The skateboard shoe company Vans has joined together with Roblox in order to push their brand across the metaverse via Vans World. They’re one of the latest of many companies to join the rush to be on a metaverse platform. The brand, who are best known for all things to do with skateboarding, said that they would be providing an interactive experience for skaters. On this metaverse platform they would be able to skateboard in various parks, whilst at the same time being able to try on and wear cool Vans apparel.
The Roblox platform will provide Vans with a hub where they will have their skateboard shops. Within these, players can buy all sorts of customisable Vans sneakers, as well as the latest in skating clothing and accessories. They can also fit custom parts on their skateboards, including a huge variety of wheels and decks. To incentivise the platform, there will be some freebies available. These will include a regular “free item of the day.” For some items the players will have to purchase using the in-game currency of Roblox, which is called “Robux.” Another interesting and quite staggering fact is that some of the clothing from Vans World can be worn outside of the skating experience in other Roblox games.
The virtual skate parks themselves are remodelled after real world locations, with Van’s World consisting of a persistent 3D space where players practice their kickflips and ollie’s with their friends. At the same time they will be able to acquire Vans gear directly within the metaverse experience. As Julia Patkowski, senior manager of global brand digital marketing at Vans put it, “We kept a lot of the Roblox aesthetic in there, but we wanted it to be also representative of some of the things that are important to us globally.”
The vice president brand partnerships at ROBLOX, Christina Wootton, claims that the video game platform was an ideal fit for the vans experience, as both companies shared similar values. “By leveraging cutting edge technology and partnering with the Roblox developer community to build this 3D experience, Vans is bringing brand enthusiasts together in an authentic and interactive way. We’re bringing our communities together to power self-expression and creativity,” she said. “It’s just a really beautiful experience.
This is a view amplified by Nick Street, who’s Vans Vice President of Global Integrated Marketing. “Individual expression is deeply embedded in skate culture, and Vans has been supporting and enabling this exact type of creativity for more than 50 years. With the Vans World experience on Roblox, we are empowering creative expression in the digital world, bridging the gap between virtual and real-world fashion and sports in an accessible, inclusive way. Vans is a global icon and advocate for youth culture, and we’re thrilled to bring this authentic brand experience to the millions of Vans enthusiasts where they are — on Roblox.”
The idea of using the metaverse for marketing by combining the elements of augmented reality and virtual reality as a way of connecting others online has found a number of businesses keen to get ahead of the competition. Another company to introduce a metaverse onto it’s platform is the “Battle Royale” video games provider, Fortnite. They recently took a foray into featuring a live virtual musical performance from the pop star Ariana Grande. Roblox recently partnered with the luxury Italian brand Gucci, thereby allowing the players to dress up their avatars in Gucci gear whilst within the Roblox metaverse. Kinda cool.
Roblox has a massive amount of reach with over 280 million players this last month. Those are some insane figures, and it’s no surprise that marketers are starting to knock on their door. Afterall, it offers a great opportunity for both brands and fans to attract each other in an instantly immersive way. At the same time, the brands can monitor the rise of their products or services across the metaverse. Right now they are just one of many companies who are determined to push the creative boundaries and create new and fantastic 3D Worlds.
Another company that has recently enjoyed creating it’s own metaverse platform is Next Earth. Though their business is originally being built on the sale of land tiles, the company has much loftier goals. One of it’s plans is to not just create its own metaverse, but find ways of joining other metaverses together, in probably the most unique take on the whole metaverse phenomena. The idea that you could jump from your home on the Next Earth metaverse platform, and go skating in the Vans World skatepark experience on the Roblox metaverse, is certainly both tempting and exciting. Though we don’t really like to quote Napoleon Hill, he certainly hit the nail on the head when he said, “First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality.”
