Marketing 3.0: what challenges for businesses?

The media frenzy surrounding Web 3.0 seems to have died down. The cause, collapse bitcoin at the end of 2022, the bankruptcy of FTX and failure Meta's Horizon Worlds metaverse. Since the start of the year 2023, the spotlight will now be on ChatGPT and the artificial intelligence (AI) generative. However, the evolution The rapid and constant development of new technologies is leading to the emergence of a new web, very different from the old one. yesterday. So what are the challenges of this new web? And to what extent should companies prepare for a significant reconfiguration of their marketing approaches? Hervé Drusha specialist in integrating marketing into companies' marketing and communications strategies.

Over the past 25 years, the evolution of digital technology has massively changed our habits and behaviour: mobile phones, e-commerce, video games, etc. It has also brought with it new challenges and expectations: security and transparency of digital identity, control of data, reduced dependence on the big players such as GAFA, protection against data hacking, disinformation and fake news, etc.

A number of initiatives are already being put in place to address these issues. Where problems remain, there are opportunities to create value. Here are just a few examples, beta.gouvthe French government's digital services incubator, has launched the EasyFile to secure data transmission between tenants and landlords. In this way, the company acts as a trusted third party for the state, avoiding the risk of your private data (wages, taxes, etc.) ending up on the Internet. More than 225,000 files have already been processed.

Technologies serving uses

Blockchaincloud computing and virtual reality, metaversBehind the often obscure terms, these technologies offer new solutions to improve the digital experience.

As Brady Brewer, Starbucks' marketing director, recently pointed out, "technology is just a tool, and it doesn't matter if customers don't know they're interacting with a blockchain". There is no shortage of opportunities to create value: enhanced cybersecurity, greater control over data, increased personalisation, community and immersive experiences, and much more.

Here again, there are many examples. One example is NFTs, tamper-proof digital property certificates based on blockchain. In fact, they are proving useful in practice: digital tickets in the world of football to avoid double ticketing, certificates of ownership in the world of luxury goods to avoid product counterfeiting, forgery-proof diplomas, etc.

A number of major brands, such as Starbucks and Decathlon, have also made their mark at the start of 2023 with NFT initiatives designed to encourage customer engagement and loyalty.

Read also : Web3, miracle or mirage?

New generations already on the web

The generations of web users follow each other and are not alike. Generations Z (born at the turn of the millennium) and Alpha (2010-2024) in particular have become massive converts to video games.

DFC Intelligence, a strategic research company specialising in video games, estimates that there are more than 3.2 billion gamers worldwide, or just over 40 % of the world's population. And, according to a study by Newzoo in 2022, 90 % of young people in generations Z and Alpha would be engaged with video game-related content. According to the same source, 74 % of those surveyed use video games to connect with other enthusiasts.

And the audiences of communities such as Discord and Roblox continue to grow. For these gamers, immersive 3D worlds are part of their daily lives. There's no need to wait for metavers such as Meta's Sandbox or Horizon Worlds to catch on to the virtual reality craze. Roblox, which had an average of 58.8 million active daily users in the fourth quarter of 2022, is already offering brands the chance to create branded immersive platforms. H&M, for example, is a brand newcomer to Roblox with H&M Loooptopia, which lets players create virtual clothes and wardrobes for their avatars, playing with the choice of fabrics and patterns.

Generative AI, a breaking point

There is no doubt that AI and generative AI producing text, images and video will accelerate the emergence of a new web. Many solutions of this type are already being integrated. Offered by an Israeli company specialising in the development of generative AI, created in 2017, the D-ID service, for example, uses avatars to provide customer service for businesses. A service that is set to become relatively commonplace. The solutions are simple, effective and affordable, even for very small businesses. There are also AI-based chatbots. In the short term, they will revolutionise customer relations and self-care. From now on, specialised avatars will be able to answer your questions. They are called Mya in the world of recruitment, or Louis and Lucie at Air France, chatbots for customer enquiries relating to baggage.

Companies face the challenge of marketing 3.0

Companies need to rethink their marketing approaches. The shift underway, like the gigantic revolution in the way we work imposed by AI, is radical. We are entering a new web era, and we need to take stock of the situation. The end of Web 2.0 is a foregone conclusion," says Maxime Labiere, head of metavers at MK2 Cinéma, one of the major players in the French film industry. "It's a new state of mind that needs to be developed. We're entering a web structured around three key notions: identity, community and ownership. Companies need to rethink their offerings around these three elements.

Marketing 3.0: how to prepare for it

Understanding the reconfiguration of expectations is essential, and that's what preparing for Marketing 3.0 is all about. It means freeing ourselves from a technological vision and thinking about new uses in line with the expectations of a new kind of Internet user who no longer recognises himself in the old digital world of yesterday. It means reconnecting with the notion of consumer insight and understanding how, thanks to the many possibilities available, we can provide innovative responses.

Preparing for this new web will require companies to take a systemic approach:

• Training to fill the knowledge gap on the subjects of Web 3.0, metavers and AI.
• Set up shared monitoring (technology, new uses).
• Identify the limits of the current web and the expectations of Internet users in their sectors.
• Make sure they integrate young people into their teams with different web practices.
• Imagining new economic models that respect and remunerate users' ownership of their data or their productions.
• Innovate and test!

So is Web 3.0 dead? No, absolutely not. We're entering a new phase of the web, and it's important to understand that technologies, needs and generations are evolving, and that the right definition of web 3.0, is simply to realise that the winning marketing recipes yesterday will not be those of tomorrow.