Roadmap to the Metaverse: Strategies to deepen brand engagement

Speakers
Kapil Chhabra, Founder, Silver Wings XR
Nick Goh, Partner & Director, Training & Education, AAMS and CEO, Moon Labs Digital
Sonal Mathur, VP, Partnerships and New Business, Mediacorp

Host 
Mark Cheong, Manager, Partnerships and New Business, Mediacorp

Question & Answer

Are there specific demographics or industries you believe will be most affected by the emergence of the metaverse, and why? Do you have any demographics (e.g., age, gender, etc) on Singaporeans take up rate of the Metaverse? 

[Sonal]
Certain audience demographics and industries are poised to be impacted by the metaverse. Primarily, early adopters and current users include Gen Z, young millennials, and future consumers – the savvy Gen Alpha. According to start.io, Singapore has more than 2 million active metaverse users, 81% aged 18-34 and skewed towards males. These users engage across metaverse environments like Roblox, Epic, Games, Twitch, Discord and more.

Industries that organically drive innovation, creativity, and digital interaction such as gaming, entertainment, fashion, art, telco, e-commerce, events and even education/training stand to benefit from the metaverse. Since we are seeing Metaverse as the next iteration of the Internet, it has the potential to impact a wider range of demographics and industries in the long run. 

When will the metaverse be able to be as real as real time instead of cartoonish?

[Mark]
From tech standpoint, we can create photorealistic environments and characters. However, our current internet bandwidth infrastructure limits data transmission to mass audiences efficiently.  

Graphical fidelity is highly dependent on target audience and the objective of your metaverse experience. Younger audiences who are looking to engage with brands often prefer a cartoon-ish art style to photorealism. However, for experiences that require precise representation such as virtual showroom for property or e-learning for healthcare, or engineering then photorealism is essential. 

Given the rapid advance is in GPU’s, AI, and data infrastructures, photorealistic metaverses will be common place in the next 3-5 years. A key consideration would be to assess if photorealism aligns with your objectives and significantly improve the current metaverse experiences available.

If an organisation is completely new to this, how to best start? And what kind of budget are we looking at?

[Kapil]
For organisations new to the metaverse, you need to decide on the right use case – whether it’s an internal event, show room, event or onboarding. To determine pricing, we need to understand the 3D space requirements, including the number of spaces required, level of gamification, number of users and how long you need to keep the space active, etc. 
 
[Mark]
It is important to understand the goals and what unique benefits your Metaverse experience can value-add as compared to your existing marketing channels. Some brands may achieve social engagement improvements without huge budgets, while others might require a full-fledge standalone Metaverse. Given the diverse capabilities of the Metaverse, from virtual showrooms, online events and e-learning, there’s no one-size-fits-all budget/approach. Each Metaverse offering should be tailored to specific objectives. 

On top of investment to create the Metaverse platform, another key consideration is the publicity and media spend required to drive awareness and audiences to your Metaverse. If you are interested in exploring the best approach for your brand, reach out to your Account Manager or email us at partnership_newbiz@mediacorp.com.sg and we will be happy to brainstorm with you. 

What are the cost differences between traditional marketing and metaverse marketing?

[Sonal]
The cost difference between traditional marketing and metaverse marketing can vary depending on factors such as the strategies employed, target audience, media mix/channels and scale of the marketing campaign. Instead of viewing traditional marketing and metaverse marketing as competing strategies, it's beneficial to see them as complementary approaches that can work together synergistically. Traditional marketing channels like TV, digital, social media can effectively drive traffic and awareness to metaverse experiences. By integrating traditional marketing efforts with metaverse marketing initiatives, brands can leverage the strengths of both approaches to maximize reach, engagement, and overall impact.