Metaverse × Story Chain, the infinite possibilities of brand building

Author: Justina

This year, the hottest term is the Metaverse. Whether domestically or internationally, in the capital market or the technology field, the popularity of this term remains high.

In the field of registered trademarks, various Metaverse trademarks have been registered in advance. Whether preparing to set sail now or planning for future development, in short, the term "Metaverse" has blossomed everywhere.

What is the Metaverse?

According to the "Tsinghua University: 2021 Metaverse Development Research Report," the Metaverse is a new type of internet application and social form that integrates various new technologies. It provides immersive experiences based on extended reality technology, generates mirrors of the real world based on digital twin technology, and builds an economic system based on blockchain technology, closely integrating the virtual world with the real world in economic systems, social systems, and identity systems, while allowing each user to produce content and edit the world.

Simply put, the Metaverse is a virtual space, similar to the early internet, which could display a letter or a character, then evolved to writing emails and playing games. The current Metaverse, based on better perception technology, makes this virtual space more three-dimensional and rich, providing a more multidimensional experience for users.

Moreover, the Metaverse is still a constantly evolving concept, with different participants continuously enriching its meaning in their own ways.

Currently, companies like Facebook, Microsoft, and Tencent have also begun to layout the Metaverse, with Facebook even claiming it will transform into a Metaverse company within five years, making a lasting impression. Why are these giants eager to seize the Metaverse field in advance and frequently voice their opinions in this area? Many people know that it seems that as long as one is associated with the "Metaverse," they can become a trendsetter in the new era, and stock prices can soar. In fact, it is not limited to this; occupying the high ground of the Metaverse in advance is like injecting a strong dose of vitality into brand building.

This article analyzes this phenomenon from the perspective of branding.

Recently, I read @General Liang Jiangjun's "Story Chain" brand logic, which I think aligns very well with the Metaverse, offering infinite imaginative space and injecting endless vitality into technology company brands.

General Liang believes that the value proposition of the "Story Chain" theory is: there is no so-called truth in the world, only the truth you believe in. The best way to shape the truth is to simulate a story environment that allows people to immerse themselves and enjoy it.

He believes that the Story Chain is different from the current "story marketing," which is merely a copywriting or speech course, but the "Story Chain" is not like that. The theory of the "Story Chain" treats all business activities of a company as a huge story scene.

General Liang believes that the "Story Chain" has four theoretical pillars: story anchors, meta-scripts, role chains, and dramatic symbols.

The value proposition of the "Story Chain" theory is: there is no so-called truth in the world, only the truth you believe in. The best way to shape the truth is to simulate a story environment that allows people to immerse themselves and enjoy it.

The theory of the "Story Chain" treats all business activities of a company as a huge story scene.

The business goal of a company is to create stories, linking real-world users to the story scene, allowing them to become characters in the story and helping the company advance the story's development.

The "Story Chain" theory will not only involve brand marketing but also touch on product development, brand strategy, organizational structure, business models, and other modules. It includes story anchors, meta-scripts, role chains, and dramatic symbols.

Story anchors use a story-like anchor point to subvert the customer's choice coordinate system, overturn the opponent's game rules, and create a larger market space. For example, in the current gaming landscape, various games have been played extensively, and competition has entered a heated phase. The Metaverse, at this time, is like a brand new field, bringing countless stories and imaginations to the virtual world in games. In the current technological development, the "Metaverse" will become a new form of the internet following mobile internet. The "Metaverse" will integrate cutting-edge digital technologies such as blockchain, 5G, virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, big data, and edge computing, representing a massive wave of technological development.

Meta-scripts mean that your brand story is not a closed story but an open-source script. Like the Android system, it can be customized by users. The grand world of the Metaverse provides infinite space for meta-scripts. Because the real world is unique, it can only "be what it is," but the Metaverse can explore multiple possibilities due to its virtual nature. After all, fiction has always been a fundamental impulse of human civilization. In the Metaverse, everyone can truly break free from the constraints of the physical world, achieving a better self based on credible digitalization of assets and identities, writing a different life script.

