Where is this whole Meta thing going?
Well, according to Karin Tracy, head of industry, retail, luxury, fashion at Meta, it has the potential to go far and fashion should not risk getting left behind.
“This is the next big thing, it will be the disruptive successor to the mobile web, and we like to call it the embodied internet because we’re not just looking at it — we’re going to be in it,” she said, speaking Thursday in a virtual Fashinnovation session titled, “Fashion Is Going From Magazines, to Mobile, to the Metaverse.” “For retailers, I just want to be clear, it’s not going to be about replacing in-store experiences. This is going to be about enhancing everything we do all with the goal of connecting consumers to the brands we love.”
Related Articles
Comparing the metaverse to a “Sci-Fi” milestone not unlike dial-up or mobile connectivity, Tracy went a step further, saying: “This will be the greatest marketing opportunity brands will see since the creation of the internet.” (And certainty one Meta has its sights set on advancing).
You May Also Like
“Just like we saw in the early days with the internet and mobile, there’s going to be complete industries and ecosystems and brands created around this who are going to revolutionize everything we do. The way we play, the way we learn, the way we shop…and that’s why it’s such an exciting chapter for this industry, and for this industry being part of who will create and build this. It’s not going to be built alone,” she continued.
Meta forecasts one billion people taking part in the metaverse, and that’s not to mention the millions of jobs created and hundreds of millions of commerce capital floating around.
“We’re all going to be building this together,” she said.
Acknowledging fashion’s relatively quick approval rate for the metaverse, Tracy said, “what brands are already doing today will still be relevant in the metaverse tomorrow,” in the sense of “multidimensional marketing.” She predicts, “Everything you see out in the world will be shoppable, and everything that’s shoppable will be personalized.”
And legacy brands and nimble start-ups alike are already getting in on it.
Mentioning the value in a measured or test-and-learn approach depending on the sector, Tracy went on to say that comfort is king, as in brands need to get comfortable with access across “holistic” digital and physical environments. Visual search and AI are just some tools she believes will unlock friction.
While much excitement stirred for the future, neither Meta’s recent financial earnings nor ongoing mental health impacts on users were addressed.
On Thursday morning, Meta shares were down 24.3 percent, a slump of $220 billion following the release of the company’s earnings report Wednesday. Among billions in operating losses, for the first time in history, Facebook’s daily active users shrank.