Cannes Briefing: Marketers swear they’re interested in the metaverse at Cannes even though they’re skeptical

By Kristina Monllos

For an industry that was so desperate for an in-person reunion, there sure is a lot of talk about the virtual world as the metaverse gets a bright spotlight at this year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Marketers and advertisers are getting into the space, creating virtual presences and giving presentations this week on the topic, as they have been since earlier this year. In the same breath, many are questioning its value as the metaverse has yet to prove itself worthy of investment.

“There’s a huge sense of it being a land grab at the moment,” said Gareth Jones, svp of marketing for North America at Wunderman Thompson. “A lot of clients are like, ‘I don’t know what this means, but I want one.’”

To kick off the four-day event in the South of France, both Wunderman Thompson and McCann Worldgroup both created their own Cannes-themed metaverse experiences. (At least in these virtual worlds, the Carlton hotel seems to be open. It’s unclear whether actual deals have been inked in the virtual space). Wunderman Thompson’s build out features space for collaboration, networking, and showcases the company’s work. Ironically, its visuals mimic the WPP beach that’s physically here at Cannes. Later this week, an interactive shopping space and a DJ booth are expected to be added to the metaverse space. Meanwhile, McCann’s experience is a virtual gallery showcasing its most memorable ad campaigns from this year.

At Meta Beach, the social media giant is offering tutorials with its Oculus virtual reality headset as well as a fireside chat on the so-called best metaverse strategy.

In a quick walk through the Palais, several groups could be heard talking about the metaverse and ultimately Web3.

The Cannes-themed foray into the metaverse is meant as a way to invest in a hybrid environment, providing another way for those who weren’t able to attend the festival this year, marketers here told Digiday. Still, there’s a paradox found in the grand in-person return to the South of France while pining for the world of virtual reality.

There’s that healthy dose of irony that the Cannes festival has always supplied. As a global pandemic still looms, economic recession threatens consumer spending and marketing budgets and war continues in Ukraine, the flow of rosé has yet to halt. (More on what was supposed to be a tempered return to Cannes after a two-year hiatus here.)

Seemingly, the industry has wrapped itself up in the idea of the metaverse at a time when the last place marketers and advertisers want to be is in front of yet another screen, especially after two years apart. It points to the industry’s metaverse-driven identity crisis as marketers scramble to figure out what it means — and more importantly, how they can make money from it.

“The metaverse still has such a gimmicky quality to it that people want to come in, they want to create an avatar, look around and experience stuff if they haven’t before,” Jones said.

The buzz also comes when most …read more

Source:: Digiday