Fashion×Game: The Path of Brand Advancement and Security Boundaries

According to the latest report by GEEIQ, by the end of the second quarter of 2024, there were more than 700 brands in the virtual world, with over 1,200 activations on platforms like Roblox, Fortnite, and Minecraft, representing a 58% increase compared to the same period last year. From Gucci to Forever21, from luxury brands to high street brands, and from clothing to cosmetics, various brands have been creating immersive gaming experiences one after another. To reach the audiences attracted by games, brands need to invest between $50 and $250,000 for a limited experience, while a more immersive world experience or in-depth cooperation may cost as much as $1.5 million. In the first half of 2024 alone, there were 347 new brand activations, among which 45% were on Roblox and 33% on Fortnite.

Research shows that the connection between fashion and games is getting closer day by day. Anzu’s research on American gamers in 2022 found that 76% of them paid attention to fashion brands and influencers, and 66% were consumers of luxury brand products, indicating that the idea that gamers are not the target consumers of high-end fashion has become obsolete.

This summer, I attended SEG3, a global event in the sports, entertainment, and gaming industries in London, aiming to understand how the above data were reflected in actual conversations and what the priorities were for real marketers. The event gathered numerous game developers such as Sawhorse, Dubit, and Karta, who took the stage together with esports companies like Fnatic and brands like Hugo Boss to discuss the current industry trends and insights.

During the two-day event, a core topic attracted much attention: although the intersection and integration between the fashion and gaming industries have been continuously deepening, when the two industries further integrate, we may be on the cusp of what could happen. Generation A, as the first digital-native generation in history and the largest generation, despite the cost-of-living crisis, still has discretionary spending that attracts many brands to compete for. According to the prediction of eMarketer, by 2025, there will be 2 billion people in Generation Alpha, accounting for 25% of the global population. Currently, there are 3.2 billion gamers worldwide, accounting for 36% of the population. There are many overlaps between these two groups, and it’s important to note that game crossovers can also reach at least 1 billion elderly consumers.

For example, Generation Z spends 17% of their leisure time playing games, while Generation A spends a slightly higher proportion, 21%. 92% of Generation A plays games, and the proportion for Generation Z is 88%, and both generations spend more than 6 hours playing games per week. It can be seen that if fashion and beauty brands really want to reach consumers, they are very likely to find the entry points in the real world.

However, finding the target audience doesn’t mean being able to attract them. So, what goals should brands actually achieve by using video games as a channel?

The speakers and exhibitors at the event unanimously believed that most brands hope to increase engagement through gamification and then build brand awareness among the younger generation. Their current goal may not be to convert brand exposure into actual transaction value but to acquire new customers and become their top choice when they have the purchasing power. Ultimately, brands expect to enhance their relevance by leveraging youth culture and communities, as these two aspects are more influenced by the real-time interaction in video games rather than traditional social media.

The cooperation between Hugo Boss and Karta is a prime example. Karta is a Metaverse studio that spans three UGC game platforms, namely Roblox, Fortnite, and Zepeto. At SEG3, the two companies also shared the benefits of creating interconnected spaces. They jointly designed two interconnected worlds, each targeting specific audiences, fully demonstrating the diversity of brand pillars, including style, self-expression, art, culture, gaming, and music.

Among them, Hugo Blue World is a store and immersive space directly connected to Hugo Fashion Match. This social fashion game allows players to show their creativity by dressing up each other’s avatars, once again integrating retail shopping, dressing up, and gamification.

However, just like other new marketing activities, the demand for game intelligence, statistical data, and professionals who can interpret these data is increasing day by day, so that marketers can accurately measure the interest and engagement within games. Given that most brands are actively developing relevant capabilities and functions, how do they currently measure the return on investment? How can the marketing department prove to senior management that investing in building immersive worlds or reaching out through existing worlds is the best use of funds compared to other more specific marketing strategies? After all, the direct connection between marketing and physical sales is measurable.

Sawhorse, a leading game development company that has developed game worlds for Alo, Tommy, Fenty, Paris Hilton, and Walmart, etc., its co-founder Nic Hill mentioned in his speech: “As visual fidelity and immersion improve over time, mass adoption will become possible. Although many brands are flocking into this field, as long as there is still a disconnect between the stylized representation of purchasable products and the products themselves, the ROI indicators of real-world fashion will continue to face challenges.”

GEEIQ, a metaverse data expert, is working hard to address the data gap. It defines the “metaverse market” as virtual game and social environments such as Roblox, Decentraland, and Fortnite to explore how brands can measure the success of games. In its speech, GEEIQ emphasized ten key indicators for measuring game success, including the number of active users, the number of unique visitors, conversion rate, average revenue per consumer, average session time, number of sessions per user, merchandise sales performance, retention rate, and audience demographics. The company believes that these statistics are crucial for understanding the key marketing statistics of new audiences.

However, the potential link where brands make profits by selling beauty and clothing in the real world is still missing. So, how should they measure the relationship between the investment in immersive worlds and physical goods?

