WTF is UPS doing in the metaverse?

One of the more unexpected things we came across this week was an ad from UPS — the shipping company formed in 1907 — which read, “See you in the metaverse.”

Admittedly, UPS says it’s not even sure what it’s doing there.

But it’s okay with that

A long, growing list of brands have forayed into the metaverse across retail (Nike, Gucci), food (Wendy’s, McDonald’s), entertainment (HBO, NASCAR), and more. Some sectors make more sense than others.

On Roblox, for instance, the Gucci Garden saw ~20m visitors, and an embroidered digital bag resold there for ~$4.1k (350k Robux), or ~$800 more than the bag’s real-life price.

But then you have companies like…

… multitrillion-dollar banks JP Morgan and Fidelity, along with UPS, whose business cases for metaverse pop-up shops are less clear.

But consider this: In today’s world, brands are shifting to a relatable, experimental tone — heavily driven by the TikTok comments section — and these moves have downstream effects outside of simple PR.

• For instance, there’s a better chance a Gen Zer might want to work for UPS if they perceived the company as a metaverse play.

All that to say, as the metaverse develops, so will marketers’ strategies. For now, these projects will be like throwing spaghetti at a wall. Many will flop. Some will stick.