When it comes to “the metaverse,” few Pittsburgh business leaders would consider themselves experts. Some may wonder if it even matters to their companies. The short answer: Yes, it does.
In fact, several metaverse concepts are already becoming concrete. Others will soon. Many companies are investing, aiming to deepen customer loyalty, engage in new ways with their communities and grow revenue.
Yet there’s reason for wariness too. The metaverse is suddenly hot, even though the underlying technology trends have been underway for years. As in the internet’s early days, this innovation likely contains pockets of speculation, overvaluation and unwise investment — especially since a true metaverse, as tech visionaries imagine it, is still years away. Not every company needs to become a metaverse leader today.
The good news is, it’s possible to separate the reality from the hype: Understand what the metaverse is really about and take practical, affordable steps to meet your company’s needs.
What the metaverse is — and what it means for business
The metaverse promises a stunningly realistic 3D digital world where you could, for example, put on a virtual reality (VR) headset and visit a factory on the other side of the world. You’ll see and touch its machines, shake hands with the local supervisor, and inspect its operations without leaving your desk. You could even send one digital version of yourself to that factory, while another meets with your board of directors. Consumers could hop from one competing virtual car dealership to another, feeling the wind in their hair as they take test drives. And after you leave that digital recreation of a factory, it will keep producing in parallel to your physical factory. The virtual car will await its next virtual driver.
Already, companies are looking to the metaverse to:
- Enrich the consumer experience.
- Introduce virtual products, only available in the metaverse.
- Collect new data on customers.
- Market physical and digital products and services.
These opportunities exist, even though a true metaverse doesn’t yet and may never.
6 ways to start preparing for the metaverse era
Since no true metaverse exists yet, but many of its concepts are already business-relevant, many companies would benefit from taking six measured actions. The first three focus on opportunities and use cases available today. The next three will help build the capabilities that will help support metaverse success tomorrow.
- Get up to speed. Most companies — even many technology companies — lack institutional familiarity with the metaverse’s concepts, which are evolving quickly. Assign at least one resource or source of knowledge (such as a group) to understand key concepts such as cryptocurrencies and decentralized autonomous organizations and their relevance to your company, and to follow the metaverse as it evolves.
- Develop a strategy. Identify gaps to close and long-term opportunities to build from the metaverse and its key concepts, then work on foundational measures.
- Test the waters. Select a few opportunities available within the metaverse’s underlying trends today. Lower-risk use cases include selling digital versions of physical goods, offering virtual tours of virtual products or facilities, and launching NFTs to enhance brand awareness and connections to customers.
- Focus on trust. The metaverse and its currently existing components offer new challenges for cybersecurity, privacy rights, regulatory compliance, brand reputation and anti-fraud efforts. Companies should, for example, consider security at the services level, so that no matter where your asset goes, security is maintained. To foster trust among consumers, shareholders, regulators and other stakeholders, communicate early what to expect from your metaverse initiatives and how you will mitigate the potential risks.
- Rethink core competencies. What offers competitive advantage in a shared, decentralized digital environment may be different from what you have today. You may need upskilling and recruiting to close skills gaps, as well as new approaches to data and business relationships.
- Align physical and digital. If you have added or plan on adding digital services and/or assets to your portfolio, drive for a consistent brand experience across both the physical and digital constructs. Just as your web presence needs to match your physical location experience — so must your metaverse experience.
Read the full article to learn more about the evolution of the metaverse and how to prepare using the six core concepts that make up PwC’s metaverse framework.
