Hello, Metaverse
Ever been to a metaverse? You know – a totally separate digital world? Nathalie Lohaus, Head of Media, Brand Experience & Partnerships Austria and Germany, and part of the URW Innovation Team, is certainly all smiles after her first excursion into virtual reality: “It’s completely futuristic, but also very exciting and gives you totally new perspectives,” she says, summing up her impressions of this year’s URW Innovation Day focusing on the metaverse. For the 4th edition of this annual event, 85 colleagues from right across URW in Germany and Austria came to Westfield Centro in Oberhausen at the end of August to look at the opportunities offered by this rapidly growing and fast-changing market.
The event – which was as innovative as the metaverse itself – was co-organised by Brand Experience Manager Sarah Sprink who is also part of the Innovation Team. The participants entered a large interactive space with nine different experience statins, each giving the opportunity to dive deep into the world of the metaverse and get to know it in all its different facets. “Preparing such a creative event was a real challenge. But I think it was really worth it and people could take away a lot of information from it,” said Sarah Sprink, looking back on the Innovation Team’s collaboration with co-organiser Dominik Griese-Kentschke.
The external guests also provided a fresh perspective at the first of two panel discussions featuring Ingo Wilz, Tenant Relation Management – Retail & Digitalisation at Deka Immobilien, Frank Eckervogt, Managing Director of Redos Institutional (redos), and brand building expert Tom Inden-Lohmar. “The format has allowed us to share ideas and thoughts openly and develop a sense of the business opportunities this new world can open up for us,” said Nathalie Lohaus. And Sarah Sprink added: “I’m already looking forward to using what I’ve learnt in lots of cool projects involving brands, and of course involving the gang.”
