The time-limited activation, a collaboration between Ralph Lauren and the Roblox-based developer studio Funomena, will run until January 3, 2022.

In 2021, fashion companies have set the pace for brands interested in getting involved in virtual spaces. At the same time, game-based platforms such as Roblox have been leading the charge in the creation of the early metaverse. Brands such as Vans and Gucci have already activated in Roblox this year, and Ralph Lauren made its first foray into the metaverse in August by partnering with the South Korean platform Zepeto.

Digiday talked with Alice Delahunt, chief digital and content officer at Ralph Lauren, and Funomena co-founder Robin Hunicke to learn how they collaborated to bring the virtual experience to life — and what Ralph Lauren hopes to accomplish by creating its own Roblox space. They did not say how much the partnership was worth.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

What does Ralph Lauren hope to accomplish by staking a claim in Roblox?

Alice Delahunt: This is a brand and commerce play; this is a customer acquisition play. On the brand side, we consider this social commerce, and we consider the digital product that we’re creating to be as valuable in the digital space as we see physical products in the physical space. So we see this as a future revenue stream for the company, and we’re excited about the future of digital products and what that can mean for the future of fashion.

Robin Hunicke: It’s an opportunity for brands to really invest in creating and leading the digital space. From the gaming perspective, it’s an opportunity for us to flex our muscles when it comes to satisfying a brand’s needs, in a highly technical space where you really need specific kinds of knowledge and expertise to get something out there. There’s not a lot of professional game developers in this space, but more and more are coming, and this is an opportunity to show how we can push the edge and be technical leaders in this platform.

What metrics are you tracking to gauge the success of the activation?

AD: I think it’s really important that we do measure our engagement — the number of visitors and the time they spent in the activation. Retention, the number of customers that have come back to the game and rated it positively. And, of course, we’re going to look at the commercial aspect of this — the volume of units sold and the number of customers. We’ll apply quite traditional brand and commerce metrics, while also trying to understand new metrics that might apply to this space.

Did Ralph Lauren provide Funomena with any assets to …read more

Source:: Digiday

      

Author: Aaron