Recently, I was drawn into a complex global metaverse project for European luxury brands, including elements such as NFTs and games. Only a brief audit of the project was needed to recommend canceling all aspects of the project and restarting it completely. The reason is taking advantage of the three most common mistakes in the Metaverse project that I observe many times.
First, the project was completely self-centered. It was to provide branded assets as an NFT, and the game was about the brand side. After scrutiny, there was no reason for customers to buy or interact with it. There was no unique story. Therefore, there was no value creation that was the key to luxury. Luxury is the creation of extrema for clients, and digital projects need to undergo the same scrutiny as to whether and how they produce extrema like any other project.Just start Metaverse related projects Being there and experimenting is one of the biggest mistakes many luxury brands are making today.
Second, the project was unintentional. It was a collection of Metaverse-related initiatives, but they weren’t connected and there was no clear “endgame.” The reason for launching the project and the role it plays for the brand’s future was not well defined. The consensus between the teams that had to carry out the project was that they were dead on arrival, but the CEO wanted it.
Third, the game was created on a standalone platform rather than as part of an existing game. This means that if a significant number of target audiences are willing to interact with it, it will be a miracle. In the Metaverse, the brand needs to be where the client is, and standalone solutions can barely compete with established games.Balenciaga had to learn this in the fall collection of 2021-22 Released as a video game.. It created some buzz, but few users were attracted to the game. Luxury brands need to be where the audience is, and their suggestions need to be relevant to the people they want to attract.
Projects like the one described at the beginning of this column are almost standard. Like the endless attempts to create early viral videos on Facebook and YouTube, all brands seem to be working on FOMOs or vanity-driven NFTs, but rarely by strategy. Many brands consider this to be just an experiment and have limited impact, but they are confident that many will pay high for many of these non-strategic initiatives. Clients investing in NFTs will attribute the loss of value to the brand when they see the value lost over time because the initiative itself has no value other than being a branded NFT. .. This sacrifices great trust and fairness to many brands. Many luxury brands are creating time bombs, and they don’t even know that.
In addition to this, if the project isn’t exciting enough outside the brand, the reaction of their (mostly) Gen Z audience is important. If Gen Z, a digital native and NFT savvy, isn’t aware of the value of the initiative, it can question the brand as a whole.
This does not mean that luxury brands should not engage in Metaverse projects. However, if you do, you need a clear strategic playbook. Approval of a project should only be done under the following conditions:
- There is a clear client-centric value creation approach. When you launch an NFT to get an NFT, you often use branded assets that don’t have a clear story, but they don’t meet this requirement.
- There is a clear intentionality. Brands need to be completely clear about what the Metaverse initiative is to play in all other initiatives and how it will help the brand in the long run.
- The initiative is where the audience is. What is important is that there should be hope for the target audience.
Otherwise, the project will fail, even if it creates a short-term topic and the brand uses it internally to show their Metaverse ambitions. If the Metaverse project is done incorrectly, the stakes are simply too high, as clients (current and potential) will be distrustful, move forward and destroy the value of the initiative. We encourage you to unplug and readjust many existing projects in your pipeline to create tangible customer value.
This is an editorial article that reflects the views of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of Jing Daily.
Selected as one of the “Top 5 Luxury Key Opinion Leaders in the World to Watch”. Daniel Langer CEO of Luxury, Lifestyle and Consumer Brand Strategy Hard Excite, Executive Professor of Luxury Strategy and Pricing at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. He consults with many of the world’s leading luxury brands and is the author of the world’s best-selling luxury management books. Keynote speaker, And hosts luxury master classes on the future of luxury, turmoil and the luxury Metaverse in Europe, America and Asia.follow @drlanger
