Dive Brief:
- Publicis Groupe’s Razorfish today (Oct. 3) announced three Web3 experience-driven offerings to help brands strategize potential metaverse activations, per details shared with Marketing Dive.
- The offerings — Razorfish Reef, Wave and Drop — each cater to various metaverse experiences like virtual influencer marketing, commerce integrations, always-on moderation and the creation of real-time virtual goods.
- Razorfish will also tap into Publicis Media’s Content & Innovation (PMCI) offerings for added expertise. With the move, the 30-year-old digital agency joins a cadre of others setting up dedicated units to prepare for the next generation of digital marketing.
Dive Insight:
The launch of Razorfish’s Web3 arm comes at a time when brands are increasingly pondering metaverse activations and agencies are exploring ways to get a piece of the pie. The move also rides on research conducted by Razorfish that highlights the potential for the metaverse, with 52% of Gen Z gamers reporting that they feel more like themselves in the digital space than they do in the real world.
To help brands meet the growing demand, Razorfish unveiled three tailored offerings. Perhaps the most all-encompassing, Razorfish Reef is a dedicated Web3 production studio that will help brands create immersive consumer experiences, activate metaverse commerce streams and activate virtual influencer marketing. Methodology focused, Razorfish Wave enables 24/7 moderation for brands activating in Web2 and Web3 worlds where always-on user behavior is the standard. Razorfish Drop is advertised as a “turnkey solution” for brands looking to develop real-time virtual goods and commerce streams.
While the announcement came today, Publicis perhaps has been hinting at an investment in the metaverse space. In June, the agency added four execs to its PMCI team to focus on Web3 and blockchain innovation. Earlier this year, Razorfish partnered with Samsung for its Samsung 837X metaverse experience in Decentraland with support from Publicis. Its most recent launch may allude to more independent capabilities in the space.
Of course, Razorfish isn’t the only one angling to develop separate Web3 offerings to appeal to clients. Dentsu last month unveiled the “web3 club” for the holding company’s designers, creators, content directors, data scientists, engineers and other professionals who can work together on metaverse activations. Similarly, Mediahub announced a partnership with development studio LandVault, in which the latter will provide strategy and consulting services for the media agency’s clients.
