How Brands Can Create A Meaningful Metaverse Strategy?

How Brands Can Create A Meaningful Metaverse Strategy?

How Brands Can Create A Meaningful Metaverse Strategy? 366 222 Shlomi Ron

“I always tell brands, you have to think about three things when you want to enter the metaverse:
1) Gamification: can you gamify your brand? 2) Geolocation: who else is there? Who is your neighbor? Another brand? Celebrity? And 3) Context: Is there a special event happening you can leverage?”

-Dirk Lueth
Co-founder, Uplandme, Inc.

As I’m sure you recall, media attention in 2021 spiked twice about the blockchain.

I tried to keep track and make sense of it all with a series of stories.

Last April, I published a story titled What’s All The Fuss With NFT? and last December, I followed with What’s All The Fuss With The Metaverse? – two interconnected events that opened up new ways brands can tell visual stories.

With so much going on, on top of being so new, and brands trying to figure out the right approach to enter the metaverse stage, I figured it would be great to chat with one of the key players in this emerging world of immersive brand experiences.



To help me unpack this exciting topic, I had the great pleasure to speak with Dirk Lueth, Co-founder, at Uplandme, Inc.

Upland is one of the world’s fastest growing blockchain games. Think Monopoly-like property trading game but on the blockchain. Each day more than 60,000 players buy, sell, trade and develop virtual properties that are based on real-world addresses.

In this episode, we talked about his journey leading to AR/VR, his definition for the metaverse, examples of brands using Upland, success criteria, his top 3 tips – and much more (see full topic list below).

It’s all in the latest episode of the Visual Storytelling Today podcast.

Watch the full video recording of this interview:

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You can also listen to the audio podcast of this episode. Subscribe to the Visual Storytelling Today podcast on iTunes, Google Podcasts, and all other podcast networks.

Topics we discussed:

Use the time stamp markers on the above video to easily navigate.

  • 0:00 Introduction
  • 1:40 What is the metaverse?
  • 6:48 What is visual storytelling?
  • 11:17 What is Upland?
  • 17:33 Researching before buying
  • 18:41 Current metaverse strategies
  • 22:02 Example 1
  • 24:44 Example 2
  • 28:04 Utility’s importance
  • 29:43 What’s the process?
  • 33:20 Typical business goals
  • 35:22 Success metrics
  • 37:03 Common misconceptions
  • 39:28 Metaverse future
  • 42:11 Top 3 tips

Shlomi Ron

Shlomi Ron is the founder and CEO of the Visual Storytelling Institute, a Miami-based think tank with a mission to bring the gospel of visual storytelling from the world of art to more human-centric and purpose-driven marketing. A digital marketing veteran with over 20 years of experience working both on the agency and brand sides for Fortune 100/500 brands such as Nokia, IBM, and American Express. He started VSI to combine his marketing expertise with his passion for visual stories stemming from his interests in classic Italian cinema and managing the estate of video art pioneer, Buky Schwartz. At VSI, he helps brands rise above the communication noise through visual storytelling consulting, training, and thought leadership. Select clients include Estée Lauder, Microsoft, and Cable & Wireless – to name a few. He currently teaches Brand Storytelling at the University of Miami’s Business School. Thought leader and speaker at key marketing conferences. He is also the host of the Visual Storytelling Today podcast, which ranks in the top 10 best business storytelling podcasts on the Web. His book: Total Acuity: Tales with Marketing Morals to Help You Create Richer Visual Brand Stories. Outside work, he is a nascent bread baker, The Moth fan, and longtime fedora wearer likely to jive with his classic Italian cinema interest.

All stories by: Shlomi Ron
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