Mastercard Vice President: 'It’s Far From Clear Where Web 3.0 Will Take Digital Marketing'
30 Sep, 2022
Whilst Abhijit Shome, Mastercard's VP, Global Digital & Social Marketing, is excited by the potential of the Web 3.0 for marketers, it's not clear where it will take digital marketing, in the latest episode of MAD//Fest's partner podcast, Shiny New Object.
After a long career in various sales and marketing roles and as a “recovering entrepreneur,” Abhijit Shome has never been afraid of jumping into a new and exciting trend. From running businesses at the very beginnings of the web, he is now looking ahead to Web 3.0 and what this means for digital marketing.
“We don’t completely know what Web 3.0 is and, therefore, it can be slightly different depending on what each one of us thinks about it.” This is the first takeaway from our conversation, where Abhijit explains that, while Web 3.0 is his Shiny New Object, it’s far from clear how and where the new trends in technology will take digital marketing and the experiences that come with it.
Virtual experiences continue to grow in popularity
As the computing power and knowledge of our generation progresses, Abhijit thinks it’s inevitable that people will want to be able to have virtual experiences that are ever closer to the “real thing.” While a virtual reality experience of a football game will never be as good as the actual stadium feeling, this opens up the way for those who cannot make it to events to experience them more authentically than just by watching TV, for example.
The evolution to Web 3.0 doesn’t eliminate other experiences
One mistake marketers make, in Abhijit’s opinion, is thinking that one type of experience needs to eliminate the alternative. However, that is not the case. There is an appetite for going to a real-life festival or music concert, just like there is interest in buying music online or listening to it on the radio. The evolution of and towards Web 3.0 will just widen our choices, without making one experience the only possible option.
It's not just the web that’s morphing, it’s the whole society
When the iPhone came out and most people in business were using Blackberries, the idea of a working phone without a tactile keyboard seemed new and strange. But, Abhijit tells us, “we all change, it all morphs.” Our preferences and interests are always changing and that leaves the door open for new and exciting technological advance. At the same time, it doesn’t completely close the door for the “older” ways, either.
The host of the Shiny New Object podcast is Tom Ollerton, founder of Automated Creative.