Teeming with cryptocurrency, NFTs, avatars, and entire Trend immersive worlds, the metaverse is both misunderstood and overhyped. Here’s what you need to know. By MARINA Don’t feel bashful if you don’t yet have a narrower targeting opportunities. (It’s not LINDSAY- solid working definition of the metaverse. without its dangers, though, as internet BROWN subcultures like incels show.) In November, Wired magazine needed more than 2,000 words to explain the borderless 2. An unregulated metaverse poses privacy new digital realm for its tech-savvy readers. concerns. If personal data is the exhaust The takeaway? The metaverse is no one fume of life, your metaversal twin will single thing, but rather an array of virtual significantly increase the volume and experiences, environments and assets, from richness of those emissions. Brands must non-fungible tokens to cryptocurrency, enter with thoughtful ethical positions, digital avatars to immersive AR/VR worlds. and be ready to work with “owners” of Also: virtual worlds (e.g. Decentraland) to make experiences safe. Roblox is leading It’s coming at us. Fast. the way with age verification for spatial voice features. New technologies will continue to redefine 3. Remember hearing decades ago that the metaverse in the years ahead, but it’s the Web would be an open system? Big already emerging as a digital layer atop Tech may have walled off their gardens, everyday life—a digital twin of the physical controlling operations and consumers in world. To help quantify its impact—and closed ecosystems, but the metaverse highlight the myriad ways it might bolster presents fresh opportunities to create brand and business growth—we’ve distilled interoperable virtual worlds where this trend into three fresh insights. avatars move seamlessly between 1 1. New virtual worlds create fertile dimensions. This could create a space for subcultures and niche significantly more distributed power communities. If the physical world has base, unsettling FAANG/BAT and eroded subcultures—thanks to globally impacting brands’ technology and media homogenized trends across music, partnerships. fashion, interiors and food—then the metaverse nurtures diverse interests and behaviors. This in turn provides brands with richer segments and 5 BUSINESS & GROWTH TRENDS 2022 OGILVY GROWTH & INNOVATION