Marketing, advertising, and branding in Fortnite: how do brands and companies connect today to audiences through the metaverse?

The rise of digital marketing has significantly impacted the audio-visual industry, particularly in the online video game sector. This study, focusing on Fortnite as a case study, explores the connections between brands’ strategic practices and immersive gaming in the metaverse. The research adopts a qualitative methodological approach to analyze the typology of advertising and marketing efforts undertaken by brands and companies through disruptive digital platforms in the metaverse. Beyond being a simple digital entertainment, Fortnite has become a key space for socialization and experimentation for young and emerging audiences. The concept of ‘transmedia’ is revisited considering the revitalization that new technologies bring to the field, highlighting the importance of emotional and social bonds that consumers of this type of content practice. The study emphasizes the role of user participation and the participatory logic required by transmedia strategies as a formula to explore the interactions between brands and users in the metaverse. The fragmentary nature of metaverses, derived from the multiplicity of interfaces and environments, is also discussed. The research underscores the importance of user engagement in the narrative, as users frequently become creators and disseminators of content both within and outside the metaverse, forming a community and providing feedback on the space and narrative in which they interact with other users.