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This week’s episode looks a little different than usual. It’s a roundtable discussion about the metaverse from a recent thought-leadership event hosted by our friends at Zenith Media. The panel conversation is an insightful dive into the metaverse and how it will change the nature of brand-consumer engagement for marketers.

The metaverse is considered by most to be a significant evolution of today’s internet. For marketers, the metaverse presents an opportunity to reimagine consumer engagement. There are already some clear signals to brands, agencies and media that it’s probably time to rethink internal capabilities and consider new directions for innovation.

This conversation is moderated by Keith Soljacich, Head of Innovation at Publicis Media and features two panelists: Sam Huber, CEO of metaverse marketing platform Admix, and Jeremy Lockhorn, VP and Head of Global Innovation at Ericsson Emodo.

There were a lot of compelling points that came up in the discussion.

Jake’s quick take focuses on FIVE.

Jake’s FIVE List:

  • Understanding how young generations are using immersive gaming environments today can give a better understanding of what the metaverse is and what it will be.
  • You can reap the benefits of both the Web 2 of today and the Web 3 that’s emerging.
  • The depth of user engagement with immersive, experiential content flattens the classic marketing funnel, meaning a shorter walk to brand engagement, favorability, purchase and loyalty.
  • With so many signals to personalize branded experiences, we no longer need device IDs and cookies to track users.
  • The metaverse is not an idea for the future, it’s a transition we’re experiencing now.

“What you’re going to want to do is to build your own community of consumers of your audience. You want to know who they are and then you want to reactivate them in many different experiences across the next three to five years.”

Panel moderator Keith Soljacich asks questions to demystify what the metaverse truly is, who the audience is – who is spending time and money in metaverse environments, and how marketers can effectively leverage the metaverse.

Some other stuff our panelists say during the conversation:

“What’s exciting about that is that if you look at your marketing funnel, you can really tap into all the elements of it from pure awareness where you could have, you know, a branded car or a branded stadium – or like we do at Admix is literally putting brands within the environment in a very native way.” - Sam Huber

“We’re going to see a flattening of the purchase funnel to the point where in three-to-five years, that just may not be relevant or exist anymore.” - Keith Soljacich

“Advertising is changing its shape and form. It feels like it’s moving from interruption to integration and immersion.” - Jeremy Lockhorn

“The metaverse doesn’t so much represent technology, but it represents a moment in time right now. And it’s a moment in time with the confluence of the evolution of consumer technology, virtual reality, and augmented reality that are now going to start to grow, proliferate, and scale for our consumer audience out there.” – Keith Soljacich

Additional episode resources: