Ralph Lauren enters the metaverse with 'winter escape' themed experience

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Fashion company, Ralph Lauren is dipping its toes in the metaverse scene, launching "The Ralph Lauren Winter Escape" with Roblox. The experience will feature an exclusive collection of gender-neutral clothing and limited-edition items. According to Roblox, this is a first-of-its-kind holiday-themed experience that allows fashion fans to explore the world of Ralph Lauren through the metaverse and build the company's commitment to digital innovation. The experience was developed in collaboration with a Roblox community developer, Funomena, a creative game design and development studio bringing unique and innovative experiences to life on the platform.

The "Ralph Lauren Digital Collection", is exclusively available for purchase on Roblox, and allows users to customise their avatars with iconic styles that they can try on and purchase at the "Polo Shops" within the experience. Inspired by Ralph Lauren’s Polo Sport line from the 1990s, the exclusive digital collection features eight distinct winter sportswear looks from the Polo Sport, Stadium, and Snow Beach archives and from current seasons, which were done in bold colors with sporty graphics. To create hype for the collection, Ralph Lauren will be dropping new looks, limited-edition accessories and delight bonus items via its social media handles.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Ralph Laurent on additional information regarding its social media strategy for this experience.

“Our partnership with Roblox builds on years of digital innovation and underlines our belief in the opportunity that virtual spaces and economies present, especially when it comes to the next generation of consumers," said Ralph Lauren's chief digital and content officer, Alice Delahunt. Delahunt added that the engagement in the metaverse is a natural extension of its lifestyle brand, which at its core, has always been about stepping into the worlds of Ralph Lauren.

On the gaming front, users can expect an experience that offers engaging winter-themed themed activities against the backdrop of a snowy alpine landscape, said Roblox. “This heartwarming holiday experience instantly transports you into an alpine village where you can explore and enjoy the world of Ralph Lauren together with your friends,” said Christina Wootton, VP of global brand partnerships in Roblox.

Wootton added that the community developers at Roblox have created this experience with custom textures for a realistic winter nature backdrop. This way, users are able to try exclusive fashion items. "This is the kind of innovation and co-creation that the Roblox platform and technology enable, opening opportunities for brands to build high-quality, authentic and native connections with brand loyalists and new customers globally," she explained.

This is not the first time a brand has rode the metaverse wave with Roblox. In fact, in September this year, Hyundai Motor Company partnered with the online entertainment platform to launch the “Hyundai Mobility Adventure”. In this adventure, various users were able to meet and communicate with one another and experience Hyundai Motor’s mobility offerings in the form of avatars. Earlier this month, there were also reports of Nike making a move into the metaverse with Roblox, with the sports company filing for several new trademarks. According to the US Patent and Trademark Office, Nike filed applications for "Nike" and its iconic slogan "Just Do It" on 27 October. A day later, it did the same for the "Jordan" brand name as well as Air Jordan and Jumpman logos.

Separately, a slew of brands have also joined the metaverse with non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Last month alone saw the launch of NFTs by brands DKNY, Vogue, Lionel Messi and Louis Vuitton. Last month also saw Visa joining the NFT hype with its US$150k purchase of an NFT known as CryptoPunk 7610.