Set to be worth $758.6bn in the next eight years, the metaverse is becoming a vital tool for beauty brands to build community, brand awareness and convert virtual users into IRL consumers. The digital venture has mostly been limited to larger beauty brands due to costs and infrastructure, until now…
The Red Tree, a strategic beauty business consultancy, has recently partnered with ONEWAYX to launch a new competition called ‘Get versed in the Metaverse’. Designed to break down barriers to the metaverse, the competition is offering beauty SMEs the chance to win a virtual store in the metaverse for three months. On top of saving the brand over £32,000, the opportunity will provide increasingly exciting opportunities for the winning brand through expansion that’s – quite literally – out of this world.
Entry into the metaverse is essential for the development of smaller brands in today’s digital age, it has the potential to be transformative for businesses and really connect businesses with their customers. In fact, the Value of Beauty report states that two thirds of online shoppers are more confident in their online purchases after being able to try with AR and 42% say they would pay more for a product if visualised in this way, showing that there is a large customer demand for these types of online experiences which have the capacity to drastically change product consumption and purchase in the near future.
Some brands, such as M.A.C and Estée Lauder, have created experiences for customers within the metaverse that allow interaction with the brand and its products, however these experiences are expensive and require lots of time and skills to build. ONEWAYX and The Red Tree are changing that, by allowing a winning brand to ‘plug and play’ with e-commerce software in the metaverse.
ONEWAYX is a software developer in it’s infancy that ‘allows brands to upload collateral which is applied to proprietary templates to enable a cost-effective Web3 ecommerce environment which seamlessly integrates with existing websites.’
On the competition Kamara Hakeem-Oyawoye, Brand Manager at The Red Tree, says: ‘We are excited to be working on this competition with ONEWAYX which makes the metaverse more accessible to beauty brands. We understand that there are many barriers to entry within this space, and we are dedicated to creating access points for brands interested in growing here.’
Upon entry, brands’ applications will be reviewed by:
Annie Siara – CEO and Co-Founder of ONEWAYX, is a visionary leader driving the positioning of ONEWAYX as a prominent Metaverse Operating System.
Grace Warn – Head of Production at the British Beauty Council, where she heads up editorial content and special projects. Before joining the Council in 2022, she spent time at consumer titles including Marie Claire UK and Women’s Health.
Fiona Glen – Director of Projects, The Red Tree. With over 13 years experience in global beauty retailing, Fiona has previously held senior UK and international buying roles for major retailers. In her current role she leads the strategic project function.
Kamara Hakeem-Oyawoye – Brand Manager, The Red Tree. With diverse experience within the industry, Kamara has a unique perspective pertaining to the beauty space and the possibilities for the future.
Applications for the competition close on Sunday 16th July 2023, and the winner will be announced on Wednesday 19th July 2023.
Find out more and apply here.
