Entertainment marketers on the cutting edge are hanging out in the metaverse, which is the next generation of entertainment experience in gamified spaces, said Metavision’s Ashley Lewis at Promax’s Festival of Virtual Content on Wednesday.

“In the metaverse, the normal rules don’t apply,” Lewis said.

Metavision has played its way through these rules working with the UK’s ITV and BBC to partner with such platforms as Fortnite, Minecraft and Roblox, Working with these platforms has granted those companies access to some 300 million hard-to-reach users aged 16-34. Roblox alone boasts engagement numbers of 1 billion hours per month.

For example, for the launch of competition series The Void (similar to NBC’s American Gladiators), ITV collaborated with Metavision to create a space where fans could take on the program’s obstacle course challenges in Fortnite.

Working with British retailer John Lewis & Partners, which is known for its iconic Christmas ads (known as adverts in the UK), Metaverse created Ye Olde Castle Shop in Fortnite. There, visitors could play mini games – including lots of online chores – based on I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! and unlock rewards along the way, such as a holiday advent calendar stuffed with Easter eggs.

For Channel 4’s Come Dine With Me, distributed by ITV Studios, Metavision built “Come Mine With Me” in Microsoft’s Minecraft, where players could compete to host the best dinner party within the virtual world (and hopefully not kill all their guests in boiling lava, fire or on a runaway roller coaster).

Similarly, Metavision created a Fortnite experience for BBC’s The Traitors, which is produced by Studio Lambert. In it, players take on challenges to earn points while trying to suss out the traitors before being taken out first.

Metavision kickstarted the campaign’s launch with a Twitch livestream with UK-based streamer and singer-songwriter Talia Mar. Metavision also worked with UK Fortnite creator Ali-A to create targeted social media content.

For marketers who want to try out the metaverse, here are a few rules that do apply:

1) The adventure starts now. Don’t wait to get involved, you don’t have to build a whole map or experience. Even if you do want to build a whole experience, it doesn’t have to cost huge amounts.

2) Have a strategy. Be clear on your objectives and what you’re looking to achieve. Be clear and aligned from the start.

3) Let creators create – find people who understand this new medium really well and let them do their thing. And think fan first – if you aren’t designing for the player or the audience that’s using that platform, you are going to struggle. Think about context and user.

4) Ignore the hype train. Many views of the metaverse are business driven, which isn’t relevant to where fans and participants feel it is actually going.

5) Respawning is always an option. If you fail, you can always rise from the dead to play again.

Tune into Promax’s Festival of Virtual Content every Wednesday at 9 a.m. PT/4 p.m. CEST.

Tags: bbc come dine with me festival of virtual content fortnite i'm a celebrity ... get me out of here itv itv studios metaverse metavision minecraft roblox studio lambert the void


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