One day, the Metaverse will host millions, if not billions, of users. How each user presents is entirely a personal decision—some may even decide to adopt multiple avatars. However, one thing is a constant: demographics.
Behind every avatar’s digital skin is a person with varying years of experience, a family history, unique living circumstances, and variable income. Today, demographic targeting is at the heart of most marketing strategies. Even so, it’s easy to think that demographic targeting might lose significance in the Metaverse, an environment that turns the user profile on its head.
Despite the opportunities the Metaverse presents to expand to new markets, there’s a danger that attempting to do so without carefully considering your new and existing customer base and its demographics is potentially damaging your brand. The Metaverse isn’t a one-size-fits-all model, and, as you’ll learn, companies that have attempted to develop Metaverse initiatives with such a mindset have failed.
How banks took on the Metaverse and lost.
In February 2022, JPMorgan became the first international bank to enter the Metaverse. With great fanfare, the bank announced the launch of its Onyx Lounge, named after its bank-led digital finance platform.
The trouble was the Onyx Lounge was a poorly thought-out, basic space where users couldn’t conduct any actual banking activities because of regulatory constraints. Instead, they were just fed information about JPMorgan’s crypto endeavors.
HSBC soon followed with its offering on The Sandbox. Again, with regulators front and center, HSBC had created a sterile space despite the promise of innovative brand experiences. When you enter a bank in the Metaverse, you expect to be able to carry out banking activities. Brand experiences, particularly when so uninspired, don’t garner interest.
However, as well as being too presumptive and misplaced, the banking industry has failed in demographic targeting. Firstly, traditional banks are usually aimed at an older demographic, with users unlikely to adopt the Metaverse at this early stage.
Secondly, if the banking industry does want to inspire a new demographic, a younger tech-savvy demographic, it needs to address what this demographic wants. Banks need to offer experiences that are unique, engaging, educational, and informative. Beyond this, they should incorporate banking services of some kind. Perhaps, instead of developing a lounge in its honor, JPMorgan could have used its Onyx infrastructure to provide transactional services at sponsored events.
When it’s right, it works.
The banking example shows how organizations can fail to capture new demographics in the Metaverse by ignoring how their brand can produce the experiences users are searching for. Yet, other organizations have nailed it.
One example is Nike. The brand, originally associated with running and other sports, has morphed into a lifestyle company over the past 20 years with a strong foothold in the adult sportswear fashion market.
However, on entering the Metaverse, they have established a broader demographic by creating bespoke experiences for kids and teens. As of June 2021, more than 7 million users had visited Nikeland on Roblox, a platform incredibly popular with younger gamers. Nikeland has proven successful across the board, thanks in no small part to the variety of experiences available: from celebrity appearances to customizable avatars, a trend popular with teens and users in their early 20s.
Beyond this, Nike has released several popular NFTs and, crucially, the Airtopia project. The virtual world was designed in unison with kids to celebrate Air Max Day and included brand-focused experiences that ideally suited the demographic.
While in the real world, Nike does supply apparel for the demographic it is targeting, in the Metaverse, its virtual efforts stand out as exemplary. They help Nike to appeal to a broader consumer base by adding real value.
Wrap-up
There’s no doubt that the Metaverse provides huge opportunities for companies to expand the reach of their products and services. However, if you intend to target a new demographic, it’s critical that one, you don’t ignore or isolate your existing consumer base, and, two, you consider what the demographic you want to attract cares about.
Despite virtual appearances, demographics do and will continue to play a key role in the success or failure of Metaverse projects.
This article originally appeared in Kieron Allen’s My Metaverse Minute newsletter, which is sent every Sunday. Subscribe to the newsletter today — just enter your e-mail into the sign-up form on the right-hand side of this page — to get exclusive early looks at content such as this in the future.
