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What does it mean for Nike to
join the metaverse?

November, 2021


If you haven’t heard already, Nike is preparing its debut into the metaverse. The sneaker giant filled out new trademarks earlier in November for branded virtual sneakers and apparel, which leaves us wondering—what will this bring to the sneaker market?

According to the filings at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the company filed new trademark applications for “NIKE”, “JUST DO IT” and the swoosh logo on October 27. This allows Nike to sell virtual Nike-branded shoes and clothing if they decide to do so one day—however, it could also simply mean Nike’s trying to protect their brand by registering the trademark before someone else uses their trademarks on the metaverse without their acknowledgement. 

So what exactly is the metaverse and why is everyone including Facebook, Microsoft, Time and now even Nike jumping on the trend? It’s an online virtual world which combines virtual reality, augmented reality, 3D holographic avatars, videos and other online communication methods in a hyper realistic digital world for people to explore, build, and “live” in. The metaverse is predicted to be the next biggest trend that we will see for decades to come, with Mark Zuckerberg even changing the name of Facebook into Meta. But before you get too excited, it’s estimated that it’ll take another five to ten years for the metaverse to become truly mainstream. However, when it does eventually happen, expect everything from virtual meeting spaces, games, and marketplaces for buying and selling virtual items.

For Nike, it sounds like a no-brainer decision to get a head start into the metaverse. People love dressing up, regardless if it’s IRL or in the digital world. Personalisation is a huge aspect in most, if not all games on the current market as online gameplay is at a record high. The metaverse will become the new playground for everyone in the 21st century, regardless if we’d want to show up as our real selves, or a make-belief fantasy version of us. Nike’s only just the beginning, but there will surely be more companies signing up in the months and years to come.

Unlimited digital design potential, less production and delivery time? Sounds like a dream come true to Nike. If NFTs were any indication of how popular digital ownership can be, then the metaverse is guaranteed to be huge for all businesses even outside of the sneaker world.