The metaverse. Immersive reality. Virtual reality. We still haven’t 100% agreed on what to call this digital experience channel. That may be because they are the future of online life and we don’t know exactly what that future will look like.
Whatever you call it, it’s already an essential part of life online with 400 million people using versions of it monthly for games, conferences, concerts and more, according to one study. This is a marketing channel that matters. But it’s a challenging one to master.
To aid you with that, we’ve put together a list of the experts who you should follow now and into the future.
Cathy Hackl
Cathy is chief metaverse officer and co-founder of Journey and was dubbed “Godmother of the Metaverse” by Fast Company. One of LinkedIn’s top technology voices, she is a globally recognized tech futurist and business leader specializing in augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and spatial computing. She’s written three books: “The Augmented Workforce,” “Navigating the Metaverse: A Guide to Limitless Possibilities in a Web 3.0 World,” and “Into The Metaverse: The Essential Guide to the Business Opportunities of the Web3 Era.” She’s also the host of Adweek’s Metaverse Marketing podcast.
Joanna Popper
Joanna is an award-winning Hollywood and Silicon Valley media executive. She is currently chief metaverse officer at Creative Artists Agency, the powerhouse Hollywood and sports agent organization. Prior to that she served as HP’s global head of virtual reality for go-to-market and content partnerships, executive vice president of media and marketing at Singularity University and vice president of marketing for NBCUniversal Media. She’s also been executive producer of a number of award-winning films and virtual experiences, including “Breonna’s Garden,” a VR and AR experience in honor of Breonna Taylor.
Lindsey McInerney
Lindsey is founder and CEO of Black Sun Labs, a web3 and metaverse consultancy. She is also CEO of Sixth Wall, a tech and entertainment company co-founded with actor/producer Mila Kunis and producer Lisa Sterbakov. Previously Lindsey was Global Head of Technology and Innovation at AB InBev (Anheuser-Busch), the world’s largest brewer. There she launched Stella Artois into the metaverse in a partnership with Zed Run, a blockchain horse racing game. She has been named to the 2023 Thinkers50 Radar List and is also one of readwrite’s 30 Most Influential People in the Metaverse, one of Engatica’s Most Prominent Digital Futurists to Watch Out For and an Adweek Pride Star.
Andrew Schwartz
Andrew is the director of Metaverse Engineering at Nike. An expert on digital innovation, marketing strategies, product design and content creation, he is currently leading Nike’s expansion into the metaverse, using various digital technologies. With NFTs and digital assets becoming increasingly popular among members of the sneaker community, Andrew is leading the way forward in creating digital fashion.
Nonny de la Pena
A pioneer in virtual and augmented reality, Nonny is CEO of The Emblematic Group, a next-gen media company. She is also the founding director of the Center for Emerging Media and Narrative at Arizona State University. Nonny was named Technology Innovator of the Year by the Wall Street Journal, a #MakeTechHuman Agent of Change by Wired Magazine, and was called “The Godmother of Virtual Reality” by both Engadget and The Guardian. Additionally, she was on Fast Company’s list “One of the People Who Made the World More Creative” and CNET’s 20 Most Influential Latinos in Tech for her pioneering work in immersive storytelling.
Lisa Peyton
Lisa is an Experiential Marketing and Strategic Communications Professor at the University of Oregon. A frequent contributor to MarTech, she also writes and publishes XR/AI Brief, a monthly newsletter focused on the intersection of AI and experiential marketing technologies and tactics.
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