While my inbox has been flooded with “metaverse” Christmas activations, I wasn’t sure they could all live up to the hype. So I’m taking it upon myself to think critically about what makes me excited to do my Christmas shopping in the metaverse. This edition is going to be a very seriously graded report card across five areas of competency:

Did I want to buy something?
Did it cement the brand in my brain?
Was it innovative?
Was it fun?
Was it beautiful?

(PSA - As a gift to me, if you find this interesting and think your colleagues may too, please share it with them.)

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Charlotte Tilbury

Created by Obsess, the B2B 3D store creator making a name for itself in this space, CT hosted a multi-roomed space allowing you to shop and play. (they also have a 3d store) Charlotte’s scores are as follows.

Did I want to buy something? - B+ the store definitely conveyed the glamour of the CT brand, but I am not sure I felt compelled to shop
Did it cement the brand in my brain? - A- this store was very on-brand, and the CT world is fun to emulate online
Was it innovative? - B- their use of a POAP (like a proof of being there on the blockchain) was a nice touch, though generally, the store looked like a lot of these stores do, as you roam from location to location somewhere between playing and shopping
Was it fun?- B+ CT had the only game that was actually difficult for me. Caveat that this far into the holiday season, almost all games are hard for me, but I don’t know if we’ve gone too far into the gamification thing. Do you need to play memory games to fall in love with a lipstick?
Was it beautiful? The brand's aesthetic is pretty lush, making this an easy one to score well in.

DressX

DressX is offering an NFT box with an unknown bucket hat inside. Not actually in the metaverse, but FOR the metaverse so I’ll include it.

Did I want to buy something? B+ I think this could be a kind of fun, digital white elephant. I’m too old for bucket hats, so that makes me a bit biased.
Did it cement the brand in my brain? B+ one of the benefits of the bucket hat is that the branding is front and center. Unfortunately, this is also a massive drawback.
Was it innovative? A- This idea of a mystery NFT isn’t anything new, but I think DressX is looking to expand their consumer base and bring in non-crypto people to be excited about dressing their avatars or zhushing up their Zoom link, and for that crowd, yes I think this is innovative.
Was it fun? B+ A little mystery is fun. Not THAT much fun, but I also can’t hold the idea to too high a standard compared to an entire virtual store.
Was it beautiful? A- Their aesthetics and digital craftsmanship show the world what’s possible in the space. But again, it’s a bucket hat!

Givenchy

A Roblox experience for Givenchy Beauty.

Did I want to buy something? C+ Not even sure what I would want to buy. While there were opportunities to make up my avatar's face with Givenchy product, playing a game in Roblox doesn’t make me want to get my Christmas shopping/treating myself done.
Did it cement the brand in my brain? C+ Of course, Roblox is more visually limited than building your own, but even bearing that in mind, this was weak sauce. I didn’t get any vibe of who I would become if I bought Givenchy lipstick, as opposed to the Charlotte Tilbury activation, where the answer is Jourdan Dunn, and of course, yes, I’d like that very much.
Was it innovative? C- This was a bit like the Gucci Roblox game but less fun. Running around clicking logos to gain points is appealing only to five-year-olds. Who, yes, inhabit the Roblox world, but it seems like a very long game for lipstick marketing.
Was it fun? C- See my screenshot of the ice skating tap out the rhythm game. Seemingly pointless, confusing, and what does this have to do with lipstick?
Was it beautiful? B- It wasn’t displeasing to the eye, I will say that.

Stephanie Gottlieb. This was also created by Obsess, for Stephanie Gottlieb jewelry, and it shows that they are the front-runner in this space, selected for a Disney incubator, etc. As opposed to CT, which felt very much like a Roblox activation, with different rooms you travel to, this was a shopping destination, an evolution of a 2d e-com experience. The space is designed to show you the goods, how to wear them, and what the founder is “selling.”

Did I want to buy something? A- Nice product shots, high res, almost like you could touch them.
Did it cement the brand in my brain? B+ A little bit. Given that it was more like a store, there was less room to play with spaces and colors, but I walked away with some visual imagery and an idea of who the founder is/sounds like/styles herself.
Was it innovative? B+ This isn’t an “A” because I don’t think an “A” exists in this space yet. This is more innovative than browsing Net-A-P, but it’s not a revolution. Playing with 3d spinning earrings and changing their colors on a 3D model was fun and would not work in trad e-comm.
Was it fun? B+ I like shopping, so this was pretty fun. Nice videos. Nice avatar of the founder telling you about the brand. I don’t think an A is the goal for a store like this that seemed very revenue-driven
Was it beautiful? A- The space was simple, but my understanding is that to drive actual sales, it’s better if people don’t have to move around too much. This seemed like a good evolution or a merging of what an IRL store and a digital store should look like.

For most of these experiences, a significant limitation is mobile. It’s just not a compatible experience: 3D immersive internetting and a tiny little screen. Unexpectedly, I’m still thrilled with these evolutions. E-Commerce looks very similar now to how it did when I was getting online via dial-up. I want to give all of these brands an A for getting out there and trying something different.

Next year, we’ll continue to see this convergence of what 3D/IRL shopping feels like with what virtual shopping can offer us. Hopefully, more brands will be able to harness the unique operation opportunities and exciting innovations to deliver more delight to their consumers. I also can’t wait for more public data or even a “Why We Buy” for virtual stores, as Paco Underhill’s original book was seminal for me in thinking about retail.

See you in 2023!

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