In conversation with Vishnu Sharma, Founder & CEO, Efficacy Worldwide

The rapid shift to digital in the last year has led to the emergence of ‘metaverse’ as the buzzword for the year 2022. From best-in-class games to a multifaceted marketplace, Metaverse has every reason to strike the eyeballs of brands and its potential customers.

To understand how Metaverse is enthralling the attention of marketers, how advertising in metaverse influences the ad-spends of marketers, and what new forms of marketing metaverse will give rise to, we reached out to Vishnu Sharma, Founder & CEO, Efficacy Worldwide.

Agency Reporter- With the booming digital ecosystem, the metaverse is seeing massive growth among GenZ. How is the Metaverse enthralling the attention of marketers?

Vishnu Sharma- Metaverse is no doubt a new and one of the hottest topics of discussion among the Gen Z and thereby, compelling marketers to explore the platform as a new marketing avenue for the brands. The keywords “metaverse” yields 677,000 results on Google. Meanwhile, the hashtag #metaverse is widely used on Instagram, with more than 60,000 posts on the social media platform, and is tweeted more than 500 times per hour on Twitter. This data shows that Metaverse holds a very high potential to become ‘The Next Big Thing’ for the marketers looking to explore a new and innovative opportunity. Metaverse is enabling the Marketers to target Gen Zs and be aware of the brand in a new and more engaging way. The engagement, brands are already getting on Metaverse shows that this platform is here to stay and the opportunities for Marketing on Metaverse are only going to grow.

Agency Reporter- Brands are increasingly opting for virtual billboards to display ads. Please shed light on how this will lead to a higher number of impressions.

Vishnu Sharma- Virtual Billboards or DOOH i.e., Digital Out of Home is the new Dynamic Out of Home advertising format which has enabled the brands to integrate the Dynamics of a Video with the ever-present nature of OOH.

Consumers who are spending time in outdoor spaces often have no choice but to view the content that’s presented to them. There’s no fast-forward button or “close ad” option on billboards, so OOH media is fully viewable. Then, add to that the attention-grabbing capabilities of content that aren’t static, and you have a recipe for success in the form of ultra-high engagement.

One key feature of DOOH as compared to OOH is that the same physical space can now house more than one ad at a time because the screens can rotate through multiple options. The implication here is that the supply for advertisers increases without requiring additional investment in infrastructure, so revenue increases.

Since the content on Virtual Billboards is engaging, the probability of viewing the complete ad increases and will result in higher impressions.

Agency Reporter- Today brands want to leverage every medium to capture the attention of their prospective customers. How is metaverse advertising influencing the ad-spends of marketers?

Vishnu Sharma- Metaverse is becoming a new favorite of the Gen Zs which is resulting in Marketers exploring the same to reach out to the users. Marketing/Advertising in Metaverse is very different than traditional advertising as it requires the knowledge of all the latest technological developments and the understanding of the opportunities this new platform holds.

Metaverse will influence the ad-spends of marketers towards the higher side as it will lead them to create engaging content in the virtual world. The content in the Metaverse can be in the form of Avatars, Real Estate or Virtual Services which are highly engaging and at the same time costly.

Agency Reporter- Do you believe that metaverse marketing can influence the buying behavior of consumers in the physical world?

Vishnu Sharma- As of now, Metaverse is in a very nascent stage but has created a huge impact in terms of noise the platform has created among the audience. Metaverse has resulted in many people exploring the virtual marketplaces and spending time with loved ones and even strangers in virtual reality. However, the continuity of this trend is something that is yet to be seen over a certain period of time.

The probability of Metaverse influencing the buying behavior of the consumers in the Physical world is huge as it has already started the behavioral shift towards virtual reality among the audience, however, we are yet to see the long-term

Agency Reporter- Brands often struggle while marketing their products in a different space. How can the application of physical marketing models in the Metaverse help brands reach their target audience?

Vishnu Sharma- Metaverse is the closest replica of the Universe. The physical marketing models (except for real transfer of goods) can be replicated in the metaverse and give an whole new value and scale to the physical models

Agency Reporter- What hyper-personalized marketing strategies can brands use in their marketing efforts to reach their target audience in Metaverse?

Vishnu Sharma- Hyper-personalisation works best in the metaverse. The consumers can end up meeting the owners of brands, the brand ambassadors one-on-one in the metaverse, and can feel the personalization. What a wonderful feeling it would be if I get my car keys from the brands’ ambassador in the metaverse and he goes on a drive in my new car along with my family in the metaverse.

Agency Reporter- According to you, what new forms of marketing metaverse will give rise to in the coming future?

Vishnu Sharma– The use cases of Metaverse shall evolve over the next couple of years. The basics are already for us to see, but evolution will also depend on the adaptation of the consumers.