Metaverse Mania Cools for Many, but Not for Marketers

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Coffee, Patriack, Wall Street Journal $($Online$)$; New York, N$.$ Y$.,07$ April $2023.$

Even while some of the metaverse's biggest proponents are scaling back or shutting down spending on their visions for virtual worlds, many marketers are standing firm. Forty$-$six percent of consumer brand marketers say they will increase their metaverse budgets this year, and only $12\%$ say they will spend less, according to a survey of $903$ executives conducted by research firm Forrester in January and February. Read the attached WSJ article or locate the article in UNM's Global Newsstream Database and answer the following questions:

Critically evaluate the metaverse as a branding opportunity for consumer brands. In your critical analysis, thoroughly describe the main issues$/$questions for marketers, discuss facts relevant to the issues, and offer details to support conclusions and recommendations. Refer to the WSJ article as well as your textbook to support your responses.

What do you think are the key ingredients for success in a consumer brand's metaverse strategy? Explain how marketers can successfully incorporate the metaverse into their social media plans and how they might evaluate and measure KPI. For help answering this question, see sections $18-2$b on social media objectives and section $18-3$ on how to evaluate and measure social media effectiveness. Refer to the WSJ article and your textbook to support your responses.

The answer to each question should be at least a paragraph in length. Do not simply bullet ideas $-$ discuss them thoroughly and provide support for your response from the article and your textbook. You may also consult other sources, which should be cited appropriately. NUMBER your responses to each question. Discuss your answers thoroughly and use relevant terminology from the chapters for full credit!

If you need more information about what the metaverse is$,$ a good supplementary article to go along with this one is a November $2021$ article written by Alexandra Bruell for the Wall Street Journal titled "Brands No Longer See Metaverse$-$Like Worlds as Abstract Gimmicks."

NOTE: It is your responsibility to:

ensure that you submitted the correct document $($you can verify what you submitted by going to "Grades"$)$; and

verify your assignment was properly submitted $($watch for a confirmation email and$/$or check for "submitted" in "Grades"$).$

Formatting requirements:

Write clearly and concisely and run a grammar and spelling check.

Separate your answers in numerical order. In other words, please do not type one long paragraph.

Submit this submission as a Word document.