Brand Engagement in the Metaverse: June 2023

Nike x Fortnite Prioritises the Pleasure of Play with Airphoria

Nike returns to Fortnite (having previously launched Air Jordan digital wearables in 2019), with new game Airphoria. Available June 21-27, the activation tasks players with finding and retrieving five lost Nike sneakers via a detailed map featuring high-resolution graphics, a highly involved central challenge (as opposed to mini-games) and tasteful, less in-your-face logos that downplay branding.

Nike is the first brand to use Epic Games’ Unreal Editor for Fortnite, launched in March 2023. This in-game 3D creation tool gives brands greater autonomy when world-building by letting them use their in-house style and creative directors and differentiate themselves from Fortnite’s standard aesthetics with custom environments, challenges and imported digital assets.

Cult & Rain’s Proto-Metaverse Taps Into Arts & Culture

Evolving the use of its “Web 2.5” shoppable site to include music, art and cinema, Cult & Rain announced Cultr Pad on June 15. The development introduces four exclusive rooms for the brand’s non-fungible token (NFT) holders, building on its pre-existing public proto-metaverse website Cultr World – detailed in Mapping the Sensorial Metaverse in Digital Commerce: 9 Trends & Opportunities, 23/24.

The Mothership room serves as the primary social hub, where NFT members can invite their non-NFT-holding friends via a shareable link. In the Theatre room, users can share their screens and audio to enjoy movies and videos together, reminiscent of WatchParty’s social experiences.

The DJ Room is set to host live music events (TBA), whereas the Gallery provides a personal space for members to upload their artwork and invite friends to come and view it. Next, Cult & Rain plans to allow users to showcase their NFTs by directly linking the Gallery to digital wallets.

Roblox Ages Up

In a bid to move away from pester power (connecting with younger audiences reliant on parents for purchases), Roblox announced the addition of a 17+ age-approved option. This will enable brands to create content exclusively for older audiences (mature language, shooting games, etc.), tapping into its fastest-growing demographic, which accounted for 40% of its daily users in 2022 (TechCrunch, 2023).

The move will let brands on the platform lean into previously discussed trends older Gen Zers (and beyond) are interested in – including pleasure-seeking hedonism and horror stories – while still protecting younger fans.

Nation-Making in the Metaverse

Winner of the Dan Wieden Titanium Grand Prix (recognising game-changing creativity) at this year’s Cannes Lions, The First Digital Nation, by Australian marketing agency The Monkeys and creative studio Collider, first flagged here, addresses the danger rising sea levels present to the Pacific Island nation of Tuvalu.

The project uses the metaverse (hosted on the independent platform Tuvalu.tv), with a virtual representation – or digital twin – of the small island’s physical layout. The platform serves as a repository for preserving essential documents, including ancestral stories, records of its unique flora and fauna, and government archives, protecting the country’s identity and right as a sovereign nation. While information regarding visitor numbers to the digital island remains undisclosed, the creators state the campaign has reached a total of 2.1 billion people.

See also Gaming Makes Sustainability a Reality in Pop Culture & Media Futures, 22/23 and Gaming & The Metaverse Rally Players to Eco-Activism in Eco Comms: Retail & Media, Summer 2023, and our Cannes Lions, publishing July 3.

For insight on digital twins, read Digital Cloning for Retail Marketing: Eva Herzigova’s MetaHuman.