Role chains mean that companies must continuously link all individuals and organizations related to their business into their brand story. Continuously expanding the character configuration in the story allows more people to help advance this story. In the Metaverse, users can achieve real-time collaboration, high-immersion social interactions, and experience different identities and roles, breaking free from the limitations of traditional interactions. Moreover, in different Metaverses, various roles can be switched, allowing companies and individuals to have better recognition.

Dramatic symbols create a sense of "immersion" visually, making users feel that there is "a play" at first glance, creating a visual user interface. This will have advantages in the Metaverse, as with the continuous maturation of AR/VR technology and brain-computer interfaces, there will be more and more design elements and images that are almost lifelike and full of immersion. Currently, many brands' virtual idols adopt this approach.

During this year's "Double Eleven" event, Taobao held the "Tmall Double 11 First Metaverse Art Exhibition," where the virtual spokesperson AYAYI was particularly popular among young users.

These four elements that make up the Story Chain provide unlimited space and imagination for many companies entering the Metaverse and brand building.

Zuckerberg has already provided Facebook with an eye-catching story anchor. Recently, he boldly announced that Facebook would be renamed Meta and unveiled a new logo, claiming that within five years, he aims to transform the company into a Metaverse company. Facebook has announced plans to create 10,000 new jobs in the EU over the next five years to help build the Metaverse. Facebook also launched a work collaboration app where users can hold meetings in a VR environment. This is the story anchor, giving users an infinite imaginative beginning regarding Facebook in the Metaverse. One can imagine in the future, using a Facebook account to communicate, possibly having infinite avatars, playing various roles such as a scientist, farmer, magician, etc. Undoubtedly, Facebook is continuously seizing the high ground of the Metaverse's story anchor.

Meta-scripts allow companies looking to enter the Metaverse to divide their social scenes into countless small segments, letting the script infinitely delve into specific fields, providing users with immersive experiences. At the same time, users and companies themselves can also join in the writing of the original script. For example, building their own forest or outer space, time travel, pet training, etc. In the rich and fun meta-scripts, a series of role chains and dramatic symbols can also emerge. Currently, many gaming companies have meta-scripts, such as NetEase's "Beaver Project" original game community and "Lilith" games. Because the Metaverse is vast enough, with the famous sci-fi novel "Snow Crash" providing a birthplace, and dramas like "Ready Player One" and "The Matrix" serving as footnotes, in the future, there will certainly be more and more works providing infinite imagination for the Metaverse, bringing more role chains and dramatic symbols.

Role chains are a very understandable aspect of the Metaverse. When you put on VR goggles or enter the Metaverse, you gain a brand new identity, which can be a hero, a monk, or a matchmaker, with countless choices. Moreover, you can also split into multiple roles, enjoying unprecedented exhilarating experiences brought by different roles in different Metaverses.

Dramatic symbols can currently create countless compelling images in the gaming and film industries, such as characters from the "Xianjian" series and those from the Marvel series. These dramatic symbols will also rely on better rendering technology and VR technology for three-dimensional and more realistic displays. In the future, there will be more dramatic symbols waiting to be created or discovered.

Currently, the Metaverse not only attracts capital's attention but also presents a great opportunity for companies to build and strengthen their brands. Its virtual concepts provide rich soil for the story anchors, meta-scripts, role chains, and dramatic symbols on the Story Chain. However, if companies and brands want to showcase more in the Metaverse, they need to consider these four elements comprehensively, allowing the development of the enterprise and the brand to be more immersive and moving, attracting more users and capital to settle in.

Especially for current technology companies, if they can integrate with the Metaverse, they have the opportunity to let their growth be filled with infinite possibilities. For example, blockchain can play a role in establishing rights in the Metaverse, confirming the virtual products of the virtual world. Because the establishment of clear property rights is the foundation of all economic activities, when our property rights cannot be confirmed, shared, transmitted, and maintained in an orderly manner, all our economic activities will collapse. Therefore, blockchain companies can start from this perspective, constructing their own story chain about the Metaverse from the angles of data rights confirmation and token economy, attracting more attention.

In summary, in the current context where offline and online are interconnected, and human reality is beginning to migrate massively to the virtual world, making humans a hybrid species of reality and digital, the Metaverse is filled with infinite potential. Each of us, and every enterprise we belong to, has the opportunity to conceive and build our own Metaverse.