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A virtual version of ITV Studios’ reality format The Voice is “redefining how entertainment can be consumed 365-days a year,” according to Justin Hochberg, CEO of metaverse developer Virtual Brand Group (VBG).
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The Voice Studios, built by VBG for ITV Studios on
metaverse platform Decentraland, launched last month during the final weeks of
Season 23 of the show on US network NBC.
It is free for anyone to access and intended to be
a permanent year-round destination where, among other things, fans have a
chance to audition for a potential slot on a future season of the series.
It is designed as a global hub into which planned
activations for key territories, such as the UK, will be connected. The
Voice currently airs in 148 versions around the world.
“We are hoping to build this global hub for The
Voice to give local fans places to see their local coaches,” explained
Lucie Stoffers, ITV Studios’ head of brand licensing, global partnerships.
“Australia might be next where we can tie in the Australian audience to the
same experiences and create a global hub with a local relevance to local
friends.”
The Voice Steps into the Metaverse:
Decentraland and Engagement
The launch follows a four-day virtual pop-up event
for The Voice last November at the Decentraland Metaverse
Music Festival. The music festival featured acts by dozens of bands – virtually
– including Bjork, Ozzy Osborne and Deadmau5. In the adjacent The Voice experience,
fans spent an average of 49 minutes per session — generating 13 times more
engagement than typical social media platforms. By contrast, said Hochberg, the
average click-through rate for an ad on social media is less than one per cent.
“Over the last decade the idea that [banner ads]
was going to be an amazing way to connect brands with people has not proven all
its value. In our world, 13 per cent of those who came to play clicked through,
even when there was nothing free being giving away [as an incentive]. That math
on its own tells me that the world of deep immersive engagement is so much more
powerful than what I call pancake media (two-dimensional, flat screen). It’s
phenomenal to see those type of results.”
It’s clear that the VBG see the metaverse as a tremendous untapped business opportunity. Hochberg – a former producer of the American version of The Apprentice - said his company’s job is to work with brands “to help them connect with youth culture and find ways that are not being serviced by existing media – TV, print or social media. It’s less about the technology and more about how you best connect with your consumers.”
That’s why ITV are playing in this space too. It’s
not the first time it has dipped into the metaverse and Web3. A set of
‘collectable’ NFTs for Thunderbirds dropped last year and
ITV-owned agency Metavision created a version of I’m A Celebrity…Get Me
Out Of Here! in Fortnite to mark the launch of ITVX.
“With VBG we have a whole line up of activations
with The Voice to come including on Roblox and Sandbox,” said
Stoffers.
The Voice Steps into the Metaverse:
Ramsay Opens his Doors
Coming soon to Sandbox is Gordon Ramsay’s
Hell’s Kitchen described as “a
multi-dimensional, participatory adventure for our community to take part in
challenges, win prizes, and even be reviewed by the 3 Michelin starred Chef.”
As ITV said in its promotion for the virtual Hell’s
Kitchen “no activation is complete without the opportunity to buy a ‘digital
representation in sync with the theme” - 2333 unique avatars will be available
for purchase.
“Broadcasters have historically found it hard to
meet their audience but this is where the metaverse opportunity lies,” said
Hochberg. “Broadcasters and programme brands can now meet their consumers from
different countries. They can meet even when the show isn’t on TV through a
global hub that gives you ways to interact and build things.”
Regardless of the platform – Decentraland, Sandbox,
Roblox – Hochberg said developing a successful activation is all about
iteration.
“You try something, you adjust it, you look at the
data - unlike a TV show, where once the programme airs you can do very little
about it until maybe the next series.”
It’s one reason, Hochberg claimed, why “the
metaverse is redefining how entertainment can be consumed on a 365-day a year
basis.”
The short-term goals for ITV are to find out what
fans like, what success looks like in terms of time spent on the platform and
what does the audience engage with the most.
“The main challenge has been working out to
adapt The Voice brand to the metaverse,” said Stoffers. “We
learned we shouldn’t just copy & paste what we’re doing IRL into the metaverse.
