TechMagic with Cathy Hackl

Have you ever wondered if you have someone out there in the world that looks just like you? A study from a research institute in Spain found that most of us have several lookalikes out there. Why do we share this with you? Because the same is becoming true for our physical world.Technology has helped us map many streets and roads, which we use to navigate to our destinations on a daily basis. But much more than meets the eye is happening underneath the surface. We are creating digital twins of our cities, neighborhoods, and even our homes.On today's episode of Metaverse Marketing, we investigate how Metaverse technologies are bridging the physical and virtual worlds, allowing individuals to literally change their surroundings.Follow Cathy on Twitter: @CathyHacklSubscribe to Adweek's Metaverse Marketing on your favorite podcast platform!You can listen and subscribe to all of Adweek’s podcasts by visiting adweek.com/podcasts.Stay updated on all things Adweek Podcast Network by following us on Twitter: @adweekpodcasts.And if you have a question or suggestions for the show, send us an email at podcast@adweek.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You may know a lot of metaverse skeptics or you might be one yourself.For many people, the metaverse conjures up visions of lonely, unhappy people wearing VR headsets to escape reality. While we hope that through this podcast, you come to realize that the metaverse and web3 are so much more than people in headsets, the feeling is understandable. After all, the term "metaverse" does originate in a dystopian novel.Today on Metaverse Marketing, we're talking dystopias and utopias, the fears that can sabotage your brand's foray into the metaverse, and how we can make the ideals of web3 and the metaverse a reality.Follow Cathy on Twitter: @CathyHacklSubscribe to Adweek's Metaverse Marketing on your favorite podcast platform!You can listen and subscribe to all of Adweek’s podcasts by visiting adweek.com/podcasts.Stay updated on all things Adweek Podcast Network by following us on Twitter: @adweekpodcasts.And if you have a question or suggestions for the show, send us an email at podcast@adweek.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the second season of Adweek's Metaverse Marketing podcast. We are excited to dive deeper this season into how the metaverse is changing our world both on and offline. In this premiere episode, host Cathy Hackl explores what it truly means to build a community and why it is such a hot topic in Web3 and the metaverse. Follow Cathy on Twitter: @CathyHacklSubscribe to Adweek's Metaverse Marketing on your favorite podcast platform!You can listen and subscribe to all of Adweek’s podcasts by visiting adweek.com/podcasts.Stay updated on all things Adweek Podcast Network by following us on Twitter: @adweekpodcasts.And if you have a question or suggestions for the show, send us an email at podcast@adweek.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back, fellow pioneers! About a year ago we made a big bet that business professionals would be interested in better understanding what the metaverse meant for them and the brands and companies they work for. And what a year it's been. So much has happened since our last episode.Nowadays, all eyes are on the metaverse and Web3, and for good reason. Every week seems to bring with it further acceleration, and it can feel hard to keep up with the pace of change. The most prominent companies in the world are investing in virtual worlds and new commerce models. They're building out new platforms and markets for engaging with their customers, but they aren't the only players. Visionaries across science, art technology, fashion, gaming, and entertainment are expanding our vision for what is possible when we build this new reality.It's not really a question anymore of whether the metaverse is going to happen. It is already being worked on and it is too big to ignore, but what will it look like long term? What values will prevail? What could go wrong and how will it change us?Join us for the second season of Adweek's Metaverse Marketing, presented by Meta, as we explore these questions and help you prepare for tomorrow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We started this journey in an effort to better understand where the future of the internet is heading, as well as to help you explore the metaverse. And just as we were doing that, something quite interesting happened.Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, announced that the company will become a metaverse company and marked the shift with a name change to Meta. If ever there was a timestamp in history, this would be it. While Facebook may be a part of that journey, as we've heard it time and time again from experts throughout this season, no one company will own the metaverse and no one person's vision for the future of the metaverse will prevail. We're all building it together.But what will the future of the metaverse look like? In episode 8 of Adweek’s Metaverse Marketing podcast, we explore what the next decade of the metaverse will look like, how it will enable new kinds of ontological exploration, how brands can future-proof their businesses and enter the metaverse, and the implications of the metaverse on future generations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It was May 2019 when Dutch startup, The Fabricant, made a splash on the fashion scene with the debut of their Iridescence dress, a luminous cape-like gown that glowed with highlights of purple. But this was no ordinary dress. The Iridescence dress is a digital asset that was auctioned on the blockchain for $9,500 and delivered by digitally tailoring the dress onto the photos of the buyer. For those paying attention to what is happening in the fashion industry, it was this sale that made us rethink what is valuable in fashion. In episode 7 of Adweek’s Metaverse Marketing podcast, we will discuss what fashion could be when divorced from physics and explored only as a creative expression, how direct-to-avatar might just be the next direct-to-consumer, and perhaps the most important question of all, what will you wear in the metaverse? