H&M Opens Its First Store in the Metaverse

I can’t help but think back to around 2005 or 2006 when I started a new role at Razorfish as director of emerging media. I spent the first 6 months in that role trying to talk brands OUT of investing in building islands or whatever in Second Life - a virtual world/metaverse that was waaaay ahead of it’s time (and - at least in the early going - was plagued by behavior that one could gently describe as less than brand safe).

All these years later, it seems like we may finally be ready for the Metaverse to become reality, and for brands to get serious about their strategies for establishing a footprint in these new worlds.

H&M’s new virtual store is an interesting experiment worth watching, but it sort of begs the question: is re-creating a physical store environment in a digital world the right approach?

Full article here.