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Craft Distillery

As a virtual universe that is speculated to become ness boasts a signature dish or beverage, each sale
a converging point of consumer activity and e-com- of this item to a VIP member could come with a
merce, it can be assumed that the AR/VR technol- transferable NFT that could be redeemed at a later
ogy used to explore and interact with others will date for additional rewards like a free entree, bot-
inevitably expand the possibilities businesses have tled spirit, or customized apparel for their avatar in
to innovate. Although there is still much we don’t the Metaverse. Eventually, it may even be possible
know about the Metaverse — and likely won’t for chefs or brewers to mint the dishes or beverag-
know about for the better part of a decade, at least es they create as NFTs themselves, offering them
— this should not stop businesses from forming greater creative freedom and additional means of
strategies to implement once they are more deeply providing (and earning) value from niche sectors of
integrated into the Metaverse itself. consumer markets.

Implementing a Metaverse Strategy Each aspect of your business in its current state
will need to eventually evolve to integrate with the
Consider for a moment the ways in which the Metaverse. Whatever that means or looks like will
emergence and subsequent growth of social media be subjective for each liquor and beverage brand
platforms have impacted business over the last seeking integration with the Metaverse, but none-
decade. If your own business was in operations theless must be made if you wish to remain rele-
prior to the rise of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or vant and competitive in this next iteration of the
other social media platforms, it’s safe to assume digital world.
that the way your business functioned then is vast-
ly different compared to its current strategies and Final Thoughts
initiatives. When thinking about how your business
can integrate successfully with the Metaverse, it’s Regardless of how far off we truly are from inte-
likely that there will be similar variances — albeit to grating our businesses and lives into the Metaverse,
different degrees or extents — between its current its influence has already left a lasting impression
strategies and those used in a realm driven by AR/ on markets and industries the world over. Though
VR technology. selling virtual drinks, beverages, food, or other con-
sumables to customers sounds like a counter-pro-
For starters, contemplate the initiatives your ductive initiative better left to the realm of sci-
business has implemented for its marketing strat- ence-fiction, the Metaverse’s projected capacity to
egy. You might be paying for ads on social media blur the lines between our digital lives and physical
to cast a wider net to rein in a greater amount of ones could easily turn this into reality in a matter of
potential customers, or targeting existing custom- years.
ers with regular email newsletters to alert them of
upcoming events or deals you might have. In the Indeed, the Metaverse is perhaps the most literal
Metaverse, those paid ads might transition from representation of a “Brave New World” if there
sponsored posts on users’ social media feeds into ever is one. The potential for brands integrating
a virtual brand ambassador traveling throughout their business with this new frontier of virtual
different e-commerce sectors in a VR-driven envi- reality to experiment with marketing, e-commerce
ronment to offer exclusive tastings or VIP events. sales, and communication with customers will be
Likewise, your business’s email newsletters could essentially limitless. In turning passive consump-
transmute into a kind of exclusive membership tion into active participation with their brand, the
program for customers to use solely within the con- first round of businesses in the liquor and bev-
fines of its virtual establishment in the Metaverse. erage industry to successfully integrate with the
Metaverse are bound to set new precedents for the
As another example, look to your business’s cur- industry’s next generation of innovative technolo-
rent strategy for handling reservations or private gies and tools.
parties for events. When integrating these opera-
tions into a fully-virtual space, the tickets or codes
used for referring to reservations could become
their own kind of non-fungible token or NFT; a dig-
ital token representing a reservation. If your busi-

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