Dive Brief: 

• Pacsun unveiled a holiday campaign titled “PacVerse,” a play on the metaverse meant to celebrate virtual identities, per information shared with Marketing Dive. 
• At the center of the effort is a new spot, “Welcome to the PacVerse,” which positions the PacVerse as a community-driven fictitious destination featuring an upside-down world, icy wonderland and futuristic airport terminal. The campaign also has out-of-home, digital, social media and influencer marketing elements.
• The brand teased a collection of nonfungible tokens meant to represent different locations within PacVerse and will expand its PacWorld experience on Roblox to include a holiday gift shop and virtual try-on station. The push follows a heavy investment by Pacsun in emerging platforms and technology. 

Dive Insight: 

Pacsun, which opened a virtual mall on Roblox earlier this year, looks to further narrow the gap between digital and physical channels with its holiday campaign. The seasonal effort caters to the retailer’s Gen Z target demographic, which perceives the metaverse as a place they can truly be themselves, according to industry research. 

In the new spot, a group of friends gathers for the holidays, with one person gifted a virtual reality headset that acts as her portal to the PacVerse. The commercial is airing on Pacsun’s digital and social channels, while exclusive content will be shared via TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and Discord. The effort will also see themed in-store experiences as well as a holiday rooftop screening of the campaign spot in Los Angeles. 

“Virtual brand worlds are an important part of the future, and part of what is so exciting about these immersive virtual concepts is that the discovery for our consumer is both fluid and the creativity has no boundaries,” said Brie Olson, president at Pacsun, in a statement.

Band ambassadors Brooke Monk, Mathieu Simoneau, dancer Brynn Rumfallo and stunt performer Hero DW all appear in the campaign, each of whom will create special content throughout the holiday season. The retailer has also teamed up again with CGI influencer Miquela, who was previously utilized in its back-to-school campaign.

Coinciding with the “PacVerse” launch, Pacsun is expanding its PacWorld interactive destination on Roblox to include a virtual holiday gift shop displaying goods from its latest seasonal collection. The virtual shop will allow users to virtually try on the clothing items through an existing partnership with digital fashion store DressX. Pacsun launched PacWorld in March, alongside another virtual experience, “Pacsun the Game.”

Though some have grown critical of the metaverse due to difficulties measuring marketing return on investment, brands continue to experiment with the channel as they try to get a feel for Gen Z’s interests. Similar to Pacsun, American Eagle’s holiday plans factor in a metaverse presence with a holiday store launching in Roblox’s Mt. Crescent world, where the brand serves as the exclusive retailer. American Eagle has seen over 30 million virtual clothing try-ons to date in its existing Roblox store.