Since Zuckerberg’s Metaverse announcement last month, there has been growing hype about how brands might play out in the so-called “metaverse,”
which Facebook (parent company now Meta) recently referred to as its main new focus. And other media owners, including ITV, are exploring opportunities for advertisers.
Currently, this largely includes playing in virtual world games like Roblox, which has 220 million monthly active users; Sandbox, which recently sold a virtual plot of land for $4.3 million; and Somnium Space, an immersive space where users can purchase digital land and create games and experiences within it.
Ocean Outdoor – a facilitator of digital connectivity in the OOH (Out Of Home) world – are jumping on the exciting bandwagon. The company will be able to advertise on digital billboards within video games and the metaverse after the outdoor company was awarded a partnership with in-game advertising company Admix.
This move will allow brands to purchase digital placements outside of the home in the physical and virtual worlds at the same time, providing brands with increased access to millions of players.
Ocean’s first foray into the metaverse will feature digital replicas of three custom DOOH locations similar in design and size to their premium downtown UK assets, including a three-screen roadside location, and a giant fully curved screen motion location (similar to Westfield screen) and the full-fledged The Loop city center network in Manchester and Birmingham.
Furthermore, Ocean Labs plans to run brand-led trials in the metaverse.
Phil Hall, managing director of Ocean Outdoor UK, said: Campaign This will be the first time that its customers will be able to align physical digital outdoor placements with the default.
“I would describe it as a digital play out of the house at home,” he said. “Just imagine that you are walking along a road or in a shopping mall and you see billboards advertising Coca-Cola, then when you play your avatar going down a virtual path and the same copy will appear.
“Now we can go to brands and say ‘Do you want to advertise on a digital screen outside and at home at the same time?’”
Admix CEO and Co-Founder Samuel Huber described the partnership with Ocean Outdoor UK as “a watershed moment in the advertising industry, creating realistic advertising experiences that fuse the physical and virtual worlds for the first time”.
He added, “Metaverse is the perfect playground for Ocean’s creativity, and its customers are making a symbolic move that will pioneer a new form of advertising with unlimited reach.
“Of course, this is just the beginning: There will be dozens of ways for brands to engage consumers in the metaverse and Admix aims to be a portal for brands to help shape the future of digital experiences for their audiences.”
For Ocean Outdoor, in-game play opens up a new and lucrative advertising channel for the DOOH market, which is expected to be worth $50 billion by 2026.
