Clinique had a problem. The brand wanted to "enter the metaverse," but it didn't want to do so in a way that was uncomfortable. So it called a woman named Cathy Hackl: the "Godmother of the Metaverse."
Her credentials? Hackl, the "chief metaverse officer" of Futures Intelligence Group, a metaverse consulting firm, has been working in metaverse-related fields for nearly a decade - or basically since the dawn of meta.
This article is part of Road to Consensus, a series that features speakers and the big ideas they'll be discussing at Consensus 2022, CoinDesk's festival of the year June 9-12 in Austin, Texas. Learn more. This article originally appeared in December's Culture Week.
Just ask Steven Spielberg. During the filming of "Ready Player One," Spielberg worked with virtual reality headset company HTC Vive, where Hackl was a "VR evangelist." At Magic Leap, an augmented reality company, she worked with the man who coined the term Metaverse, Neal Stephenson. And more than a year before the current hype, she was writing articles for Forbes like "The Metaverse Is Coming And It's A Very Big Deal."
It was such a big deal that Hackl left a cushy job at Amazon Web Services to "make a big bet on the Metaverse." Now she advises brands - like Clinique - on how to position themselves in this strange new market. (Her work with Clinique was highly praised by Vogue Business).
In an interview with CoinDesk, the Godmother explains why the metaverse is bigger than the crypto community may realize, why avatars are quickly becoming "emotional proxies of ourselves," and how in the future "every business will need a metaverse strategy."
The term "metaverse" can mean 10 different things to 10 different people - even within the crypto industry. How do you explain it to your clients when you work with them?
Cathy Hackl: I usually start from the past. Web 1 linked information, so there was the Internet. And has that changed anything for your brand? Probably it did. Web 2 connected people, and there was social media and the sharing economy. Did that change anything for your brand? Of course it did, right?
Exactly.
And now we're in the evolution from Web 2 to Web 3. And Web 3 connects people, places and things - or people, spaces and assets. And those people, spaces, and assets can sometimes be in a completely virtual environment, as most people tend to think.
But it will also be in our real world, with some degree of augmentation, probably through a wearable. So Web 3 enables the creation of a metaverse, and the metaverse is a convergence of physical and digital. Think of it as the successor to what's next on the Internet. It's as if your digital lifestyle is catching up with your physical life.
That's a pretty broad view. So it includes not only blockchain projects like Decentraland, but also augmented reality from traditional platforms?
Yes. Even Snapchat, the things they can do with the augmented reality camera - that's a metaverse play. It's all part of the metaverse. I have a pretty broad view, and part of that comes from my work with VR (virtual reality) hardware, spatial computing and augmented reality hardware. If people think the metaverse is just virtual reality or just fully immersive, I think that's a pretty narrow view. And a pretty dystopian view.
With such a broad definition, I suppose blockchain metaverse projects are only a small part of the overall "metaverse pie"?
It's small, but it's getting bigger. SoftBank has led the investment of $93 million in a Series B [for The Sandbox]. Upland, I think, just received $18 million, at a $300 million valuation. You have a lot of these blockchain projects - like NFT (non-fungible token) gaming metaverses - that are growing very quickly.
How does blockchain fit into your vision for the metaverse?
The open, decentralized metaverse that many of us dream of can't be realized without blockchain, can it? Blockchain is the underlying component. NFTs are kind of a stepping stone into the metaverse when it comes to digital asset ownership and digital identity. How do you actually enable that? NFTs are an important part of that equation.
What's the biggest potential for brands?
One of the key points I'm trying to explore is, "Is direct-to-Avatar the next direct-to-consumer?" Again, these are stepping stones. When we text people, we use emojis; we don't even text anymore. We use an emoji to represent a message. Our emojis - and therefore our avatars - become emotional surrogates of ourselves.
Representing yourself as an avatar is a big deal. Because it's a moment of self-expression, a moment of self-exploration. And how do brands play a role in that? Well, I have to outfit my avatar. Maybe I want to make a statement and wear Supreme. Fashion and culture go together. What does your avatar look like? What does he look like, what does he wear? There will be a lot of opportunities for brands. And there will be opportunities for them to connect with the younger generation.
I imagine it will be obvious for some brands - especially in wearables and fashion - to get into the avatar game. But what about for less obvious brands? I mean, how can a food company play in the metaverse?
Well, people are saying that Chipotle caused the [Roblox] outage. (Of course, Chipotle didn't cause the outage - let's get that straight). But a brand like Chipotle can come in and say, "We're doing a burrito, and we're giving away $1 million worth of burritos in the game. I think those kinds of things are interesting and fun, and the audience is engaged, they enjoyed it.
What do you think are the biggest obstacles that need to be overcome for metaverse to go mainstream?
There are a lot of things that need to happen. If you look at how many people actually have [digital] wallets, it's a very small number. And it's a generational issue. My kids understand digital ownership in a way that older generations might not. They love to buy digital goods and their skins. As my kids get older, they're going to be like, "Why can't I take this asset that I paid so much money for in Roblox and put it into Fortnite?" At some point, they'll expect it.
And that leads to a greater appreciation for NFTs and a desire for open worlds, sure. What else will be needed for the metaverse to catch on?
There will be a serious need for computing power. And right now, of course, there are supply chain issues for chips, so that could slow things down.
Also, the enterprises - not just the brand teams - need to be fully educated so they understand where the journey is going. And for companies, there's already a war for talent, so it's hard to find employees. Recognizing that every company needs a metaverse strategy makes recruiting even more difficult. That's why I partnered with Republic Realm to create Republic Realm Academy for executive education.
Where does Facebook fit into all of this? What's your reaction to Mark Zuckerberg's metagame?
I'll take the good with the bad. I mean, it's a validation of the work that many of us have done for years. So I'll take that. On the other hand, the fact that Facebook takes the name "meta" so literally casts a little doubt and shade on the Metaverse. The biggest problem is confusion - people think the metaverse is Facebook. It isn't.
I was at an event and had breakfast with some speakers. I sat down, and someone asked me what I was doing. I said, "I do metaverse strategies." And they said, "Isn't that Facebook?"
No!
[Laughs.] Yes. So I think there is that level of confusion. I don't know how many people have read the news that Facebook has renamed itself Meta, and learned the word as a result.
How many more years will it be before we have a "Ready Player One" style metaverse?
First of all, let me say that "The Oasis" (the fully immersive platform in "Ready Player One") is not what we should be aiming for. That's pretty dystopian, where the real world has gone down the drain and you have to escape reality. (Laughs) I don't want to escape reality, but I want the Metaverse to be a place where I have fun when I want to have fun - not on Instagram.
So how long until we get there?
I don't think anyone can give a time or date, but I will say that this decade is a decade of building and pioneering. We are all testing and trying to understand how it all works. This is the decade of laying those foundations. It is a time of change and a time for creators. Now is the time for building. Now is the time to start figuring out: What does it mean? Where are we going? And what does our company or brand need to do to be ready for the future?