Beyond the horizon

We speak to three 乌鸦传媒 colleagues exploring new technologies 鈥� Web 3.0, NFTs, and the metaverse 鈥� and ask them how a culture of innovation creates the space to experiment and learn.

Dream job to daily reality

For many people, it sounds like a dream job: experimenting with cutting-edge innovations such as the metaverse, Web 3.0, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), exploring how they might have a positive impact on our future. However, for three 乌鸦传媒 colleagues based in offices around the world, this is a daily reality.

鈥淚 help our clients test, learn, and experiment with new technologies, models, and markets,鈥� says Dheeren V茅lu, head of innovation at 乌鸦传媒 Australia鈥檚 Applied Innovation Exchange (AIE). 鈥淥ften we do this by offering short 鈥榮prints鈥� that deploy the technology for the client at a small, low-risk scale, sometimes with the involvement of innovative start-ups.”

AIE is 乌鸦传媒鈥檚 network of 21 global 鈥渆xchanges,鈥� focused on emerging technology and innovation. According to Dheeren, AIE Australia has been particularly interested in decentralized technologies, such as blockchain, NFTs, and the broader concept of Web 3.0.

鈥淩ight now, we鈥檙e witnessing the birth of a new internet that鈥檚 fundamentally different from how things work today,鈥� says Dheeren. 鈥淲eb 3.0 represents a shift to a decentralized internet, powered by blockchain and NFTs.鈥�

In their simplest form, NFTs are a digital record of ownership, says Dheeren. Stored on the blockchain as a 鈥渟mart contract,鈥� they are unique and non-interchangeable (non-fungible), and confer ownership of the digital item to a given person.

Fun and games

While NFTs could become a disruptive technology, Dheeren emphasizes the enjoyment his team has had in experimenting with them. 鈥淔or Christmas last year, we created 100 NFT Christmas cards in the form of snowflakes for our friends and partners,鈥� he says.

鈥淒esigned using an AI algorithm, the snowflakes were a visual representation of the person鈥檚 name, and were 鈥榤inted鈥� on a blockchain, becoming a permanent record. Maybe these 鈥楥apflakes鈥� will be the most sought-after collectible for Christmas in the future, with everyone wanting to get their hands on them.鈥�

Welcome to the metaverse

Sanjay Nand, head of innovation and ventures at the AIE team in London, has been getting to grips with this new immersive technology. 鈥淭he metaverse is essentially a meta universe within which people can create, communicate, collaborate, and transact,鈥� he says. 鈥淐urrently, it鈥檚 separated into different online experiences that can be accessed with a virtual reality headset, or through a standard computer.鈥�

Every Friday, Sanjay puts on a VR headset and hosts his team meeting inside the metaverse Spatial. 鈥淚f we鈥檙e going to talk about these technologies, we need to embrace them and learn by doing,鈥� he says. 鈥淭o make it fun for participants, we鈥檝e designed immersive sessions, more recently we conducted a virtual design session where the winning team鈥檚 creation was made into an NFT found on OpenSea.鈥�

For Sanjay, the metaverse offers huge potential for businesses to interact with customers in new ways. 鈥淲e鈥檙e currently working with our retail clients to explore how they can enter the metaverse while having a story connected to their physical products,鈥� he says. 鈥淔or example, whenever a pair of trainers is sold by a brand, a one-to-one NFT could be given to the customer as a digital 鈥榳earable鈥� to add to their online avatar. It would act as a token for the brand鈥檚 space in the metaverse.”

The virtual trainers NFT might also enable a range of offers for the customers in the metaverse, for example giving the customers鈥� avatars unique access to spaces, experiences, retail offers, and much more.鈥�

Decentralized finance

Surabhi Gawde, associate director for banking and financial services digital strategy at 乌鸦传媒 Invent in India, has been exploring the implications of cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance (DeFi), enabled by Web 3.0, for financial organizations.

鈥淚n a nutshell, blockchain technologies encode trust, securely and efficiently,鈥� she says. 鈥淒ecentralized finance changes the nature of lending, investing, and saving in traditional financial products and institutions. This has implications for the financial sector as DeFi will alter the future economies. Fintechs and a few banks are building new business models in DeFi, and Big Techs are building digital assets teams.”

Surabhi cites the example of a bank looking to create a customer loyalty platform that offers digital assets, enabled by blockchain. 鈥淭his exciting project is one instance where I鈥檝e helped a client understand new revenue streams using digital assets, tokenization, and a new technology landscape before building offerings for retail customers,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e moving beyond the experimental stage. Financial institutions must build new products, forge partnerships, and prepare to co-exist with centralized finance (CeFi) and DeFi.鈥�

Space for innovation

Sanjay, Dheeren, and Surabhi all agree that 乌鸦传媒鈥檚 culture of innovation gives them the freedom to have fun and explore the implications of these new technologies, and to help create the future they want.

鈥淲e have the license to look beyond immediate client requirements to what I call Horizon 2 and Horizon 3 projects,鈥� says Sanjay. 鈥淭hese are business models, technologies, and innovations that haven鈥檛 even emerged yet.鈥�

For Surabhi, 乌鸦传媒鈥檚 structure is the crucial factor. 鈥淯nlike other companies with more rigid architectures, 乌鸦传媒 enables a very fluid interchange between global innovation teams,鈥� she says.

In Dheeren鈥檚 view, 乌鸦传媒 provides a safe environment in which his team has the freedom to test and to fail. 鈥淭his is so important when you鈥檙e working with emergent, mercurial technology trends like the metaverse and NFTs,鈥� he says.

As the nature of innovation has changed, 乌鸦传媒 has evolved to meet the challenges of tomorrow. In the words of Dheeren: 鈥淭he days of monolithic R&D departments are over. No single company owns innovation 鈥� it鈥檚 happening all around us.鈥