On Disney, YouTube, McDonald's, and the Metaverse
Last week, Disney CEO Bob Chapek, during a CNBC interview, said:
“While multi-platform television and streaming will continue to be the foundation of sports coverage for the immediate future, we believe the opportunity for The Walt Disney Company goes well beyond these channels … It extends to sports betting, gaming, and the Metaverse.
“We realize that in the future — you can call it what you want, you want to call it metaverse, you want to call it the blending of the physical and digital experiences, which I think Disney should excel at — we realize that it’s going to be less of a passive type experience where you just have playback, whether it’s a sporting event or whether it’s an entertainment offering, and more of an interactive, lean-forward, actively engaged type experience.”
Separately, YouTube Chief Product Officer Neal Mohan, in a blog post, said:
“Web3 also opens up new opportunities for creators. We believe new technologies like blockchain and NFTs can allow creators to build deeper relationships with their fans … giving a verifiable way for fans to own unique videos, photos, art, and even experiences from their favorite creators could be a compelling prospect for creators and their audiences. There’s a lot to consider in making sure we approach these new technologies responsibly, but we think there’s incredible potential as well.
“We couldn’t have a piece about innovation without touching on the metaverse! We're thinking big about how to make viewing more immersive. The first area in which you can expect to see an impact is gaming, where we'll work to bring more interactions to games and make them feel more alive.
"It’s still early days, but we’re excited to see how we can turn these virtual worlds into a reality for viewers."
Finally, McDonald's Corp. filed for several trademarks addressing:
"downloadable multimedia files containing artwork, text, audio and video files and non-fungible tokens" and
"operating a virtual restaurant featuring actual and virtual goods [and] a virtual restaurant online featuring home delivery."
OUR TAKE
Delivering successful WEB3, blockchains and NFTs solutions is a complex process. Large players (Disney, YouTube, McDonald’s, Facebook/Meta, Microsoft, Apple, Sony, Nike, Valve, etc.) may have meaningful resources, but small players may drive significant innovation.
Metaverse / immersive experiences will leverage many technologies including virtual reality headsets, augmented reality glasses, brain-computer interfaces, spatial sensors, and more.
As sports/gaming, entertainment/media, and consumer offerings attract significant attention, WEB3/Metaverse opportunities will also include industries such as health care/therapy, manufacturing, education/training, architecture/design, marketing, scientific research and military/security.