It was helpful to work with VBG to create something new.”
The Voice Steps into the Metaverse:
An Ongoing Experience
Whereas the pop-up was temporary The Voice Studios
is intended to exist indefinitely. Hochberg said, “Like Disneyworld, it is a
persistent experience. It is also bigger. Where we had 2-3 things to do in the
pop-up, we now have five different games. Instead of a small quarter, NBC has
an entire building.”
The selection of virtual clothing (wearables) has
been expanded. This merch can be paid for using conventional mechanisms like
PayPal or Visa and Decentraland’s own currency Mana. Merch can also be won.
“Wearables are virtual clothing that participants
can wear just to look fashionable,” said Hochberg said. “For first time in the
history of any TV show we have merchandise that mirrors what the coaches give
out on the TV show.”
On NBC’s The Voice, coaches including
Kelly Clarkson and Niall Horan, will gift a collectable hoodie or sweatshirt to
contestants every season.
“We recreated that limited edition merchandise so
anyone can collect it. You can’t get that anywhere else but you can earn it by
playing on Kelly’s team in the metaverse. In short, [the new activation] is
bigger, better and more connected.”
VBG also works with fashion brands and said are it
is at the forefront of creating the physical + virtual (aka “phygital”) retail
environment that delivers new products and more revenue faster than ever. The
first NFT merchandise drop on the pop-up The Voice event sold
out in three hours.
The Voice Steps into the Metaverse:
Real Life Engagement
Hochberg argues that fans will flock to metaverse
experiences like this because the experience is more like real life.
Interactions between celebrities and fans and among communities are the biggest
difference between metaverse platforms and traditional social media like TikTok
or Facebook.
“Social media is not very social,” he insisted.
“For example, if a celebrity posts something you might write back a comment and
or you might post a picture or a hashtag but your comments will get lost in the
noise of thousands of people doing the same thing. There is very little way for
me to connect with you. It’s a limited experience.
“What makes virtual worlds so sticky by contrast is
that they are social experiences.”
He likens virtual worlds to going to a party, a
festival or to the park, “places where we are around people, we can talk and
have a more personal conversation.” Hochberg claims that visitors are likely to
spend multiple hours a day playing in virtual worlds as opposed to the
10-minute average visiting a physical retail store.
“These are social gaming platforms,” he added. “If
we went to the park with a frisbee and our dog we’d probably have a great time
and we could do an unlimited number of things. That is what makes social gaming
platforms sticky.”
One of the ways that the physical world of
televised and at-arena events may merge with their virtual counterparts is via
technology like holograms and augmented reality. You could imagine a fan in the
guise of their avatar in The Voice Studios winning an audition and then being
invited to translate that experience back to the live TV show, still as an
avatar.
One example: AI-based technology including
synthetic voice creator Respeecher and deepfake video specialist Metaphysic
‘resurrected’ Elvis Presley live during
the final of America’s Got Talent last
autumn.
“It’s early days but when the metaverse is in a
more persistent form we hope to connect to physical concept and spaces,” said
Stoffers.
“Avatars and holograms are technically possible
now,” added Hochberg. “The thing to keep in mind with Gen Z and Alpha is that
they live their life in multiple places at the same time. They might be
watching The Voice and maybe dressing up and performing with the
virtual Voice.
“So yes, The Voice Studios is experimental but
virtual worlds are not speculative. There are already 600 million people in the
world using virtual worlds.”
Three decades ago Mosaic became the first widely
available web browser was first released. At that time there were a mere 10,000
academics exchanging papers about it.
“With the metaverse we have 600 million people as
the starting point. We all have a smartphone to access the metaverse. It
doesn’t require another piece of hardware or special technical knowledge so the
adoption rate will go much, much faster.”
He said it took people a while to realise that the
Internet was more than just a visual brochure but a way to conduct e-commerce.
Virtual Brand Group’s perspective is why wait five years to figure this out.
“Why not start from the onset with that
perspective? Every partner that we onboard or consult with is all about how
quickly we can convert your metaverse business to be $20-$50 million,” he
concluded.
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