The Future of Business Is Here – Mr Metaverse on Why Companies Must Act Fast

Aragorn Meulendijks, better known as ‘Mr Metaverse’, is a pioneering expert in virtual technologies and a sought-after keynote speaker with The Champions Speakers Agency. 

As the Founder of ItsMrMetaverse and former Chief Marketing Officer of Your Open Metaverse, Aragorn has built a formidable reputation as a trailblazer in the realms of blockchain, NFTs, Web3, AI, and immersive digital experiences. 

With a background spanning sales, marketing, and tech innovation, he’s now at the forefront of efforts to build a decentralised, accessible Metaverse that will transform how people and businesses engage with the digital world.

In this interview with The Cyber Security Speakers Agency, Aragorn shares his insights on how the Metaverse is already influencing business strategy, particularly in marketing, events and commerce, and what companies must do now to prepare for a rapidly evolving future.

Q: Looking ahead, how might businesses use the Metaverse to engage with consumers?

Aragon Meulendijks: “Unfortunately, the answer isn’t so clear-cut or easily given because the Metaverse – the concept itself and the way it will ultimately shape up – is still in flux.

Really, the best thing anybody can do when building a business is to think back to the late ’90s and early 2000s and ask yourself: how did we then perceive the rise of the internet? How did we think about it, and then how did we act on that?

The answer will be different for many people and businesses, but ultimately, most will realise that either they completely misunderstood what was going to happen, or they did nothing at all. By the time it was actually there, they might have been slow to adopt and struggled with that. The same thing is happening here as well for many businesses, although it’s going to happen at a much faster pace.

How it changes how businesses operate really depends on the specific industry or market. I’m writing three books right now, and two of them are aimed at specific businesses. One focuses on the Metaverse for events, and the other on the Metaverse for marketing. These are two industries that will be rapidly and significantly impacted.

For example, in marketing, the Metaverse itself isn’t here yet – we can say there are certain technologies that will be part of what will ultimately shape the Metaverse. Those technologies are already here and can be applied. Take the current artificial intelligence revolution, both for creating visual content and for creating textual content. It’s completely changing the landscape. If you’re not using it now, then you should. Not because every piece of content you create should be generated this way, there will be copyright cases coming, of course, but if you don’t start using it now, you won’t understand how it works or where it’s going.

Just for the sake of understanding how it impacts your business, you should start using it today. To give an example, we run a newsletter – Mr Metaverse, my co-partner – and for two weeks straight, we had it completely generated by AI. One of our readers actually noticed and messaged us. That’s when we came out and explained that we were testing how well it works, how noticeable it was, and how we might apply it.

The same goes for building websites; we can now use AI to generate them. That’s an example for marketing. But in events, it’s a completely different technology. It’s not so much artificial intelligence, it might be augmented reality. How can you use augmented reality to completely alter the way any environment is perceived by visitors? You can already give AR glasses to people at the door, and in a few years, people will have them as an edge computing device with their phones – as a peripheral or accessory. You can already experiment with that.

You can also experiment with virtual reality by creating a digital twin of your event and allowing people to join through VR headsets or even on a laptop in a three-dimensional space.

So, even though the Metaverse itself – as a combination of these different technologies that will ultimately shape how we interact and transact with each other and the physical and digital world – isn’t fully here yet, we can already do a lot. But the opportunities and possibilities vary by industry.”

Q: In what ways will the Metaverse be integrated into corporate marketing strategies?

Aragon Meulendijks: “In the next five to ten years, we’ll see a complete shift in how we gather data on our customers and audience. We’ve seen things like Cambridge Analytica – that was back in 2015. People really don’t want that kind of data handling anymore. We’re already seeing experiments globally where ad targeting is changing. Rather than relying on cookies, more and more contextual targeting is being used. Sometimes it goes well, other times not so much. But the whole concept of how we advertise online is going to change significantly.

