While Meta continues to toil away on advanced VR interactions, in hopes of ushering the next stage of digital connection, Snapchat is charting its own course in building toward a Metaverse future – a future that may or may not necessarily be owned by Zuck and Co.
Besides developing its own AR tools, a field in which it has remained a leading presence in, Snap has also begun focusing its efforts on building more advanced avatar options through its popular Bitmoji platform, which has allowed users to create cartoon digital versions of themselves since 2007.
Expanding Your Bitwardrobe
On this front, Snap’s latest development on Bitmoji Fashion is introducing a new range of well-known brands signing on to create digital replicas of their products. Users can then dress their Bitmoji characters in these new digital apparel. The latest brand that signed up for this initiative is Carhartt, which has partnered with Snap on a new selection of Bitmoji items.
Carhartt joins a growing list of top brands that are building their own Bitmoji fashion collections, along with Adidas, Converse, Nike, Jordan, Crocs, Levi’s, American Eagle, Off-White, Vans, Nickelodeon, and Ralph Lauren. All of these now host official Bitmoji item sets, providing additional branding potential while greatly improving the customizability of Bitmoji avatars, which looks to be a key trend in the coming Metaverse. Either way, with how self-representation elements are currently evolving, it’s highly likely that the initial idea behind NFTs as a form of ‘digital identity’ will easily be overtaken by a more coherent focus on designing avatars.
The current A-List examples we have for the broader Metaverse vision are the gaming worlds of Fortnite and Roblox, both of which make a ton of sales from in-game skins. Meanwhile, Minecraft was essentially a pioneer of world-building and has built an entire creator economy out of designing custom characters and environments. When it comes to moving around and interacting in a world where the focus is on everyone’s individual character, you can bet that users will be looking to personalize their avatars as much as they can to be fully representative of who they are in the real world, digitally; everyone will look to be unique to stand out and be distinguished from the rest.
More digital branding opportunities will eventually translate to higher direct sales of digital clothing and similar assets, which is Snapchat’s vision for its next stage. Back in 2020, Snap filed a patent that outlined how its Bitmoji fashion process would eventually see it partner with a range of fashion retailers to provide Bitmoji versions of their items.
The Wrap
The dual benefit of online and real-world product sales is an enticing allure and will no doubt become increasingly popular as we all move towards the Metaverse shift. But then again, there’s also the question of whether Bitmoji characters will even be able to make the leap into the Metaverse and whether you’ll be able to use the same characters across various apps.
Well, at least that’s the vision for the Metaverse – a seamless, totally borderless digital space where individuals and even entire corporations can establish themselves and interact. It’s an ambitious undertaking and will no doubt require copious amounts of resources, agreements, and regulations to work. If it does, however, then your Bitmoji character might just be your universal image for when the Metaverse finally arrives.
Subscribe to our ‘Bottoms Up!’ Newsletter. Get the latest social media blogs about news, updates, trends, and effective social media strategies to take your business to the highest level from Tristan Ahumada and Jeff Pfitzer.
Sources