Marketing in the Multiverse
We are all living in parallel universes. People now exist across different realities - physical, digital and everything in between. Online personas, in-game avatars, filtered reality and our actual physical selves - several versions of us co-exist.
Consumers are now augmented by their technology - always on and hyper connected. People are increasingly interacting with the real world through filters, screens and headsets, and brands are having to compete across realities - not only in the physical world. Gen Z are the first generation for whom immersive content is native, they are hyper-connected hyper-informed consumers - blurring the line between their real world and digital presence.
The old rule book of one dimensional (physical) audience definition, therefore no longer applies for brand marketeers. After a year and a half of accelerated digital transformation and growth, leading to an explosion of possibilities - the pandemic acting as a catalyst - the opportunity for brands is to weave the multiverse into their growth strategies.
So for brands, what does this mean for their audience definition, segmentation and targeting? Personas are becoming more complex, multi-dimensional and with far more consideration to technology as well as flesh. What is important to note is that engaging credibly with the augmented consumer isn’t merely a media strategy - it is far deeper than consumption - it is part of their make-up. Engaging requires brands to recognise that their audiences live across different realities and develop their strategies with this in mind. Defining and targeting people’s personal algorithms, the tech that shrouds their behaviour, will become key.
This is a transformational moment for brands, and crucially for commerce. The role of physical retail has fundamentally changed and future commerce strategies must evolve in response to the expansion of consumer facets. Brands need to design contextual shopping experiences that are responsive to the environments they are played out in, that bring a human touch and empathy of the offline world to online shopping. AR and VR are transformational tools to help do this - designing immersive at scale experiences and products that go beyond traditional .com e-commerce.
As well as evolving how to connect with audiences across the new platforms, the changes have a major impact on content production processes. What is currently seen as bespoke campaign content, e.g. virtual products, are increasingly becoming the usual, needing to be included in the standard development of ecommerce content, such as 3d digital depictions of products, that can be used and applied in multiple channels, replacing 2d product shots.
Developing consumer experience across universes means that brands are more relevant and allows for valuable data and insights to enable greater personalisation and ultimately greater conversion. Shopify data suggests that products having an AR content have a 94% higher conversion rate than products without. And it is placing its bets on AR, with the recent acquisition of Primer. Recent research from SNAP and Deloitte Digital finds that by 2025, 75% of the global population will be frequent AR users.
Commerce in the multiverse is wider than AR ‘try on’ tools (such as Ulta’s Glam Lab) however. Progressive brands that embrace and target their consumers' avatars and digital personas are already offering virtual goods as commodities. Luxury brands have leapfrogged standard e-commerce offerings and many have jumped into virtual and augmented realities to engage with their consumers. Recognising that their consumers are augmented, Gucci recently released their Gucci Virtual 25 - a trainer which can be worn in AR or on partner apps. This is not a try on - is a virtual product. An abundance of luxury brand skins in gaming worlds have engaged facets of their consumers, for instance Marc Jacobs and Valentino outfits in Animal Crossing. And it is big business, consumer spending on gaming loot boxes and skins worldwide is predicted to hit $50 billion (USD) by 2022.
At Strat House, we are working with clients to understand how the multiverse impacts their segmentation, persona development and ultimately how their brand universe needs to adapt to engage. We are exploring how our clients need to re-engineer not only their communications but also production and digital technology. We are crafting brand strategies to embrace the algorithms which surround us, mindful of the differences in all our realities.
Welcome to marketing in the multiverse.
