Lacoste Debuts Web3-Based UNDW3 Experiential Universe

Lacoste has launched UNDW3 (pronounced as “underwater”), its first Web3 experience and a progression from its collaboration with Minecraft that saw an immersive projection of the fashion retailer in the Croco Island virtual world, according to a Tuesday (June 14) press release emailed to PYMNTS.

UNDW3 “will allow the communities of the brand … to participate, collectively and actively, in the embodiment of its Fashion-Sport vision,” the release stated. The retailer’s Web3 “renews the customer and brand experience by allowing community members to take ownership of Lacoste in a new creative way.”

Lacoste launched its dedicated discord server last week, giving members real-time updates on the development of the brand’s Web 3 universe, part of a collective experience based on exchange, interaction and co-creation. The server has more than 30,000 subscribers, according to the release.

The company is also selling 11,212 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) featuring Lacoste’s emblematic crocodile emerging from the water, the release stated. The number refers to the iconic L1212 polo shirt invented by Lacoste founder René Lacoste.

Lacoste NFT owners will have special access to the brand’s Web3 universe, including digital, physical and experiential benefits in the world of the crocodile, including exclusive co-created products, according to the release.

“UNDW3 attests to our desire to accompany the phenomenon of decentralization driven by Web3 and bears witness to our ambitions in this area as well as to the power of our brand: to bring together our communities and connect cultures around the crocodile, a true rallying sign throughout the world, by proposing an experiential, interactive and co-creative universe, in the image of Lacoste’s creativity and avant-gardism,” said Lacoste Chief Brand Officer Catherine Spindler in the release.

UNDW3 is Lacoste’s first foray into Web3 development, but the company plans to expand its reach in the space, the release stated.

Lacoste is hoping to buck the early trend that shows that marketing your brand in the metaverse hasn’t yet translated into much for retailers and other big-name companies that have taken the plunge so far.

Read more: Behind the Hype, Metaverse Marketing Offers Dismal ROI

Citi puts the total addressable market value of the metaverse, in all of its incarnations, at $13 trillion by 2030, and Morgan Stanley arrived at a similar figure in February — although it toned down the highlighted number to $8.3 trillion by not factoring in as-yet-undetermined new immersive marketing experiences.