Though grooming brands are no longer taking the Metaverse and the digital skincare sandbox with a pinch of salt, Do-XX Studios’ Head of Activation Stefan Lim discusses how to take it from an arid field of ideas to a lush utopia for everyone and anyone.
To start off, do you think a grooming brand’s presence on the Metaverse necessarily generates sales of skincare?
The term “Metaverse” has loosely grouped the NFT space, virtual worlds, AR technology, and 3D scanned environments together which makes it hard for discussion because of a need to focus on the specific area of use. For brands with physical products (grooming, clothing, food, etc), there are no replacements in the virtual world that can represent the product better than in real life unless technology advances towards more sensory capabilities.
For example, a computer is able to produce smells or your VR device has sensory gloves that can mimic feeling textures. Overall, “Metaversing” is an unavoidable technological and cultural wave that, like it or hate it, is here to stay and will change many aspects of our daily lives.
For brands to start having a presence in any form in the Metaverse is a good early move for companies to have branding and awareness of their products and services.
Grooming and beauty brands have always focused on creating campaign visuals that make an impact on print and in recent years, they think about how it looks onWeb2. What do you think will make a successful campaign visual in terms of Web3? When the world was still in Web2, anything showcased using Web3 technology, even at its most minimal, opened eyes and drove discussion. Why crack brains trying to impress your customer when all your competitors are using the same tools? Because Web3 is barely ventured into, it can certainly provide a whole new range of campaign possibilities that marketing teams can toy around with to help come up with another great idea and moment.
Most grooming conglomerates have launched on Decentraland where they have commented that they do so because of its “real focus on freedom and expression”. Is Decentraland just a pit stop for another bigger universe?
I’m not sure if we have enough feedback and study on users to summarise why people are in Decentraland or if it’s because there is a better focus on freedom and expression than in real life. Being involved in the Metaverse is still in extremely early stages and statistic companies group kids playing Roblox together with Decentral and NFT holders as people actively involved in the Metaverse.
Many more worlds like Decentraland will sprout out in the coming years and futurists are thinking there would definitely be cross-world technology like how you can use Microsoft Office on a Mac or how gaming companies allow a Playstation player to play the same game with a PC player.
At the moment, we really don’t know who the winner will be or will what the Metaverse model will look like. But for now, the early worlds are the defacto.
Grooming and fashion brands often rely on logos or distinctive visual elements to distinguish themselves but for the former, it gets a bit tricky. For example, a customer purchases a moisturiser that allows their avatar’s skin to glow but the product could come from any brand. How should brands distinguish their products when it’s not as “obvious” as a bag or a pair of shoes?
I think in these cases, brands should all the more be exploring Web 3capabilities. Instagram filters are already an entry-level AR technology to show the user what they would look like with glowing skin. Companies will soon be fighting in the AR glasses arena as it will be a game changer because users no longer need to view these filters through a small phone screen.
AR mirrors will also flood the market, especially in the beauty industry.
When it comes to branding too, several conglomerates have launched virtual muses to represent a product which brings the point that such imagery differs in terms of a print or Web2 context where they shoot different celebrities for different markets. Do you think there is a way to design a virtual muse that works globally?
I think it boils down to creativity more than accessibility. Phones, laptops, TVs, and screens can all show virtual muses. In fact, all companies should have a virtual muse. Instagram is the first free space where companies can immediately launch a virtual muse.
TikTok is also used in our daily lives and will continue to be part of us until the next platform which will be a Web3 and more virtual-focused one. Technology is not a roadblock.
I was thinking that technically, we are already our own avatars because ofthe way we dress and present ourselves. What in your opinion makes it evenmore fun to do so in the Metaverse?
In the movie, Ready Player One, not all the characters are humans with different clothes. Some are dinosaurs and some are cartoons. I think apart from allowing the user to create their avatars in whatever way they want, they also need inspiration. They need to see what others are creating which can open up their minds to invent.
Maybe brands also need to factor in a showcase element of their customer’s avatars so that they stick around more when they know they are being noticed and discussed about.
Strangely, it feels like most brands are creating spaces in the Metaverse to entertain instead of educating which feels like a wasted opportunity. For example, I’d love to see a brand using AI to its full capacity like being able to “stimulate” the look of skin damage. Is there some kind of technological limit so far?
I fully agree that brands are lacking in ideas and not diving into the full capabilities of technology. Perhaps the brands should talk to the gaming industry because its developers are already creating fantastical experiences in games with characters that have mechanics which can easily be used in an educational virtual experience.
It is definitely not a technological limit and more of a creative mindset block.
Several other news outlets have also reported that 80% of female gamers are more likely to make in-app purchases of virtual personalisation items like makeup in a beauty context. How can grooming brands create the same kind of allure for men bearing in mind that studies have shown that men use avatars primarily for fun and experimentation, and women use them to enhance their physical appearance?
Having worked in the gaming industry, I do attest that men are more hardcore gamers while women are more casual gamers. Both spend differently. Men typically spend more time in competitive and complex games in which an external purchase option for a real-life product might not be as well-received.
Women typically play less intense games in which they do have the band width to stop, view and consume an ad like a recommendation of a product or a deal. I think the profile of “men who groom and also play games” is a very distinct segment. Perhaps a brand can partner with a “hardcore” game. For example, grab this “Brand A Hairspray” to change your hair into a powerful weapon or buy “SkinLotion X” for a longer health bar.
A news outlet posited the idea that things like skincare or fragrances have become so expensive in real life that owning them digitally in the Metaverse has appeal. When does aspiration become a cold cash grab and how can a brand provide some kind of value instead?
I think brand loyalty is golden. Brands should not leave out customers who can’t afford their products and opt for a digital version instead. These customers still love the brand and if they were given a monetary bonus, will buy the physical product. Brands should have teams to manage communities of customers who bothered to acquire digital versions of their products and keep them engaged and involved.
They also need to remember to allow customers to provide their creative ideas as to what products they’d like to see in the future. Engagement is the key to brand loyalty.
Byredo launched an NFT where customers can create custom scents by combining digital ingredients which essentially, feels ephemeral. Do you think some kind of “limit” should exist in terms of a grooming context?
Or perhaps, do you think the limits should be endless when it comes to the Metaverse? I think brands should keep stretching limits because technology will keep up. It was almost preposterous to think that you can print a missing IKEA shelf part at home using a 3D printer but it now exists. The more important advice for brands is this: keep up and keep trying because the learning curve will quickly become too steep and you won’t have an edge.
If you adopt it late, you’ll become a store down the street that’s bragging to people today that you now have an email address.
What do you think is the next evolution for the Metaverse and how will it affectthe marketing of grooming brands?
This is anyone’s guess. The evolution of the Metaverse depends on the crazy dreamers, world changers, rebellious teens, and futurists. I think grooming brands have to actively try every new upcoming trend to learn and evolve because the nature of grooming marketing requires more creative brainstorming.
The future of the Metaverse is still undefined but don’t leave yourself out.
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