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It seems like we're hearing the words 'metaverse,' 'blockchain,' and 'Web3' every few hours. From Superbowl commercials to campaign brainstorms, it feels impossible to avoid the virtual world and all of its implications for personal wealth, branding stunts, and the future of work. But business leaders simply cannot ignore this rapidly-growing space, nor the potential to be a savvy early adopter.
On the season finale of ''The New Rules of Business,'' Chief Co-Founders Carolyn Childers and Lindsay Kaplan speak with Janine Yorio, CEO of virtual real estate firm Republic Realm, and Cathy Hackl, host of Adweek's ''Metaverse Marketing'' podcast, to dig into why conversations around the metaverse are unnecessarily confusing and the ways in which business leaders can start wading in.
''I think a lot of CEOs are turning to their CMOs and saying, 'Oh, my gosh. You have to do something in metaverse and NFTs because Budweiser did it and Campbell Soup did it and Clinique did it. Why aren't you doing it? You're failing,''' Yorio says. ''And so you get this scurrying of activity to go do something in the metaverse and what ends up getting done, in my opinion, is not very brand building. It has no longevity to it and it feels like a cheap, quick corporate marketing ploy.''
When thinking about the metaverse, or Web3, and the ways in which your business can enter the space, Yorio says ''take your time, get smart, and figure out what's going to make your brand look truly visionary as opposed to just piling onto a lot of the other tepid and unimaginative NFT drops and metaverse activations.''
With the industry still being in its infancy, Yorio says she encourages all leaders, particularly women, to get involved in the metaverse now regardless of your level of knowledge. ''Nobody's an expert in metaverse and NFT because it's really new. And so men are better at pretending,'' she says in regards to the industry being dominated by men so far. ''There's nobody who has more than a one to two year headstart than anybody in metaverse and NFTs. So there's really no good reason why, if you're thinking of a career change or you're thinking of expanding your professional mandate to include NFTs, you shouldn't do it. You are just as qualified as almost everybody else.''
To jump into the metaverse now, listen to the latest episode of ''The New Rules of Business'' podcast — and leave a review.
