Bulgari opens virtual world on Zepeto metaverse platform

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Aug 31, 2022

LVMH’s Italian luxury jewellery and accessories brand Bulgari has opened an exclusive virtual world on Asia's biggest metaverse platform, Zepeto. It includes a pop-up store, Bulgari Sunset In Jeju, and provides visitors with online and offline experiences.

Brands are increasingly aiming to create seamless links between the virtual and the physical and in this case, the physical pop-up store and café located in Parnas Hotel Jeju have been virtually created in Bulgari Zepeto World “so visitors can experience and have fun without visiting the real location”.

They can also find the brand’s 2022 Resort Collection “inspired by the summer sky with hues of gold and warm apricot in Eden”. And in real life, visitors “can enjoy desserts and beverages at Bulgari Sunset In Jeju, an epitome of the brand's identity”.

The company said the virtual experience includes some “fun elements for its users”, such as when visitors complete a quest, they’ll receive Bulgari Resort Collection and signature accessory pieces to dress their avatars. 

As well as this, the brand's global ambassador Blackpink Lisa hosted a virtual live event on August 31. Her avatar has various interactive experiences with fans on the virtual world including, taking selfies. 

It’s a world away from what the marketing of a brand like Bulgari would have looked like just a decade or so ago. But the metaverse is becoming increasingly important to luxury and fashion brands and especially so in the tech-focused Asian market. 

Zepeto has attracted more than 320 million users worldwide since its launch in August 2018. Some 80% of users are teenagers, which may not seem like Bulgari’s target market given its luxe pricing. But the company said “the platform is cementing its position as a popular playground for global Generation Z in the era of metaverse”. And luxury-focused Gen Z consumers are key for high-end labels both for what they might buy today and for locking them into the brand for the future.