H&M does Stranger Things on the Metaverse – marketers, watch and learn!

Right on the heels of the launch of the H&M Loooptopia experience on Roblox in January, comes a new limited-time experience in the metaverse, showcasing an exclusive Stranger Things summer collection just for kids.

This summer collection features relaxed and easy summer separates, retro prints, graphic t's, varsity style jerseys and surfer inspired sets. The 24 piece capsule collection had clothes for kids 8-14yrs old in stores and online.

The "Surfer Boy Pizza Delivery Game" inside the H&M Loooptopia launches on May 25th and has been inspired by the 'Surfer Boy Pizza' restaurant that was featured in Season 4 of Stranger Things.

In the main hub of the Looop City, users can play a fast-paced Pizza Delivery game and win bespoke Stranger Things clothing as rewards, featuring Argyle the Surfer Boy employee. Once they finish delivering everything here, they can unlock a special trailer of what to expect later in the fall in the H&M Loooptopia experience.

At each level there are multiple deliveries which increase in difficulty as the player progresses. It starts with a small number of deliveries that increases with each level, along with less time to complete each mission. Higher levels are situated in other biomes to encourage players to explore those spaces. Once they finish all the deliveries, users can unlock a special trailer of what will come later this fall.

The H&M Loooptopia experience that was launched in January on Roblox is a highly immersive 3D experience that has mini-games, styling sessions, alternate worlds, events and more. Users can play with their digital identity and learn about fashion in a fun, creative, and playful environment.

With the entire hullabaloo surrounding AI settling a bit, it is interesting to note that the metaverse still emerges as a highly engaging, immersive experience like no other. No image or any number of words or even a video can do it quite like the metaverse.

So brands have a distinct advantage when they are able to create an alternate dimension which is very interactive and engaging.

Stranger Things is a very popular show as we know – Forbes reported that viewers watched more than 5 billion minutes of ‘Stranger Things 4’ in a week, breaking records - and H&M building a campaign around the Surfer Boy Pizza is a great move on the part of the brand.

Argyle, the loveable employee of Surfer Boy Pizza, played a big role in Stranger Things and fans were left with a huge Argyle-shaped void when the fourth season ended. They dialed the pizza chain’s number so much so that the number now has a recorded message from Argyle himself to all his fans.

H&M combines Argyle and Stranger Things in the metaverse – where else! Where else could you play games (delivering pizza) and do Argyle things! Fashion finds a natural home in the metaverse where users can try out the latest styles.

Metaverse enables brands to offer highly engaging and interactive and immersive experiences to their customers. It opens up a wide area of creative freedom, so brands can break the confines of reality and create a fantasy world that users would love to explore. With gaming being a big part of the younger generation, where they don various avatars and engage with one another, allowing users to play in the metaverse will work like a charm.

With some brands abandoning their metaverse forays and moving towards more traditional modes of marketing, one wondered if this was the end of a wave – a mere phase. But with more and more brands embracing it and using its unique characteristics to enhance and empower their marketing efforts, it looks like metaverse is still a force to contend with!

In the wise words of Argyle himself – “try before you deny!”