How can the Metaverse invent the future of marketing? The example of Kinahan's, a whiskey pioneer who is embarking on this new virtual universe

Blockchain, NFT, Metaverse, these three words no doubt seem familiar to you given the news of recent weeks among the Tech giants but also famous brands like Gucci, Louis Vuitton or even well-known artists. The Metaverse, this new world made of 3D, virtual or augmented reality, but also blockchain and NFT has become the new fad of tech giants and the promise of a new business model for many traditional brands. Beyond the announcement effect, what is the Metaverse made of and why could it supplant the internet as we conceive it today and reinvent brand marketing? Focus on the launch of Kinahan's Whisky, a pioneering whiskey house which is in turn launching into the Metaverse and reinventing the consumer experience.

The advent of the Metaverse, this new world between real and virtual

It will have escaped no one, the Metaverse just like the NFTs have been making the headlines and announcements of the Web giants lately. And if the phenomenon is not new, it is still undergoing a major boost, notably driven by the blockchain and NFT ecosystem.

The term Metaverse first appears in 1992 in Neil Stephenson's dystopian novel, “Snow Crash”. But, the concepts of virtual reality and augmented reality come a little later, even if our parents must have already been familiar with them through the Science Fiction books which have widely communicated on the phenomenon.

And if for a long time people imagined the Metaverse as the impenetrable, the year 2021 will mark a turning point.

While giants like Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Microsoft or even major luxury brands are launching, the term is no longer a mystery to anyone and we are beginning to see the advantages of going to the Metaverse. More and more brands see in this universe the way to bring their community together, to make it more powerful and to build loyalty.

The recent promise is that of a global Metaverse, which would include linked and shared virtual worlds. We could inhabit these virtual worlds with our friends for our personal pleasure or with our associates for our work and thus evolve into another dimension in our habits of consumption but also of work.

The metaverse is notably enabled thanks to blockchain technologies, artificial intelligence but also virtual reality, augmented and of course 3D. This new phenomenon is considered by some to be the future of the Internet.

Today, more and more brands are getting into it. From the very famous Gucci and Louis Vuitton fashion shows, to the concert organized on Fortnite, a whole new section of the world economy is trying to take hold of this technological revolution like the internet 30 years ago.

Blockchain technology (and cryptocurrencies) enables the metaverse to provide interoperability, digital proof of ownership, digital collection of assets (such as NFTs), crypto value transfer, governance, etc. and the whole challenge lies in avoiding recentralisation of a decentralized phenomenon thanks to the underlying technology.

To give you a tangible example of the phenomenon, the game Roblox, very well known in the metaverse, already manages to bring together more than 42 million users every day.

As we can see from the visual above, many players are already making their mark in the Metaverse universe and the "big ones" are starting to break through like Decentraland, Sandbox, Roblox, Fortnite... This week, Metaverse tokens such as Mana (Decentraland), posted triple-digit 7-day gains, while the cryptocurrency market capitalization hit $3 trillion.

Recently, visionaries launched the Metaverse ETF, i.e. an exchange-traded fund. This particular ETF allows people to invest in a set of companies that are already making the metaverse a reality or are positioned to do so in the future. Bloomberg recently estimated the size of the metaverse market at $800 billion.

NFTs and the Metaverse are reinventing brand marketing. The example of Kinahan's Irish Whiskey.

The advent of NFTs and the Metaverse may still seem vague or even frightening to you, yet they are a very good signal of the innovation effort and of a new way of promoting your brand. For example, allowing consumers to buy bags in a virtual universe can contribute to its scarcity. But the example of gaming is undoubtedly the most striking as it manages to generate revenue today and retain players.

It is to ride this wave but also to take full advantage of technologies while maintaining a DNA of heritage, authenticity and quality, that Kinahan's Whisky, a famous whiskey house pioneer in its genre, is in turn launching into the third dimension.

Created in 1792, the house of Whiskey is not at its first attempt in terms of original collaborations. This summer, Kinahan's launched, in collaboration with Morysetta, a well-known artist in the NFT universe, a Formula 1 in the form of NFT and in 3D/AR. Containing exclusive title to Rarible.com during Lewis Hamilton's thrilling victory at the British Grand Prix, these NFTs are the house's first achievement in the crypto universe.

In continuity, Kinahan's announces the exclusive launch of its metaverse in order to have, tomorrow, digital ambassadors to promote the brand : a feat that still raises them to the top of the pioneers. This new generation of digital brand ambassadors aims to enhance the consumer experience through cutting-edge technologies.

To work on this new shift, the whiskey brand has been able to rely on Generation7Group (G7G) which supports them on the business model and the evolution of NFTs.

Kinahan's Metaverse projects will include 3D and augmented reality objects, ranging from digital whiskey barrels, to other branded items created in collaboration with artists.

The virtual ambassadors will be able to evolve in other worlds. The first ambassadors will appear on November 15, 2021 on several media platforms. They will be part of Kinahan's marketing campaigns for existing and upcoming Whiskey ranges, as well as other digital products including NFTs.

It is a strategic shift undertaken by Kinahan, and the ambitions do not stop there since one can imagine the unlimited possibilities allowed in the Metaverse.

This new example shows us the extent of the phenomenon, and also demonstrates the interest of coupling authentic and old brands with new cutting-edge technologies to continue to reinvent itself and provide an ever more exclusive service to consumers.

Brands are thus at a turning point in their history and must review their communication strategy. In the metaverse, the consumer is no longer really a physical person but becomes an avatar and Cathy Hackl, expert on the subject, therefore suggests developing a new communication model: D2A (Direct to Avatar ). The interest also lies in the fact of coupling the virtual and real world by offering, for example, accessories or clothes worn by the avatars and which can be ordered in physics, as was the case in the collaboration between Roblox and Gucci.

From product placement during an event, to the creation of virtual shopping centers, or the possibility of using virtual reality to try on clothes directly at home, highlighting your brand becomes child's play with infinite possibilities in the metaverse.

An important criterion is to be taken into account in the virtual universe: the presence of avatars. The consumer takes on the appearance of an avatar, an invented and imagined character to whom he will give a certain personality and appearance.

For a brand, it is therefore important to fully understand the stakes and the behavior of these virtual characters in order to direct its discourse and offer its products and services to the right people.

Like Kinahan's whiskey, the future of marketing in the metaverse is full of promise, and even if questions arise, everything remains to be invented.

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