Metaverse, Web 3.0 and NFTs: What marketers need to know

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by Jacob Solomon Mar 14, 2023 News
Metaverse, Web 3.0 and NFTs: What marketers need to know

A student at the University of Oregon introduced me to a digital clothing app that allowed users to house a "digital closet." I downloaded the app to find out what value it provided. It looked like a lens that you could use to add virtual clothing, jewelry, hats and other accessories to your picture.

Users were charged a fee for uploading a photo of themselves that would be altered to include a digital fashion item so that they could post it on their social media. I can change an image of myself or take a photo with an augmented reality lens. Similar capabilities are offered by most social apps today.

The idea of being able to wear these digital fashions on virtual dates and in virtual meetings was sold by this app. This is how I envision a digital closet, one you can wear virtually anywhere. You had to purchase an NFT.

Excited by the idea of wearing a digital, pink feather boa during my next online class, I tried to purchase a cool NFT. After a lot of time and money, I am unable to wear my digital fashion in a meeting. The capability doesn't exist. What's going on?

NFTs just aren’t there yet

This is a cautionary tale. You will annoy your audience if you don't have a good strategy. The failure of NFT drops has been the subject of many headlines. That's right, PORSCHE! This is just the beginning of problems.

A recent court ruling suggests that NFTs should be monitored by the SEC. The brand is responsible for violating the rules because they tried to reduce the amount of time it takes to purchase the NFT.

The metaverse offers brands opportunities to engage with their audiences, share digital goods, and build community. I want you to know that NFTs, the metaverse and Web 3.0 aren't the same.

How can we get to the metaverse?

They are related if they aren't the same thing. The media, agencies and industry experts are bundled together.

A lack of historical perspective and the belief that all digital goods ownership begins and ends with an NFT make these terms confusing. This isn't true. You can own a digital land in the metaverse, but you can't get near an NFT or the blockchain. I would like to offer simple definitions of these terms.

You remember the promise of Web 2.0 and the excitement around turning passive internet users into active creators if you are like me. Anyone could use the tools to create web content. The framework for those communities to share product reviews and recommendations was provided by social platforms.

Smart marketers were excited about the new technologies and quickly adopted them. I think Web 3.0 is the same.

The promise of Web 3.0

The technologies that are included in the definition of Web 3.0 are: I decided to define Web 3.0 in a broader way. Web 3.0 is referred to as the new 3D version of the internet because it is Spatial.

It's misleading to suggest that Immersive spaces aren't dependent on thecryptocurrencies. Web 3.0 is moving users from creating 2D elements such as images and videos to creating 3D content, according to me.

It is not known if this 3D content lives on a network. Web 3.0 is a broad term that refers to the future of the web as being spatial, which may or may not include emerging technologies such as NFTs.

Virtual spaces are often referred to as the metaverse. The promise of Web 3.0 will come to life here and provide the infrastructure and framework to support these interoperability and immersible spaces. The metaverse is a vision of what can be achieved in the future. It's up to us to shape it. The makers of the metaverse can read my take on how we get there in my manifesto.

Private clubs and walled gardens are what we have today. It's difficult to navigate from one community to another because they have different languages and rules.

This makes it difficult for brands to build a community in a space like this. In the same way you choose where to place your media spend to reach your target audience, you need to find your audience in virtual worlds.

You can identify the right platform with the help of this report, which shows the size, demographic and technology behind all the major virtual worlds.

Digital ownership is not new

Now that we have a definition of Web 3.0 and the Metaverse, how do NFTs fit in?

A non-fungible token, or NFT, is a digital unique identifier that cannot be copied, replaced, or subdivided and is used to certify authenticity and ownership, according to the dictionary. NFTs have been offered in Second Life for over a decade.

Content creators on Second Life were selling their virtual goods in 2006 in order to solve the problem of digital ownership. The platform didn't have a framework to prevent users from copying virtual items. The creators couldn't "own" their work. The developers created a system of permission that allowed a content creator to decide if the item could be copied or transferred.

It was possible for the creator to make a one-of-a-kind item. It was more common to sell multiple versions of the item that weren't transferrable, like buying an item off the rack. If I bought it from its creator, I could only wear it. The virtual world's first millionaire, Anshe Chung, was announced during that time as a result of this system.

Does it solve an actual problem?

I don't see the problem they solve, that's one of my biggest problems with NFTs. Digital ownership can be created with no NFTs. Their value is seen as allowing for true ownership of a digital good through a platform rather than relying on infrastructure provided by a big tech company. The benefit is what makes them risky and difficult for consumers to engage with.

Since 2006 I have had a digital closet in Second Life, and I still own everything in it. Today, I can wear them on the platform. The landscape of the metaverse has changed over the last 20 years. NFTs, as we know them today, will go away and this technology will not be valuable for a long time.

The promise for the metaverse, Web 3.0 and NFTs is a world where I can wear anything I want in my digital closet. Immersive spaces for work, for play and even for navigating around the real world with the use of augmented reality eyewear are included in the promise. This vision will come to fruition. We are still not there.

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The opinions of the guest author are not those of MarTech. There are staff authors here.