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Back in 2007, tech mavens and pioneers foretold that the virtual world that consumer, firms, and brands could finally experience through the Web would soon turn into a futuristic all-encompassing digital playground where people will be immersed in an always-on flood of digital information, whether wandering through physical spaces or diving into (Kim, 2021: 141).

Today, this envisioned digital playground is no longer simply a prediction, but an actual reality: the metaverse is here.

A massively scaled and interoperable network of real-time rendered 3D virtual worlds where people can synchronously and persistently socialize, share, and co-create unique experiences (Ball, 2021), the metaverse has already grasped enormous interest and capitals all over the world, generating a multi-billion industry which is expected to reach $678.8 billion by 2030 (Bloomberg, 2022; Bloomberg Intelligence, 2021).

Encompassing and supported by technological components like Artificial Intelligence, the Blockchain, and immersive technologies like Augmented (AR) and Virtual (VR) reality – which have already proved to be able to massively affect and reconfigure brands and brand-related constructs (Pizzi et al. 2020; Puntoni et al. 2021; Mangiò et al. 2022) – the metaverse has the potential to revolutionise brands and brand management as we know them today.
As a matter of fact, global leader brands like Nike, Dolce & Gabbana, Nvidia, Yunday or Coca Cola have already begun to experiment in the metaverse by, for example, issuing Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), setting up immersive Roblox-based showrooms, or creating digital twins realities to extend remote working. 

We invite original research and in-depth conceptual papers addressing the above theme, as well as studies focusing on a broad range of other topics relevant to Brand, Identity, and Corporate Reputation.