In writing this newsletter I wanted this to be different from my usual blogs.  Rather than look at day-to-day strategic or tactical issues I wanted to look at some high level strategic subjects.  I also want to highlight some of the amazing talent we have here at DLA Ignite.

I know every leader can say they have amazing talent, here at DLA Ignite we are not just people that execute the "statement of work (SoW)". Our people, of course do this, but they become business advisors in their own right.  So when the "seas get rough" like the economy is doing right now, it's the team from DLA Ignite that the customers turn to for advice about what should that business do now.

Afterall when the "seas get rough", it's good to know that there are handrails that you can grab hold of.

This month I am going to pick out two subjects, the first is the Metaverse and also I'm going to highlight the work that Lenwood Ross is working on.  Both are amazing. 

The Metaverse gets Social

Social has changed the world, it's changed the world of business and it's changed society.  Covid 19 accelerated it and we are not going back to where we were back in 2019.  It's like we have walked through a door into a room, that door has shut behind us and there is no handle to allow us to go back, we have to move forward. 

DLA Ignite's drive for innovation to support clients

Here at DLA Ignite we have a culture to drive the business forward, we have to innovate, if we don't innovate we will get left behind.  We are very proud of the fact that the two main competitors we had when we first started, pivoted out of the market, we out innovated them.

We are able to experiment in a way that our customers are not able to.  When we moved into live streaming a year ago, we did this so that when our customers are ready, we can help and advise them in terms of what to do.  The same with social audio, the same with the Metaverse.  

To misquote Mark Zuckerberg, "we move fast and break things".  If we take live streaming, we are helping businesses become the leading technical and commercial influencer in their market.  Taking any oxygen away from the competition.  This was a process and term that did not exist 12 months ago.  Which is what I mean by we have to keep pushing.

So what about the Metaverse?

This article is not an introduction to the Metaverse, If you are looking for an overview to the Metaverse then check out my blog here and I talk about the future of sales and marketing in the Metaverse in this blog here.

If you want to understand more about the Metaverse there are three people I have interviewed on my podcast #TimTalk 

The future of online social experiences  with Ethan Berg

How the metaverse will impact business with Padraig Costello 

The future of the internet - Web 3.0, Blockchain and NFTs  with Sandra H 

How is the Metaverse shaping?

I often get people saying to me about the Metaverse, "I just don't get it?", it's how I felt 12 years ago when I joined Twitter, the same reason why we are experimenting here at DLA Ignite. 

If you look at many of the announcements that are taking place about the Metaverse it is projects that are replicating Web 2.0 or the real world in web 3.0 environment.  Take some of the retail shops, who are putting shops in the Metaverse, I guess it gets a headline and enables a business to experiment, but it does not push the boundaries forward. 

This article by the drum sums up where we are, China being one of the places in the world that is really pushing the world of tech,

How China is embracing web3: marketing to gen Z on the Chinese metaverse

There is also this article from The drum which states 21m people have now visited Nike’s Roblox store. Here’s how to do metaverse commerce right 

"Nikeland was one of the first proof of concepts for mainstream metaverse commerce. The virtual world, created on Roblox, saw 7 million visitors over the course of its first two months. It built upon the expertise of Nike’s newly acquired metaverse agency, RTKFT, in order to facilitate a gaming experience that was Nike-branded and, crucially, allowed users to buy virtual goods from Nike itself."

Interesting that Nike decided to buy in the expertise and they are open that this is a proof of concept. 

"Daren Tsui, chief exec of Together Labs, has argued that a successful metaverse execution requires three key attributes: “It needs to have presence (social presence), it needs to be persistent (when users come back there’s some sort of continuity and not a reboot) and lastly and most importantly it needs to be shared (multiple people will need to be able to interact in the metaverse).“"

"Nike commissioned LeBron James to visit Nikeland, during which time participants were rewarded for physical gameplay with the ability to unlock virtual products."

Winnie Burke is head of fashion and beauty partnerships at Roblox says

“These branded worlds are an extension of existing social channels, allowing fans to connect with brands, creators and community members in an exciting, dynamic and ever-changing way that keeps people coming back for more and to enjoy these experiences together with their friends.”

She says: “For many brands, the main goal is building affinity with generation Z, which can in turn impact their purchasing decisions in the real world. From our research, we see early indications of how lifestyle experiences from brands on the platform can extend into future interactions with the brand in the physical world.

What's happening at DLA Ignite?

We have been working with Agora World, which was a college project for Ethan Berg and his team and we have been experimenting with this, so that we can advise clients.

There are a number of projects that we have in play that we are experimenting with.  We have already live streamed our "digital download" Friday (14:00 UK / 09:00 AM US East coast) into the Metaverse and also been in the Metaverse and live streamed that onto LinkedIn.  Recording here.

One of the great things about Agora World is the fact you don't need a set of virtual reality (VR) goggles like you do with other systems and is a major barrier to entry.  And will mean that the Metaverse will have more social inclusion.

What makes the Metaverse different?

The Metaverse is an immersive experience, which is very different from the world of the web today.  If you think about the web today (Web 2.0) is rooted in flat images, documents, and videos. In the metaverse, the core marketing methods will change to immersive experiences that are far more natural, personal, and interactive (Web 3.0).

Asking people in marketing their plans for the 3D immersive website, will usually blow people's minds.  Let's not forget nobody is interested in your products or brochures or adverts, I'll leave that through with you.

Let's change the subject from the Metaverse to transformation in a box.

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Transformation in a box

In this 2 minute video Lenwood Ross explains what is "transformation in a box" and the clear business case for people based transformation. 

The link to the video is here.

Lenwood is passionate about helping people to prepare people for what is happening in the new economy as well as helping the people and process transform to digital.  

We've seen this massive investment in IT in the name of digital transformation.  Leaving a business with a new shiny IT system but with analog people and processes. 

The first transformation in a box solution is for talent acquisition.

We know that recruiting is broken, it's expensive and it's ineffective; AI and automation has not resolved the problem like it was promised it would. 

Lenwood and the team have created a human centric approach to talent acquisition. 

It's called transformation in a box because everything you need for the transformation .... is in the box.

For a monthly subscription. 

This is human centric transformation, which places people (and not IT) at the centre of any transformation.

If you are a human resources leader, if you are a talent development professional, please connect with Lenwood on LinkedIn, here.  Lenwood is looking for help and advice in bringing this to market.  

If you are not one of these people, why not forward this to the people responsible in your organization? 

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