On Monday, Platformer’s Casey Newton detailed Zuck’s struggles to get employee buy-in on the metaverse. In one survey, only 58% of Meta employees said they understood the company’s metaverse strategy. Meta leadership recently complained to managers that employees aren’t using the company’s Horizon VR platform enough. One issue, Newton poses, is that the company’s metaverse efforts are too early, and that employees are more interested in working on projects where they can have an immediate impact.
For what it’s worth, Zuck didn’t exactly refute that — in his opening keynote, he dedicated the event to “the people who would rather be early than fashionably late.” So what does this tell us about the current state of the metaverse? And what challenges does this present for CMOs who are trying to navigate this new landscape? Let’s take a closer look.
The Current State of the Metaverse
Themetaverse is still very much in its infancy. While there are some big players like Facebook and Apple working on building out their presence in this new digital world, it remains to be seen how successful they will be. For now, it seems that many people are still trying to wrap their heads around what the metaverse even is and what it could mean for them. That lack of understanding is likely one of the reasons why employees at Facebook are struggling to get behind the company’s metaverse initiatives.
This presents a challenge for CMOs who are trying to navigate the ever-changing landscape of marketing and advertising. On one hand, you don’t want to invest too heavily in something that may not pan out. On the other hand, you don’t want to fall behind your competition if the metaverse does take off. It’s a tricky tightrope to walk, but one that CMOs will have to get used to as more and more companies start dipping their toes into the metaverse pool.
The challenges facing Facebook’s metaverse efforts are indicative of the challenges facing marketers as a whole when it comes to this new digital landscape. The metaverse is still very much in its infancy, and there is a lot we still don’t know about it. As such, it presents a risk for companies who invest too heavily too soon. However, it also presents a risk for companies who don’t invest at all and end up being left behind by their competition. It’s a delicate balance, but one that CMOs will need to master if they want to stay ahead of the curve.
