Avatar Economy: The Disruption of Everything and How to Enable the Impossible

by Costantino Roselli, Founder & CEO of NTZNS

Gabby, a 15-year-old in Argentina, came to us with a dream: to be the Creative Director of a luxury fashion brand.

Currently, Gabby would have to wait three years to become eligible to enter the University, where she would spend four years studying fashion and a considerable amount of money. Then, she would need to secure a low-level job at a local fashion brand to build her portfolio and gain experience while simultaneously sending letters of interest to luxury fashion brands, hoping for a positive response. If she were fortunate enough, she would have to relocate to the city where the brand’s headquarters are located and begin climbing the career ladder, aspiring to reach the top of the pyramid.

Statistically, the average time to succeed using this traditional path is 15 years, and only 1% of those who follow it achieve success.

We believe this path is considered normal because it’s what many have done or continue to do.

However, there is now an alternative. Technology has enabled us to bypass traditional systems and committees that determine eligibility, making dreams achievable.

Given this opportunity, Gabby was able to establish her own luxury fashion brand, disrupting time, space, business processes, and norms as we know them. Through an initial three-month course on digital fashion and Unity, she managed to build a sustainable business with 300,000 customers, selling 1,000 items per day and generating a monthly revenue of $25,000 in just 1.5 years.

Without needing physical textiles, spending exorbitant amounts of money, or leaving her room, she provides an unprecedented experience by curating, styling, and dressing avatars for anyone with access to a Metaverse or gaming platform.

Welcome to the Avatar Economy.

The Avatar Economy answers the question: How can unique products be created, offering unimaginable experiences, through a sustainable business process?

Additionally, the Avatar Economy serves as the ultimate solution for sustainability. In our case study (Gabby), we achieved a sustainable process percentage of 97%, which remained consistent throughout the entire business process, from initial design to customer delivery. Other sustainability solutions fall short of reaching this percentage and cannot offer holistic solutions.

Furthermore, the Avatar Economy ensures 100% inclusivity, as a diverse team from around the world collaborates under a network to produce everything without necessarily knowing each other. The value they share is the only measure everyone is looking for.

The Avatar Economy is based on avatar lifestyle. For the first time in human history, we have built a business model where humans are in the secondary market while their avatars occupy the primary one.

Avatars are not merely our digital twins. Each avatar represents a personality stemming from an individual or team, interacting with others in what we call the Netizens World, a Metaverse space.

The ability to create multiple personalities, hence avatars, across various Metaverses creates an infinitely expanding market where business opportunities, sustainability, and inclusivity are foundational.

Why did the Metaverse failed?

One of the significant issues with the Metaverse is the confusion between it and Meta, formerly Facebook. This confusion is understandable, as Mark Zuckerberg’s famous keynote popularized the term “the Metaverse” among those unfamiliar with it.

When the Metaverse became a buzzword, every company started moving in that direction without fully understanding it. They believed it was another marketing tool to sell their current products to their existing audience or an opportunity to reach a new audience (Gen Z).

However, they failed to provide satisfactory answers to their current audience’s question: “Why bother?” Their storytelling lacked depth, and they remained ignorant about the Metaverse. For the new audience, it was a disaster, as they attempted to sell as new what had been played with for over 20 years.

The Metaverse is a realm of avatars, not people. It is a space where physical constraints do not apply, which is what makes it special. Comparing it to a tool is insufficient; it should be likened to a revolutionary force, akin to the industrial revolution. The Metaverse represents a step in human evolution, a concept I will delve into in my next article and upcoming book (Rubik’s Cube Melted).

What should companies do?

Companies need to comprehend, and hopefully, they have learned this lesson, that today’s customers are born into the era of the Internet, the eighth wonder of the world. The Internet dismantles the control of information. Customers now receive information about how products are designed, produced, and delivered from countless independent sources. Over the past 20 years, people have learned to distinguish between what is genuine and what is fake. They can identify when a product is simply old wine in a new bottle, regardless of the narrative attached to it.

If companies want to succeed, they must establish a new Business Unit dedicated to the Metaverse and cutting-edge technology. Merely adapting their marketing department is insufficient.

Al Capone once remarked, “Today I don’t need guns but lawyers,” demonstrating his astuteness in recognizing the changes of his era.

You don’t need a marketing director; you need a scriptwriter and storyteller. You don’t need a social media manager; you need a community builder and a game designer. You need a team that understands how to craft experiences in a world where avatars inhabit, and physical laws are irrelevant.

The current market and building the market of tomorrow

Gabby is not an anomaly but the norm. With over 3.1 billion gamers spending $50 billion on virtual fashion and accessories for their avatars, we witness a new consumer culture surpassing the industrial era.

Gabby’s case study circumvents the traditional fashion model of trade fairs, buyers, retailers, and fashion shows. No one sat in the front row of Gabby’s runway because there was none.

It’s time to muster the courage to abandon outdated mindsets, viewing technology not merely as a tool to enhance what we do but to lead us toward genuine evolution. To fundamentally alter our businesses and lifestyles.

Who needs another suit for the office when we can don VR glasses, dress our avatars in any attire, work from various locations, and meet diverse people without needing a passport or identification? The essence of the Metaverse lies in building a world without borders, stereotypes, or discrimination. It’s about true freedom for people.

I fail to comprehend messages like “this video or music is not available in your country” when I’m in a digital space. Why impose borders and restrictions in the digital realm? It’s akin to trying to constrain fish from swimming beyond a designated area in the sea. Why should someone dictate what music I listen to, movies I watch, news I consume, or how I communicate and obtain information, or whom I interact with?

The internet and social media have broken the first seal, allowing every creative individual to communicate directly with any audience they desire. No more committees, no more seeking permission to sing, write, act, or create art.

Now, it’s time to go further. Instead of merely watching stories unfold on our screens, let’s don VR glasses and immerse ourselves in those stories. Let’s collaborate with creators to enhance them, build incredible worlds, push boundaries, and enable the impossible.