Eight expert speakers gave their views on topics ranging from what the Metaverse is, to what advertising and education will look like in this 'brave new world'.

According to the summit, the Metaverse provides an opportunity for immersive technology to enable more purpose-led human experiences.

According to Glen Gillis, CEO of Sea Monster, there are three elements that define the essence of the Metaverse, which are as follows:
  1. immersive technology
  2. persistent virtual worlds, and
  3. Web 3.0.
Here are four key findings from the summit that demonstrate how individuals can prepare for the future that starts now:

1. The future of marketing
According to the summit, the Metaverse is a trending topic, and several brands are starting to play in this space.

Gillis says that a key insight into why brands are now including the Metaverse in their marketing strategies is that they are now able to shape the world around them through their actions.

There are four considerations that brands should have if they want to tackle forward-thinking opportunities. These include:
  1. the rise of interactivity
  2. the importance of games
  3. the importance of stories, and
  4. identifying what’s real and what's not.

Focusing on these elements allows brands to drive authentic human experiences.

"The rise of interactivity over the last 50 years has given shape and structure to games, which is really important. Likewise, stories also play a big factor as they shape our existence and how individuals interact with each other and brands," adds Gillis.

Gillis says that brands should be playing and experimenting in this space.

"The revolution is happening right in front of us, and it has to do with the power of web experiences. If brands are not thinking about progressive web apps, then they are going to miss the first step on the road to what the Metaverse will be about," Gillis adds.

2. Creativity in the Metaverse
"Bravery is a two-way street," adds Alex Goldberg, creative director at Ogilvy and who led the team that created one of the first successful, local brand campaigns to demonstrate the power of the Metaverse — including an NFT collection.

Goldberg says, "What we do is crazy. We make stuff up in our heads, then expect a client to spend millions on the things that we made up in the hope it will tackle their business challenges."

It is important that before brands and businesses start playing in this space, they do their research and explore the Metaverse, adds Goldberg.

Goldberg says that by just jumping on the bandwagon without the proper research, brands will open themselves up to criticism from the gaming community and the risk of very NiFTy scammers taking advantage of the currently unregulated space.

3. Education in the Metaverse
According to the summit, the opportunity to scale education in academic virtual learning alone is huge, and it is estimated that it could have an impact of between USD$180 and USD$270-billion.

Honoris United Universities was recently recognised by the World Economic Forum and welcomed the Network into the New Champions community.

This is a collective of high-growth companies that are supporting:
  • new business models
  • emerging technologies, and
  • sustainable growth strategies in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
This is while remaining mindful of their impact on society to build a better future.

A demonstration of this innovation was shared at the summit through the virtual Honoris Africa Campus that Red & Yellow is part of.

Through this technology, staff across 15 institutions, across 10 African countries and 32 cities were able to connect in the Metaverse.

They explored each respective campus and participated in activities together, recreating the serendipity of real interactions and connecting people across borders, a feature that was not possible on more traditional digital platforms like Zoom or Teams calls, says the summit.

According to the summit, the rise of the Metaverse allows innovators in education to use new ways to improve the experience of students by embracing new modes of delivery. The building of Metaverse realities should never be a substitute for the real world, but it's now simply too big to be ignored.

The opportunity to shape the Metaverse in a way that fosters greater social cohesion, reduces inequality, widens access to education, and acts as a catalyst for social mobility will redefine how education is provided in the future, says the summit.

4. Betterverse — Ethics in the Metaverse
A key theme at the summit was the impact of the Metaverse on physical and mental well-being.

In its most basic terms, the Metaverse represents a world without the physical limitations of reality — an opportunity to create an idealistic version of the real world, free from bias, sexism and discrimination, where identity can be fluid and experimental.

If this sounds idealistic the conversation was well balanced with the risks, which were shared by the Metalabs Africa duo: Tyrone Rubin and Brendan Louw.

According to the summit, the duo stressed the importance of smart contracts, which allow the exchange of currency and the delivery of services, as well as access to unlockable content and other data exchanges.

"All the NFTs that we have been talking about land up being programmed onto a smart contract and stored on a blockchain-based platform," adds Louw.

"Kenya and Nigeria have banned cryptocurrency and if you are trading in those countries, you can't go to the bank and exchange it for currency. In South Africa, individuals are regulating it better. Our banks are giving us the option to at least practice safely and allow us to exchange from cryptocurrency to fiat and vice versa," says Louw.

"A new world is being built piece by piece, pixel by pixel, and it is being made into whatever the creators want it to be. For those who want to be a part of this, I remind them to remember the use and the consumer," adds Elizabeth Lee Ming, head of marketing at Red & Yellow and host of the summit.

"You are not just creating it for yourself. You want to take people from point A to point B; you want them to engage in the project and you need to think what's the best way to do that," concludes Ming.

Equipping yourself for future careers in digital starts now
At the conference, the Red & Yellow Creative School of Business announced the launch of Designing for the Metaverse, one of the first online short courses to provide relevant and much-needed skills for the future. 

To find out more individuals can look here. 

For more information, visit www.redandyellow.co.za. You can also follow the Red & Yellow Creative School of Business on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.