Raja Rajamannar is regarded as a transformative company leader with extensive senior management expertise across numerous international geographies. He is well-known throughout the world for his creative thinking, business transformation leadership that he has brought to senior roles across industries, and marketing and brand transformation leadership for Mastercard

The metaverse is on the minds of marketers and everyone right now. The metaverse is one piece of the emerging era of Web3 promising to have a profound impact on marketing. Data-driven technologies, such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, Internet of Things, augmented reality and more, will be a part of this new virtual realm and are beginning to disrupt how we engage with brands in every industry.

For today’s marketers, it’s critical to embrace this new paradigm for consumer engagement to keep their brands ahead. Surviving the tech revolution takes more than creativity it takes adaptation of concepts, education, and constant curiosity.

Marketing is fundamentally about engaging and inspiring people. Doing this well requires going where they are. When consumers were in front of the TV screens, we showed up there. When they moved to the internet, we reached them through that medium. If consumers start spending time in virtual worlds, we need to be present there too.

Marketers must stay native to these new environments

to reach consumers, while telling stories that matter. How do we do this when everything around us is changing?

Marketers should think like Leonardo da Vinci, combining art with science and technology be multifaceted and multidimensional. Today’s marketers aren’t just marketing specialists. They are true general managers with deep marketing expertise. They need to understand technology and data and how to apply them creatively. Having this comprehension and working knowledge is critical so that they are able to ask the right questions and see through any fluff in the answers.

Marketers must stay on top of the latest technologies, not just in their industries, but everywhere. It’s the only way a brand can stay relevant and up to date on all possible tech implications. Blockchain, for example, first made waves as the infrastructure for crypto currency, but the technology’s intrinsic trust has broader benefits,including instilling transparency in supply chains and giving consumers deep insights into the journeys of their purchases.

Succeeding in a new paradigm requires rethinking existing best practices and frameworks from brain storming what possibilities exist, finding and developing the right talent, investing in high potential tech stacks, working through regulatory land mines, and more. But marketers don’t have to do this alone. There is power and opportunity in partnerships.

Every connected device is a marketing device soon, consumers will be able to talk to their refrigerator, washing machine, dishwasher, and more. Marketers must use these new mediums to connect with consumers in a highly contextualized fashion but without being intrusive. Consider multi sensory branding for example, sonic branding through an AI-driven smart speaker, where consumers opt in to a useful digital skill.

We are in the early stages of what will be a tremendous evolution in how we interact with our surroundings each and every day. It’s time for marketers to really dive in. Embracing this revolution is the only way our brands will survive and thrive.