Zepeto is a breakthrough global brand in 2023 - Report

The Immersive Wire - 3 July 2023 (Monday Briefing)

Tom Ffiske
July 03, 2023

Welcome to your weekly briefing on the metaverse. Here are your snippets to sound smarter in meetings this week:

Headline: Zepeto is a breakthrough global brand in 2023, according to a report from Interbrand (analysis below).
Conversation-starter: Gen Z is the only group who is measurably interested in the metaverse, according to a report from Gartner.
Stat of the week: VC firms invested $707m into metaverse-related companies during the first half of 2023, according to DappRadar. Be wary, as the report has a web3 bias.
Other stories: Nintendo says the metaverse is not ready today for its ambitions, Roblox is moving away from the term metaverse, and Sony released its motion capture system in the US.

I will be in New York soon - if you wish to say hi, let me know!

Tom Ffiske, Editor of the Immersive Wire

Zepeto is a breakthrough global brand in 2023, according to a report from Interbrand.

What is this report? The Interbrand report covers the 30 most ‘innovative’ brands that broke out of the crowded landscape and built strong identities. Think of it as a thermometer for brands making an impact in our cluttered world.
Surfing the hype wave? Maybe. The report highlights that metaverse, AI, and sustainable tech brands led the way in disrupting the global market. The unique and new types of companies would be evident - unsurprisingly, OpenAI is also part of the list.
What can we learn from the report? I’d say focus on the global expansion of Zepeto. The company is big in Asia and has been ramping up its global ambitions since 2022. The tech is great too; NAVER (the parent company) is using the same tech with Google’s AI systems. Also, browsing new worlds is so easy on the platform, which other companies can learn from - have a peek and chill with some sunflowers.

Economist Metaverse Summit was a lot of fun, and I had some thoughts on what other events can learn from it:

Networking - The event was designed well for networking in between the sessions, much better than other summits of its kind. More events like it would be a good fit in the country.
Knowledge - Much of the conference fiddled with definitions of the metaverse and focused on the more straightforward areas of it (digital twins are helpful etc). It got more technical as the day went on, but I think it would have benefitted from one talk at the beginning that laid the framework and then go into further detail over time.
Use cases - Many of the talks focused on how cool immersive technologies are, but not all focused on applications. The Vancouver Airport talk by Lynette DuJohn is an exception and was subsequently the talk that had the most buzz (and would love to watch again!)
Online - The panels where the panellists debated with one another sparked more interest, while some people who used Zoom were not as looped in. In one talk the internet connection was not as good. For next time I would focus solely on in-person panellists and have the virtual version for online viewers.
Overall - I learned a fair bit, met some great people, and would love to come again. Next year!

Need some assistance from other readers? Let me know at tom (at) immersivewire (dot) com.

PartySpace, a metaverse events platform, is seeking a strategic acquirer for its business, brand and technology. Run by Yurii Filipchuk, the browser-based product uniquely blends traditional video and 3D objects to create immersive experiences. If you are interested or want to have a conversation, send him a DM.
Metaverse Monday is another weekly newsletter that teaches you about the AR/VR industry by interviewing the founders, investors and developers building it. Join readers from Google, a16z and Nvidia - Check it out here.