Nivea enters Roblox!
The centerpiece of NIVEA’s brand world in the Roblox metaverse is a tower that visually resembles the brand’s iconic cream tin. Players must climb this tower by running along its interior in classic jump ’n’ run style, overcoming various obstacles such as steam turbines, lava grids, and laser beams. Along the way, they can collect coins that can be exchanged for exclusive in-game items. Top-performing players also have the chance to win limited-edition, custom-designed UGC (User-Generated Content) items. The first of its kind is a blue fleece hoodie designed by well-known Roblox creator @Junozy.
Each level of the game represents one of NIVEA’s four product categories: Face Cleansing, Deodorant, Men, and Sun. The corresponding NIVEA products collected in each category can be transformed into “power-ups” that grant special abilities. The Roblox experience was developed by Jung von Matt/Nerd, their tech unit ALFR3D, and GEEIQ, a specialist in metaverse KPIs.
By entering the Roblox world, NIVEA aims to create an authentic and entertaining interaction with the global gaming community. The brand wants to leverage Roblox’s ecosystem to engage with younger audiences in a meaningful way.
Annika Spitz, Digital Early Innovation Manager at NIVEA’s parent company Beiersdorf, states: “Gen Z loves Roblox—the communication, the global connections, and especially the creative freedom it offers. With the NIVEA Tower Run, we want to meet the Roblox community in their space in an authentic way, challenge the players, and learn how our brand is perceived on the platform.”
Thanh Dao, Managing Director and Partner at JvM/Nerd and ALFR3D, adds:
“For many brands, virtual worlds are still a complete black box. Often, they don’t know what worked or why. Building gaming experiences for brands with analytics from the start is a forward-thinking approach. We are incredibly proud to support a brand like NIVEA on its journey into the metaverse.”
Source: Horizont
Balenciaga’s “Afterworld” – fashion goes gaming!
With Fashion Weeks around the world forced online during the pandemic, Balenciaga imagined the next generation of virtual catwalk shows.
Afterworld: The Age of Tomorrow is a 3D web-based game that takes players on an interactive journey based on “mythological pasts and projected futures”. It explores the Fall 2021 collection modelled by 50 volumetric characters, all captured on Dimension/MRMC's Polymotion Stage.
Balenciaga's Afterworld blazed a trail for fashion in 2020. This futuristic fusion of volumetric capture and video gaming opened the industry's eyes to the endless possibilities of using realistic avatars and game engines such as Unreal Engine.
Source: Dimension Studios
Rock Band Avenged Sevenfold goes VR
In cooperation with the start-up Amaze VR, which specialises in virtual concerts, a 26-minute VR experience was created in which fans of the US metal band can experience four songs in changing virtual environments on the VR glasses Apple Vision Pro or Meta Quest 3. The fans can watch one of the songs for free, but have to pay for the others. The experience was also sold together with the VIP ticket at live concerts. In this case, fans could watch the virtual experience together in a room before the concert.
