Publicis wants Leon to help blue-chip clients like Walmart, UBS Group and Nestlé understand what the blockchain, NFTs and a more immersive internet<\/a> experience could mean for their businesses. The stakes are big: McKinsey & Co. consultants estimate that annual global spending related to this virtual landscape could reach as much as $5 trillion by 2030.
Leon has a LinkedIn profile, an email address and a French accent. But he doesn’t get a pay cheque: Leon is a lion-esque digital<\/a> avatar.
Million-dollar paydays<\/strong>
While Leon isn’t human, companies are increasingly hiring real people to help them navigate the so-called ‘meta-jungle’. Firms as varied as consumer-products giant Procter & Gamble, talent manager Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Spanish telecom carrier Telefonica, luxury-goods maker LVMH and wedding-registry retailer Crate & Barrel have all decided they need a chief metaverse officer.
Firms are doling out million-dollar paydays to new executives as a down payment to secure their digital future. Gartner<\/a> analysts say one in four people will spend at least an hour a day in the metaverse within a few years. What we’ll be doing there isn’t clear yet, but P&G, for one, hopes it will involve engagement with Crest toothpaste or Herbal Essences shampoo.
Digital FOMO<\/a><\/strong>
P&G launched a digital platform called BeautySPHERE this year and reimagined a popular TV ad from the 1980s into a video game. Nike bought a virtual sneaker company and created a world modelled on its real-life headquarters. Starbucks is introducing coffee-themed NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, linked to its customer-loyalty program. Walmart might create its own cryptocurrency. Luxury brands like Gucci, Balenciaga and Dolce & Gabbana have all brought their fashions to virtual domains in the hopes of converting online youth into real-world buyers of premium handbags, watches and jewellery.
Few of these experiments have made money. But that’s not the point right now. Call it metaverse FOMO. Bosses feel it. Crate & Barrel Holdings CEO Janet Hayes said it’s “essential” that the company has “an impactful presence in the metaverse.” Walt Disney chief Bob Chapek said the metaverse will “create an entirely new paradigm for how audiences experience and engage with our stories.”
Why it matters
<\/strong>
Translating that talk into action is the job of executives like P&G’s Ioana Matei, whose title is head of emerging and immersive technologies, and LVMH’s Nelly Mensah, vice-president of digital innovation and emerging solutions at the home of Fendi<\/a> and Bulgari. Disney’s man in the metaverse, Mike White<\/a>, is senior vice-president in charge of next-generation storytelling and consumer experiences.
It’s common now for newly-named metaverse mavens to hold on to other responsibilities. Crate & Barrel’s Sebastian Brauer’s day job is leading product design and development, but he says he spends about 20% of his time on meta-duties like strategy, outreach and finding ways to bridge physical and virtual domains.
Winning over sceptics<\/strong>
The ideal metaverse chief can speak as fluently about AR and VR as s\/he can about sales and marketing, according to Cathy Hackl, who helps companies set up their meta-business units and claims to be the “world’s first chief metaverse officer” — a title she bestowed upon herself. “They’re not easy to find, but there are people who straddle both of these worlds,” she said.
Metaverse chiefs need to forge external partnerships and win over internal sceptics, adds Wendy Doulton<\/a>, managing partner at Katalyst Group, a consumer tech recruitment firm.
Joanna Popper is one example: The newly-minted chief metaverse officer at Creative Artists Agency used to work at HP, where she ran its virtual-reality efforts, working with studios like Disney and Paramount. Earlier, she held roles in marketing, consulting and investment banking. CAA, whose Hollywood clients include actors Tom Hanks<\/a> and Reese Witherspoon<\/a>, also represents NFT artists like Micah Johnson and has invested in metaverse entities such as NFT marketplace OpenSea.
Popper said her role is to “build a metaverse strategy”. Her unique skill set is the reason why chief metaverse officers can attract compensation packages upwards of $1.5 million.
Early innings<\/strong>
However, the tech sector’s recent financial rout could prompt the metaverse’s biggest players to rethink their ambitions. Crypto winter is upon us, purchases of NFTs have slowed, and increasingly, cost-conscious companies need to focus on what will actually make them money. “The last thing I want to do as we head into a potential recession is consume company resources,” said Brauer. “But I see this as investing to grow. It’s R&D. This train is coming.”
CAA’s Popper said the downturn actually creates an “opportune time” to build. “This is early innings in a long extra-inning game,” she said.
Whether these early evangelists will still be there in the later innings is unclear. In other words, Leon better watch his virtual back. It’s a jungle out there.
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