#ExplainIt: What Web3 means for marketers [Video]

Web3 has become the talk of the town recently and one of its key characteristics is that it is a decentralised, user-controlled web. Forrester's research report on Web3 describes "decentralised" in three ways, the first being big tech companies not dominating Web3. Next, Web3 won't rely on applications controlled by a single company or centralised storage facilities. At the same time, Web3 won't be obligated to specific governments or corporations for identity services.

While the industry is abuzz with Web3 and what the future of the Internet would look like, Forrester said executives should approach Web3 "with extreme caution".

Several core aspects of Web3 look theoretically appealing. However, Forrester said the reality looks rather different for two reasons. Today's Web3 is an unregulated environment that can be impacted by the actions of scammers and fraudsters. Also, some of the core principles that Web3 stands for aren't practical today, Forrester added.

That said, Web3 has popularised terms such as NFTs, decentralised applications, and the metaverse, and these innovations are transforming the fundamental underpinning and operations of the virtual world, Ramakrishnan C.N., partner and head of extended reality at Entropia, part of Accenture Interactive, told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE. Instead of the Internet as a disparate collection of sites and apps, Ramakrishnan said metaverse efforts envision a persistent 3D environment, imbued with a sense of place, where moving from work to a social platform is as simple as walking from the office to the movie theatre across the street.

"Web3 further shapes this evolution by introducing a data framework that generates veracity, trust, and even scarcity – things we’ve long had conventions for in the physical world but have in many ways evaded us in the virtual ones," he added.

Across industries, be it fashion, beauty, retail, property, and automotive, for example, the brand identity, visibility and experience needs to be reimagined for a space where real-world limitations do not exist. Accenture's Technology Vision 2022 found that 89% of senior executives in APAC agree that the realisation of Web3 over the next decade will fundamentally change how businesses engage with users online.

Industry players share their take on what Web3 is and why it matters to marketers.

Click on each picture to watch the video!

1. Rob Bradley, SVP, head of APAC, LatAm ad sales and international digital strategy, CNN

2. Pankaj Nayak, president - product strategy and delivery, media, dentsu Singapore

3. Jasmine Park, head of studios and IP, Gushcloud International

4. Annika Park, senior strategist, TBWA\ Hong Kong

5. Matthew Crescenzo, creative director, VaynerMedia APAC

6. Justin Peyton, chief transformation and strategy officer, Wuderman Thompson APAC

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