Gucci’s new Flora fragrance has landed in the brand’s Roblox world, replete with Miley Cyrus avatar, scavenger hunt, selfie wall and wearable fragrance bottle backpack.
Gucci Town on popular gaming platform Roblox now has a signature scent. Gucci Flora, the brand’s first fragrance in the metaverse, comes in the form of digital wearables, scavenger hunts and brand celebrity ambassador Miley Cyrus in avatar form in the brand’s digital version of its ad campaign, Flora Fantasy. In the experience, visitors can pose for selfies next to Cyrus’s avatar.
Cyrus, the face of Gucci Beauty’s new Flora Gorgeous Jasmine campaign, is the first celebrity to appear in Gucci’s world. The fragrance, or virtual iteration of, is the first Gucci Beauty product to join its Roblox destination, which was introduced in May and is the pair’s fifth collaboration.
With a digital rendering of the scent, visitors can participate in challenges, games and interactive learning experiences centred around the fragrance, with many of the activities led by Cyrus’s avatar. Rewards will be available for winners of scavenger hunts involving searches for “Flora” letters, and participants can pose in the Gucci Flora Gorgeous Jasmine campaign on Selfie Way. While Gucci didn’t elaborate on the specific rewards, in the past, visitors have been able to access some digital products once they achieved certain thresholds related to engagement, such as playing 100 games or completing 18 treasure hunts.
Gucci debuted Gucci Town on Roblox in May, with intentions for the space to change over time. The expansion of Gucci Flora into the brand’s virtual world is indicative of Gucci’s commitment to the development of its metaverse and Web3 efforts. Gucci has enlisted Swedish game development studio The Gang to bring Flora Fantasy to life in the digital realm. The studio has partnered with Gucci in the past for the virtual fashion and music event Achille Lauro x Gucci, and is the developer of Vans World, which opened on Roblox in September 2021.
While the possibilities for creativity and experimentation in the virtual space are extensive, the question of how best to digitally render intangible objects remains. Yet, the presence of intangible beauty products illustrates the growing potential for cosmetic players to capitalise on the potential that the metaverse offers. In 2021, 53 per cent of beauty fans participated in free-to-play games, and, according to 2022 data from creative agency We Are Social, more than 80 per cent of female internet users aged 16 to 44 play video games.
While fragrance in the metaverse is both challenging and nascent, there are a few early examples. In June, digitally native product company Rtfkt and luxury fragrance brand Byredo announced their AlphaMeta collaboration, involving wearable digital “auras” for the metaverse. The auras represent 26 emotions, and will be available as digital collectables that are wearable by Rtfkt’s avatar collection, CloneX. Estée Lauder offered glowing avatar auras for Decentraland’s Metaverse Fashion Week after people visited its virtual showcase.
So far, Gucci’s Flora fragrance is the first beauty product to make its appearance in Gucci Town. At launch, it sold items such as digital bags, clothing, skateboards and game sets. Gucci’s first Roblox experience, a two-week pop-up in May last year, offered a digital Dionysus bag that resold among the Roblox community for more than its physical counterpart, proving community appetite for Gucci-created digital goods.