It is October 28, 2021, and, with still limited awareness, the world is about to change.

"We are at the beginning of a new chapter for the Internet. And it is also a new chapter for our company," said Mark Zuckerberg, announcing the revolution. A revolution called the Metaverse.

At that moment, some people searched for the definition on Google, while others already knew it, and additional people mistakenly considered it an irrelevant change. Foresight, however, rewarded the protagonists of the fashion system who wasted no time and started a race to conquer this new world.

Leading the trend was the Officiel magazine, which on September 30, during Paris Fashion Week and on the occasion of the brand's 100th anniversary, inaugurated the digital museum "The House of Dreams," an exhibition with NFT archival images created to depict a century of activities, collaborations with luxury brands, and world-famous personalities.

That's how the doors of the Metaverse opened for the major players in the fashion industry and beyond: Gucci, Vuitton, Ray-Ban, Nike. Thirty days after the words of Facebook's CEO and founder, Balenciaga presented a strategic plan to bring their universe into the digital sphere.

At the British Fashion Awards, Alessandro Michele's avatar awarded the "Fashion Award for Metaverse Design" to the gaming platform Roblox. Shortly after, Gucci announced a collaboration with Marsper, a trending Chinese IP, and the Otb group, the founder of Brave Virtual Experience, a space dedicated to the development of projects and content for the virtual world.

The latest news involves H&M, which inaugurates a digital store accessible only through augmented reality, where customers can purchase physical or intangible clothing using cryptocurrencies.

Beyond mere conceptual expression, the Metaverse lends itself well to an innovative marketing idea that allows companies to convey values and principles in an infinite and limitless world. Its concrete implementation is expected in a few years, but today it is already possible to take the first steps in this realm.

Therefore, the main question is not so much whether the way of communication will change, but what the plans of marketers and creators are to become the driving force behind this revolution that has already taken shape.

Garpez and the Metaverse

Currently, one of the most direct ways to access the Metaverse is through gamification, the antechamber of this virtual world, long known for its success in marketing strategies that combine entertainment and branded experiences in a parallel reality.

How does the Metaverse work? Users have the ability to create their virtual persona, customize their avatar both physically and in terms of style and accessories, socialize with other users, and purchase goods and products using the platform's currency. This is why the Metaverse is closely tied to blockchain and NFT technologies.

Through AR and AI technologies, Metaverse inhabitants can not only interact with brands in virtual stores and purchase digital assets but also aim for a complete embodiment of the brand, allowing peer-to-peer interactions with the user, like two protagonists in a video game.

In this sense, the advantages offered by the Metaverse are closely tied to the opportunity for branding, conveying brand values, culture, and, above all, products in a vast and almost limitless universe, giving the brand a contemporary, technological, and humanized aura. As a direct consequence, one can expect increased active interest, customer loyalty, and perhaps even new undiscovered business opportunities.

The IT team at Garpez, in collaboration with the marketing and advertising department, is already designing and testing tools and strategies to take the step towards gamification and the Metaverse, fully aware of the potential this will bring to their clients in the fashion and luxury sectors, and beyond.

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