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When the American digital artist known as Beeple sold a digital artwork at Christie’s Auction House for over $60 million, it became the most expensive NFT ever sold at an auction. It was a metaverse moment that crystallized the hype surrounding this new form of digital media. But what exactly is an NFT and why are they so important? NFT stands for non-fungible token and is essentially a unique and noninterchangeable unit of data stored on a digital ledger such as the blockchain. These tokens can be linked to anything from art, texts, video or even bits of code. So, what does this have to do with the metaverse? In episode 6 of Adweek’s Metaverse Marketing podcast, we will explore the rise of non-fungible tokens, how they have impacted the worlds of art, fashion, collectibles, and real estate, their place in the metaverse, and how they can unlock new opportunities to engage with audiences, as well as new revenue streams. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if it was possible to walk the halls of Hogwarts, explore the deserts of Tatooine, or be emersed into J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth? Would you want to explore one of these imaginary worlds? "People like the idea of an escapist experience, whether that be on TV, in a video game, or on some kind of shared virtual space,” says Anshel Sag, Principal Analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. “I think that helping people to momentarily escape reality is really what entertainment's purpose is." The metaverse presents itself as a realm of infinite possibilities and opportunities to make those dreams a reality, but how we get there is still being established. In episode two of Adweek’s Metaverse Marketing podcast, we explored how collaboration and co-creation are important aspects of digital citizenship in the metaverse. In episode four, we discussed how gaming is building its rules and infrastructure. Today we're looking at gaming's close cousin, entertainment, and how it's the glue holding everything together. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When most of your time spent with others is on digital platforms, is your digital identity a better representation of who you are than your physical identity? As we look forward towards the future, our avatars will play an increasingly important role in how we enter the metaverse and how we represent ourselves there. "The purpose of the avatar inside the metaverse is to really truly look inside ourselves," Kelly Vero says. The avatar can become an exploration of the self, but it can also give us the opportunity to be multiple selves, explore multiple identities, or different facets of identity at once. In the metaverse, everyone can create a unique identity, no matter how similar or different to your physical appearance and IRL identity. Identity is oftentimes heavily influenced by culture. And the culture of the past 30 years has been informed largely by one thing—the internet. The internet and the evolution of social media have made way for all types of conversations about identity, self-determination and even gender. So how will the next evolution of the internet—the metaverse—inform our identity in the future? That's the question we'll explore in this week's episode of Adweek's Metaverse Marketing podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

According to 2021 research from Statista: 38% of video game players are ages 18 to 34 and 7% are 65 years and older. In 2021, women accounted for 45% of gamers in the U.S. And lastly, two out of every five people across the world are gamers. They're not only your kids, but also your aunt, friend, and possibly even your grandma. You need to look no further than gaming to start seeing your first glimpses of the metaverse. Gaming—and particularly multiplayer games—have paved the way for the metaverse, especially when it comes to infrastructure. So much of internet culture is driven by fun and games, so it makes sense that the next evolution of our digital lives will continue to be shaped by gaming culture. However, gaming as we know it is just the beginning. While early experiments are linking the blockchain to gaming, there's still no universal standard for an economic system in the metaverse, which makes it messy and hard to pin down. As you'll hear on this episode of Adweek's Metaverse Marketing podcast, once we agree on such a system for transferring money and ownership, a whole new world of opportunity is likely to be unlocked. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.