BUXOM Cosmetics plumps for Publicis Sapient to pay more than metaverse lip service

Publicis Sapient’s metaverse proof of concept (POC) pipeline is bearing fruit with a long-planned, much-prepared project going public and into production. Its metaverse experience for lipstick brand BUXOM Cosmetics is now live for five months, evidence that chief marketing officers (CMOs) are increasingly ready to switch from testing the waters of the metaverse to diving right in.

BUXOM Cosmetics—like so many early metaverse adopters—is a beauty brand. It is known for its lip-plumping lip gloss. The virtual experience Publicis Sapient has built is, therefore, (wait for it) titled the PlumpVerse . By the end of 2023, HFS fully expects to be opening a vote for your favorite and least-liked “xVerse” names of the year.

The PlumpVerse boldly goes beyond yet another 3D virtual store experience

In the meantime, the PlumpVerse—built in the browser-based 3D virtual platform Decentraland—goes beyond the standard 3D virtual store beloved by too many retail metaverse plays). The PlumpVerse comes with three floors of customer-engaging fun in what is aimed at being an immersive club experience, with DJs, a dance area, and a lip bar—all taking advantage of community and gamification elements that metaverse experiences enable.

HFS has seen too many simple “lift and shift” transpositions of retail spaces into the virtual world, which often merely add complexity to the retail experience rather than creatively consider how the experience can be changed or enhanced. Publicis Sapient’s advantage here is that CMOs know it for its creative heritage and deep understanding of the media landscape – including where to find audiences and how to take them with it into the metaverse. To this, Publicis Sapient adds serious internal commitment to metaverse-focused skills development and a growing ecosystem of tech partnerships from Meta to Coinbase and from Microsoft to Polygon. The combination results in creative metaverse solutions CMOs are readily signing up for.

Chief marketing officers are set to lead the way with metaverse production

HFS expects to see a pipeline of metaverse releases going into production this year as enterprises take advantage of investments in the POC foundations they built with service provider partners over the last year. With 48% of chief marketing officers (CMOs) already convinced that the metaverse should be an investment priority, we expect to see more CMOs leading the way and taking the plunge into production.

The production version of the PlumpVerse 3D store includes an immersive virtual-try-on store on floor three where users can interact, try on different shades of BUXOM’s new Plump Shot™ Sheer Tints, and bag some goodies. Users can unlock rewards such as discounts and free samples by completing tasks and playing virtual games. And if they can prove they attend each of the five monthly events—via a limited-edition proof-of-attendance protocol (POAP)—a year’s worth of BUXOM is up for grabs.

The Bottom Line: The metaverse is coming out of test mode and into the mainstream, so prepare to take your audience with you.

Taking the audience with you is critical to success for any enterprise diving into the metaverse. Publicis Sapient and BUXOM Cosmetics have opted for a hybrid approach to solve that. They will bring users into the metaverse platform Decentraland little by little, warming them to it through channels customers are more familiar with, such as email, the BUXOM Cosmetics website, and Instagram—a wise move. Only the foolish or most obstinate will believe they can take their audience with them without using the current tools of Web 2.0, such as social media. Publicis Sapient’s experience in this media landscape offers another advantage over less media-savvy competitors.