Right now, we’re waiting for the first major platform to adopt a Web3 implementation. In some ways, we’ve already seen that. For example, Starbucks recently upgraded their loyalty programme, which is also part of marketing, to an NFT-based system.

They haven’t used the terms ‘NFT’ or ‘Web3’ heavily in their marketing because they don’t want to scare off customers with techy jargon that’s often associated with scams. But what they’ve done shows they understand the value and potential of the technology, and they’ve opted to upgrade their programme accordingly. It opens up a whole new set of ways to interact with consumers. It’s like an upgraded version of the old loyalty schemes we’ve had, but with a more decentralised approach to handling customer data, which is great.

For example, in the EU, we have AVG laws that require businesses to handle customer data in specific ways. Using blockchain, you can ensure that you’re respecting consumer privacy while still offering all the features you previously did.

In a second phase, which may take another year or two, we’ll see changes in how we interact with consumers and the kind of data we collect to build those relationships. We won’t rely on cookies anymore. But with more immersive, three-dimensional experiences, like what Gen Z is already used to through platforms like Roblox, you might get even more information.

You could know exactly what a customer looked at, for how long, in a specific space. This is where Web3 comes in. You could say: ‘We’ll give you a 10% discount today if you tell us what you viewed in our digital store’.

So, rather than brands just taking data from websites or social media, we’re moving into an age of constant negotiation. Based on your brand’s priorities, you’ll need to offer valuable incentives for consumers to willingly share their information. The benefit is you get more relevant and detailed information. The downside for brands is that they’ll need to offer greater value in return.”

Q: With contactless payments now commonplace, how will the Metaverse influence future purchasing behaviours?

Aragon Meulendijks: “Over the past two years, we’ve seen a huge shift in how we pay for goods – contactless is now the norm.

Looking forward, as we move toward the Metaverse, we’ll see something that started with Bitcoin back in 2012. People didn’t realise it then, and many denied it for a long time, but I think now, every major brand and bank in the world realises: this is going to happen. We’re going to see a complete overhaul of payment rails. Today’s banking and financial systems, especially their infrastructure, are largely based on outdated technologies from the ‘70s and ‘80s.

Many of these systems aren’t fit for purpose anymore. They don’t offer the features modern users need. For example, in the Netherlands, it’s currently very hard to get a business account. It can take months, not because banks don’t want you as a customer, but because the cost of onboarding a new client is so high, and the revenue they make from just offering an account is so low, that it’s almost not worth it.

It’s more profitable for banks to invest in the stock market or derivatives. At the same time, crypto-based technologies are becoming easier to use and more accessible. They allow for high-speed, low-cost transactions, depending on what blockchain layer you’re using. That’s going to have a massive impact on how people shop and consume.

We already know how convenient Apple Pay is. You swipe your phone, and it’s done. If you’re on a website and they offer Apple Pay, you’re finished in seconds. The decision to buy happens so much faster, there are fewer chances for second thoughts.

This benefits sellers, but Apple takes a cut. So, the cost to businesses is higher. That’s where modern, blockchain-based payment rails come in. They offer the same benefits, but without the centralised control or fees.

So, over the next decade, we’ll see a huge shift toward crypto-based payment systems. As those systems evolve and offer new benefits, consumer behaviours will change. It’s hard to say exactly how they’ll change, but things will definitely become easier and more secure. 

This might not be safe for work – but take the adult industry. There’s a documentary ‘Secret Genius’, I think, and it talks about how credit cards were developed. Early on, one of the big problems was that if you used a card on an adult website, it showed up on your statement. Nobody wanted that.

With blockchain, you can verify that someone meets your requirements without knowing anything about them. It’s called a zero-knowledge proof. This introduces a whole new level of possibility in how businesses operate.”

This exclusive interview with Aragorn Meulendijks was conducted by Megan Lupton, Senior Content Executive at The Champions Speakers Agency.

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