WATCH: TikToking into the metaverse of marketing

Over the course of 2021, the word “metaverse” and certainly TikTok entered common usage, inspiring a lively global debate about what it represents, whether it’s already here, and who will own it.

But we still don't have an accepted definition of what it is. This has been satirised on the tech website The Verge: “Maybe you’ve read that the metaverse is going to replace the internet. Maybe we’re all supposed to live there. Maybe Facebook (or Epic, or Roblox, or dozens of smaller companies) is trying to take it over. And maybe it’s got something to do with NFTs? Or maybe you can find it on TikTok.”

Although advertising is anathema to many technologists, it funds the internet as we know it. It produces high margins and allows content creators to drive discovery and engagement with their work, making it attractive — and, importantly, feasible — to anyone exploring the metaverse as a business opportunity. So how do brands navigate this tricky terrain?

Business Day TV speaks to Bronwyn Williams, of Flux Trends; Dashni Vilakazi, MD of Mediashop; and Pieter Groenewald, CEO of Webfluential.