Le Journal du Net is a partner of the Mastercard Innovation Forum 2022, organized on December 8 in Paris. On this occasion, Geoffroy Seghetti, Marketing and Communications Director of Mastercard, will illustrate the challenges that the metaverse represents for the group.
JDN extension. You will speak on 8 December during a round table entitled “Metaverse, fashion or real opportunity for brands?”. How the metaverse represents an opportunity for Mastercard ?
Geoffroy Seghetti. If we do not yet know the exact forms of the metaverse, described as a virtual space of interactions and potentially commercialization, the certainty is that we will be able to carry out transactions there. Mastercard must therefore be present to ensure the simplicity of execution and the security of these payments. We invest heavily in research and development in the metaverse because we believe in it. Of course, like the curves of all trends, we’re at the top and enthusiasm will go downhill because neither the user experience nor the uses are there yet. But then it will recover, we have no doubt that the metaverse is a technology made to stay and that it corresponds to what users have come to expect. According to projections, the metaverse will represent a market of between 5 and 13 billion dollars by 2030, it is good that something happens there.
How do you work on the subject?
We have several teams dedicated to the Web3 environment. Mastercard has been working on the metaverse since the concept first appeared. These teams are working on the technologies behind stablecoins, stablecoins, NFTs, and what will become of the metaverse. We want to ensure these spaces remain inclusive. We have a test & learn approach and have experimented with different platforms, like Roblox, to see how they work and how Mastercard can bring value. We have filed several patents in this area. Last April, Mastercard also filed 15 trademark applications to protect us in these new decentralized environments. That says a lot about our ambitions in the metaverse. We ran a local campaign this summer, including a parade and conversations with personalities, and we know the metaverse would make it a global celebration. These long-running reflections allow us to see uses to come, to be one step ahead and to be able to better support our customers as they move into the metaverse.
What will this change in the brand approach?
The metaverse will be a conversational environment, raise questions about how global brands like Mastercard will interact and transform their customer engagement to drive brand preference. The change will be due to immediacy: if today with the social networks, brands can engage in an exchange with their customers, there is no such notion of immediacy. In the metaverse, we will be in the present moment. The interaction will need to be redesigned with more relevance and reflection by brands. We will have to imagine a more playful way of delivering content. Immediacy also implies greater security and trust. At the transaction level, technologies will evolve in the metaverse: when we certify a payment, we could speak of multi-factor authentication.
What new experiences do you foresee with the metaverse?
There are many hypotheses. For me the promise of the metaverse lies above all in a porosity between the real and the virtual world. For example in commerce, if a user wants to buy a jacket, he can receive it in real life, have a virtual version for his avatar, have digital rights and certificates, etc. Collaborative working and travel will suffer, as will the travel industry. The way you prepare for the holidays and book hotels and transport will never be the same again. The notion of experience will really come into play.
Geoffroy Seghetti is responsible for marketing and communication activities B2C and B2B for the Western Europe division. Previously, he was responsible for product strategy and marketing of consumer and corporate products and services for the Western Europe division. Geoffroy Seghetti joined Mastercard in 2012, as strategic account manager, after having been sales manager in France at Gemalto (now Thales).
