The heavy-hitting digital era continues to usher the arrival of big players into the game. The gold rush was triggered in 2021 already in what many have pinpointed as the future of e-commerce. A year has gone by now. Are you still questioning if the 3D environment can be your e-retail revolution and if it is worth an investment?
Whether you’re a lifestyle label, an artist, a curator, or even a musician, here are a bunch of reasons why you should jump on the train and what this journey could mean for your branding.
Not just another retail!
Let’s start with language itself, and rethink 3D environments as immersive galleries. Of course, you can still sell your digital products here, but there’s much more to it.
Your virtual space is the place where you nurture your community!
It is no mystery that consumer digital engagement has become a critical point in business models, opening up companies to deeper, long-lasting relationships with their target audience. And it’s not enough to exhibit a good, digital product in a coloured, virtual space!
How can you leverage pixeled walls to better engage with your people?
Visual storytelling is worth 1000 words!
If you want to play your cards right, think bigger and enlarge your vision of your brand world’s architecture. Your 3D environment is literally this world, embedding your storytelling into an immersive experience.
Your company is called to adopt new, interactive solutions to reach its target: Virtual reality is the way to create a more approachable brand and build a community together. Your values, inspirations and history are embedded into each pixel.
Beyond the bounds of the physical: Accessibility and internationality are the keys.
What a surprise… They’ve always been! But despite the irony, this new wave of benefits is pretty self-evident.
Just imagine: In a pretty-much perfect world something – like a pandemic for example – occurs, and your catwalk simply can’t happen. That’s in the past now. Phygital shows are a concrete reality. Brands do not have any limits when it comes to reaching everyone any time, anywhere. Thus empowering the whole fashion experience with new languages via a hyper immersive, accessible environment.
If you do it, just do it right!
We know you’re impatient to read how to unlock all the potential opportunities this new technology will bring to you… But TNC is market-wise, and we believe that a couple of words need to be spared on the most common trick!
With a cold dose of reality, your label must separate concrete opportunities from the hype. The NFTs-mania and the Metaverse omnipresence have pushed new youth essentials into the digital realm. But as much as the idea of a hail of Ethereum flooding your crypto-wallet is something incredibly appealing, your objective should remain focused on the community. At the end of the day, that’s what will always last.
So, take notes: if you base your sustainable revenues on the hype, rather than on growing consumer engagement with the Metaverse… You will just waste time. Not to mention bucks!
The brighter way to opportunities
FIRST GOLDEN RULE: If it’s all about community, then Hyper- Personalization is a MUST! It will expect nothing less!
Highly personalized customer experiences are the backbone of 3D digital businesses. So, do not limit your label to the dictate of a trend. Rather, make it happen among your community. Unlock your consumers’ creativity and engagement by providing them with mixed technologies in an immersive environment.
Keep in mind that your 3D digital environment isn’t just an exhibition space. Otherwise, you could just rent a room and put your products and descriptions up there. So, what else can you do with it?
- HOSTING GAMES to increase your target engagement and product customization.
- HOSTING EVENTS AND TALKS. This is where the magic happens, where the essence – and the network- of your community lies.
- ORGANIZING TOURS into curated collections, bringing together top experts with industry onlookers and fans.
- HOSTING A DIGITAL SHOWROOM during Fashion, Design or Art Weeks, providing press and buyers unique access to the new drops.
3D Environment state of art
Are you still struggling with visualizing a tangible application? No worries, last but not least TNC brings to you the coolest cases.
Once again, it seems that luxury brands are the ones inaugurating the dance floor: Is there seriously anyone out there that has never heard about the Gucci Garden? Its memorable centenary was marked by a virtual exhibition in the online game Roblox, welcoming users in branded, themed rooms with growing flowers and flying butterflies. Here, the limited-edition virtual Gucci bag created for the event was sold at a higher price than its physical counterpart.
Wondering about how the hell they could do it?
“Brands can push the boundaries of creativity in the metaverse and offer experiences that are unrepeatable in real life, rather than simply replicating spaces and experiences from the physical world”
Roblox‘s vice president of brand partnerships Christina Wootton
Already with a toe – or maybe a shoe – dipped in AR-try on since 2017, Nike is one of the bigger gamblers in the 3D environment. Its Nike’s All Condition Gear collection was showcased in a virtual, alpine environment, recreating the influences and inspiration behind the design.
And what to say about Burberry’s 3D Tokyo store, available just for one month for luxury shoppers across the globe?
If all of those brands can be called pioneers, the truth is that now money is beginning to flow. During the dawn of 2022, Dolce&Gabbana kicked off their virtual collection during the MFW, in the meantime, Kearing is investing in a “full team dedicated to Web3/metaverse, another team in Gucci, and in Balenciaga,” as revealed by CEO François-Henri Pinault. “The merger of augmented reality and virtual reality will transform the way that we will be building e-commerce.”
This is just the beginning. Now you have all the information it’s really up to you: Keep up, or retreat to the cave.