For brands to shift from games to the physical world, a significant Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is the direct transition from games to e-commerce. In June, Walmart took the lead in launching this initiative through Roblox, becoming the first retailer to directly sell its real-world inventory through this platform. Roblox is developing a strategic roadmap to open up to more brands and creators. However, before that, the correlation between digital and physical sales and the transition and customer acquisition from actual customers to physical sales may still be rather ambiguous.

Another example of how brands use video game platforms to establish connections with real-world fashion is to conduct consumer testing through digital goods, that is, to directly interact with real-time audiences to obtain important insights into trends and data.

Recently, Coach launched three experiences on Roblox and Zepeto to measure consumers’ interest in digital Coach products. This project, named “Find Your Courage”, is a large test center. Giovanni Zaccariello, the senior vice president of global visual experience at Coach, said in his speech at SEG3 that data plays a crucial role here. In the future, the team will closely monitor people’s behavior and the time they spend to provide a basis for the future direction of game platforms, gameplay, and available items. Dwell time will be a key success indicator, and they hope to understand whether the community prefers the direct digital twins of physical items or the unique accessories specific to Roblox, such as wings and headgear.

Next, let’s take a look at “Gaming for Good”. Nic Hill boldly stated at SEG3 that “Social UGC game platforms will replace our traditional social media.” Recent research shows that this is a positive trend.

When discussing the impact of social media on our brains, Johann Hari, the author of “Stolen Focus”, explained how social apps and websites train our brains to crave frequent social rewards, making us long for likes and hearts. We keep scrolling endlessly in isolated information islands and are bombarded by a large number of content pushed by algorithms, which have found that we will spend more time viewing things when we see more outrageous, shocking, and extreme content.

The harsh reality is that all social media apps and websites only care about the time we spend on them, not the content they show. They only care about how to attract us and where to lead us next. As we have just explored, marketers have benchmarked game metrics, but the fundamental difference between games and social media is that gamers can interact in real time and enjoy the gaming moments. They have a great time playing together.

A study conducted by the University of Oxford has proved the benefits of games, that is, “Games do not seem to be harmful to mental health unless gamers cannot stop playing.” However, social media has a more significant impact on teenagers, causing them to grow up with anxiety and low self-esteem.

Although games are virtual activities, they have thrived since the COVID-19 pandemic and have now become a social venue. Video games can serve as a refuge for people to find like-minded players. In our busy lives, they provide opportunities for virtual game dates with friends in real life and also allow players to cooperate with other players or friends to achieve common goals.

Yusuf Oc, an associate professor of marketing at Bayes Business School, City, University of London, wrote an article earlier this year, pointing out that we are bombarded by thousands of advertisements and images every day. “Attracting attention is crucial, but even though we are exposed to thousands of advertisements every day, we can hardly remember many of them. Advergames integrate brand information into games and thus more effectively bypass these filtering mechanisms.”

Some complex advertisements in Roblox may have a more significant impact on shaping customer preferences. The so-called meaning transfer may occur, that is, the positive emotions that players have towards games are transferred to advertised brands or products.

Rebecca Evans, a postdoctoral research assistant in psychology at the University of Liverpool, said, “Advertisements are more integrated or subtle, so young people are less likely to recognize them as advertisements, think critically about them, and engage in consumer defense behaviors.”

Konvoy Ventures further emphasized the positive advantages of games compared to social media: “Like social media, video games are powerful tools for achieving social connections. However, excessive use may be harmful to teenagers. The design of video games and virtual worlds enables these platforms to further enhance the advantages of social media while limiting negative impacts.” The company also believes that the game features related to digital identity and expression can better eliminate self-dissatisfaction, limit the possibility of bullying, and prevent doxing. In general, the gaming industry provides a healthier and safer alternative to today’s social media, although there is still much room for improvement, and we are glad to see that the industry is making efforts.

In conclusion, although the return on investment from the digital to the physical aspects in games is still in its infancy, when we can smoothly shop between the digital world and the physical world, clear indicators should emerge, making it a more viable, reasonable, and tested marketing option. However, I hope that commercial performance will not lead these companies to sacrifice the core concept of games. No matter what activities are carried out, in order to make people feel real and convey value, games must remain an interesting place for exploration, interaction, and socializing with friends, rather than a place where advertisers endlessly distract us, show us information streams that we never asked for, and harm our mental health.

I also hope that games can become a testing ground, allowing us to know which products are popular before producing millions of pieces of clothing that people don’t want, which can significantly reduce waste and improve brand profit margins. According to Bloomberg’s report in 2022, $163 billion is wasted every year due to overproduction and inventory waste.

My final wish is that games can become like a new Instagram and e-commerce platform, a safe place where we can shop with friends, try things on our avatars, get verified, and then make purchases, achieving a direct link from the digital world to the physical world. Imagine such a world tailored for us, where a unique piece is delivered to our home, a precious piece that we have been waiting for, which enables us to express our true selves in both digital and physical ways in a sustainable manner while being beneficial to our mental health.

It is undoubtedly positive to let game companies, rather than Google and Meta Platforms, shape the next generation. Choosing what we want to see instead of what advertisers want us to see will only improve the culture and well-being of society. If brands appear in these places in a way that resonates with these values, they are more likely to achieve lasting success through new media rather than just a short-lived attempt.