CIM Marketing Club Webinar
Walking into the Metaverse: Exploring the Future of Marketing
In this Marketing Club webinar, we welcomed Virginia Bray, Co-Founder of Marketing Fusion, and Ben Fryer, Co-Founder of Diverse Interactive. In this engaging webinar, they explored the new and evolving technology solutions that are occurring in the marketing world and discussed how they can add value to marketing in the metaverse.
Virginia uses her extensive knowledge of the marketing landscape to discuss the current challenges and opportunities for marketers. She discusses how marketers are currently under pressure to deliver due to the explosion of content being produced using AI tools. She explains how this has contributed to the pressure of creating memorable content that is going to engage buyers. This can be done by producing visual content, as consumers are beginning to expect more personal and relevant content from marketers.
Virginia begins to explain how the considerable changes in marketing have been due to advances in technology and current trends. Virtual production, virtual influencers, the metaverse, and AI, were just some of the key trends which were identified by Virginia as she explains that these create opportunities for marketers to produce more meaningful communications with consumers.
In the next part of the webinar, Ben begins to share his insights on these advances, in particular what the Metaverse is and what is happening in the Metaverse. He defines the metaverse as the convergence of immersive technologies that are coming together within the internet, creating a 3D virtual space. He discusses how this transition is meaning the online and offline world is beginning to blend.
Ben then begins to discuss the role digital humans play as part of the metaverse. These digital humans controlled by AI can be considered the new generation of influencers. This is because AI technology is allowing for the production of realistic pictures and videos of virtual humans. With this, businesses can use virtual influencers to represent their brand and communicate with their audience. Ben states that this new technology is becoming the norm for the next generation as they are becoming more exposed to digital technologies and beginning to purchase virtual goods.
When discussing the future of marketing, Ben identifies that the metaverse is going to dominate consumers' lives as the development of new technologies is accelerating. He identifies that these new innovations have the potential to change consumers' lives and create mixed realities for individuals.
As this interesting webinar came to a close, it was clear that many were starting to see the potential of these new technologies in the future of marketing. However, Ben began offering his advice to us marketers. He stated that marketers should carefully consider whether AI tools will suit their businesses and states the importance of having an understanding of the technology before applying it. These new trends can create great opportunities for marketers, and it is exciting to see what the future of marketing will entail.
A recording of this webinar is available to watch on CIM’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14PaMbSWsqo
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By Olivia Robinson, University of East Anglia Marketing Student