is launching its first immersive virtual experience on the popular metaverse gaming platform Roblox alongside experiential e-commerce company Obsess.

“The Amikaverse” is intended to teach players about the brand as they craft and share their own digital hairdos and products and explore the virtual environment.

To translate Amika’s focus on inclusivity, sustainability, and high-quality ingredients, the brand says players will be instructed to choose a “Bestie” character in the form of a stylist, gardener or recycler to bring them through the virtual world, while instructing visitors to combine digital ingredients to explore various hair product benefits.

In addition, various mini games will appear throughout the experience to help visitors learn more about the brand.

In the Salon challenge, for example, characters will approach visitors with hair concerns that can be fixed with the correct Amika products, while the Recycling challenge asks users to collect recyclable materials and combine them into five different packaging options inspired by Amika’s patterned designs.

According to Roblox -- which attracts over 70 million people daily, almost half of them Gen Z -- hair brands have an opportunity to thrive on the platform. 

“Hair customization and curation is more popular than ever on Roblox, and our research shows that avatar hair is the second most important element for 67% of Gen Z consumers to customize on a daily or weekly basis,” says Justine Higueras, head of beauty, CPG and QSR at Roblox, in a statement.

“Roblox is a natural place for us to continue building our community,” said Shannon Otto, senior director of consumer engagement at Amika.

The Amikaverse will also feature branded wearable digital items available for purchase in the Roblox Marketplace. Coins that players win by completing challenges can be redeemed for digital items for their avatars. The first 10,000 visitors who complete the Salon challenge 10 times will receive a digital limited-edition Amika-patterned jacket, the company says.

Finally, Amika and Obsess will be partnering to create a matching web-based virtual store, which they say will be integrated into Amika’s e-commerce site sometime this year.