As Growth for Meta-universe Beauty brands is Competing in this Sector
- Chaileedo Press
- Mar 23, 2022
- 3 min read
Recently, Estee Lauder is laying out meta-universe with the launch of its first NFT digital products. Inspired by its iconic product Advanced Night Repair, the brand will award up to 10,000 of these products during a fashion event to be held from March 24 to March 28.
NFT is seen as a major business opportunity for 2021.
According to Abi Buller, an analyst at The Future Laboratory, the metaverse is "still a nascent area for beauty" right now, but in the future, the opportunity is huge.
In October 2021, beauty brand Clinique, part of the Estée Lauder Group, launched its first NFT digital collection to further enhance the digital experience for consumers.
Roxanne Iyer, global vice president of consumer engagement at Estée Lauder, said stories become currency on social platforms, where Clinique's consumers can express their joy and optimism. The NFT, called "MetaOptimist," is a dynamic digital sphere modeled as a "digital embodiment of the brand" and comes in three different versions. In the real world, the winner will have the opportunity to receive the Clinique collection once a year for the next ten years.
"For us, it's a fun way to start thinking about brand communities and empowering them, and that's what the metaverse world offers," Iyer said. We want to make sure that we create a digital connection and a physical connection with consumers, and this is a project that is very close to them and we will be in touch with them for the next 10 years."
While the program was launched primarily for the U.S., Clinique received applications from around the globe, saw a 60 percent increase in search traffic and a 20 percent increase in social engagement, with participants split almost 50/50 between loyal and new consumers.
Estee Lauder will debut its first NFT as the exclusive beauty brand partner for the virtual world of Decentraland Fashion Week.
Inspired by its staple product Advanced Night Repair, the brand will award up to 10,000 of these products during the fashion event, which will take place from March 24 to March 28, sources said.
Users will then be able to enter a brown bottle of Advanced Night Repair to receive a wearable NFT that provides a "glowing, radiant look" to their avatars. The NFT is free and was designed by virtual creator Alex Box. Estee Lauder said the Advanced Night Repair NFT is aimed at attracting potential customers in the virtual world.
The appeal of online games is undeniable. It is the same for beauty brands in the metaverse world.
Last October, the virtual dress-up game Drest announced a virtual beauty feature in partnership with Gucci Beauty. It allows players to use a total of 29 Gucci virtual beauty products, such as Rouge de Beauté Brilliant lipstick and Vernis à Ongles nail polish, to apply makeup to their avatars and participate in a 72-hour beauty challenge.
Lucy Yeomans, creator, founder and co-CEO of Drest, said, "We are educating consumers through entertainment, fostering their brand awareness and loyalty through this storytelling model that allows consumers to become our co-creators."
As the meta-universe grows, beauty companies will need to be more creative in balancing ROI, but there is not yet a way to measure ROI in this space.
Nars was one of the earliest beauty players in the meta-universe. In its partnership with Drest, the company focused on the number of engagements and hours in related game challenges. The results of a recent project with Zepeto were evaluated through engagement and sales of Nars' virtual makeup and merchandise. Ultimately, Nars sold 600,000 Nars virtual items including cosmetics and branded digital apparel through the launch of National Orgasm Day NFT and bundled sales on Zepeto.
Lucie Greene, the founder of New York-based consultancy Light Years, believes most cosmetic brands have been participating in the metaverse in a fairly traditional way. They saw it almost as a PR or media buy. "But the truth is it's now moving into a more creative phase, like thinking about the potential of new media, new behaviors, new constructs."
As for the future, Lucie Greene speculates, "There will be more products being developed over time, like wearables that give us haptic feedback when we're in metaverse space. Or even if there's a way to feel what a particular product feels like in real life through your clothes, then that could really benefit the beauty industry."
For now, it's still hard to estimate how big the digital fashion or beauty industry could grow, but according to Morgan Stanley's research, metaverse games and NFTs could split 10 percent of the luxury market by 2030 - a growth opportunity with $55.02 billion.
According to Daria Shapovalova, co-founder of DressX, "The metaverse has no boundaries, and as evidenced by the recent success of NFTs in the fashion industry, the sky is not the limit for brands and creatives in the digital space."
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