where thousands of people can visit a Roomza-branded environment .
And as far as providing entertainment for Roomza guests , Crimmins believes the options are limitless , even though the guests will never actually leave their rooms . “ As long as you can engage them with eyes and ears , you can do it in the metaverse ,” he adds .
Indeed , how hotels choose to engage with their audience in the metaverse will be different from current digital marketing strategies . Ana Andjelic , a brand executive and author of “ The Business of Aspiration ” and the newsletter , “ The Sociology of Business ,” says hotels should focus on experiences they can offer users in the metaverse , largely ones with tangible rewards , either digital or physical , instead of directing guests to a booking engine .
“ I would not necessarily go to the metaverse to book anything . I would go to experience things ,” she says . “ The metaverse is less about utility , and more about experience .”
Andjelic says one future scenario for hotels in the metaverse could be a “ playto-earn ” model where whatever customers
IF YOU ’ RE NOT LOOKING FOR WAYS TO ADD VALUE IN THE VIRTUAL WORLD , OR AT THE INTERSECTION OF THE VIRTUAL WORLD AND THE BUILT WORLD , AND I THINK THAT YOU ’ RE , FRANKLY , ABDICATING YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO INNOVATE .
– CURTIS CRIMMINS
earn in the metaverse can be translated into physical rewards such as loyalty program points or a booking discount . However , the game or the experience has to be rooted in the wider customer acquisition and retention strategy , which is why hotel loyalty programs could do quite well in the metaverse .
The metaverse also opens a lot of opportunities for hotels to do partnerships and collaborations with well-known brands like Nike , Adidas and Gucci that
THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR TRANSACTIONS ARE INSANE … WE HAVE A HELL OF A LONG WAY TO GO IN TERMS OF HOW IT ’ S GOING WORK .
– DAVID KEEN have already staked a presence in this realm . And with so many other companies building digital worlds in the metaverse , Andjelic says hotels wouldn ’ t need to build anything on their own , just simply find the spaces where their target customers are frequenting and launch from there .
While it ’ s far too early to talk about costs or ROI of a metaverse marketing strategy , Crimmins says Roomza is devoting at least a third of their digital spend to the metaverse .
“ If you ’ re not looking for ways to add value in the virtual world , or at the intersection of the virtual world and the built world , and I think that you ’ re , frankly , abdicating your responsibility to innovate ,” he says .
And like anything else that concerns technology , there will be some resistance to the metaverse , particularly from older generations . But Keen says regardless of how one feels about the metaverse , you still must acknowledge that it ’ s here , study the opportunities it provides and develop your brand ’ s identity within it to reach the generation who has already embraced it .
“ We ’ re not designing for me anymore , we ’ re not designing for you anymore , we ’ re designing for the younger generation ,” Keen says .
22 hotelsmag . com March / April 2022