It’s been six months since Paris Hilton partnered with Roblox to introduce Slivingland, an all-things-Hilton, metaverse-flavored spot–and in those six months, the digital location generated the equivalent buzz of a $60 million ad campaign, with 3.4 million visitors as of February 2024.
That info comes from a GEEIQ report commissioned by Hilton’s media company 11:11, which produced Slivingland.
“To some, it’s the metaverse. To brand marketers, it’s a communication vertical that provides a style of engagement which is more immersive than any other channel currently in their toolkit,” 11:11 said in the report, per VentureBeat. “And there’s no sign of this slowing. Roblox is the undisputed leader in this space. It captured Gen Z’s attention for more minutes per day than TikTok did in 2023.”
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As for how much time users spent in Slivingland, 11:11 says the average user spent 11 minutes per day taking in the virtual world’s offerings, which include a virtual Hilton hotel (more details on that here), plus a nightclub and various shops and minigames.
Hilton has been an unusually fleet adopter of Roblox and other digital destinations, but she’s not the only one who sees branding opportunities in Roblox (which now has nearly 220 million monthly active users). GEEIQ’s report found that more than 400 brands have done activations on the content creation/gaming platform so far. That’s up from just 28 brands in 2021, and up 110% year-over-year from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024.
Brands who’ve done Roblox activations span categories like fashion & beauty, toys, entertainment, sports, food & drink, and travel. Some have put in major installations akin to Slivingworld: there’s Gucci Town, Walmart Discovered, H&M Looptopia, and (from way back in 2021) Chipotle‘s virtual restaurant.
Hilton also isn’t the only one seeing dollar signs in Roblox. A recent story from Glossy dives into the resale market of Roblox accessories, and how real-life companies like haircare brand Amika see Roblox as a viable alternative to traditional ad spend.
“This is a long-term investment for us,” Shannon Otto, Amika’s senior director of consumer digital engagement, told Glossy. “Gen Alpha shopping behaviors have been getting a lot of attention lately, [for example] with them ‘taking over’ Sephora. That attention and that behavior speak to their devotion, their brand loyalty, and their curiosity for beauty products. … Roblox is where the next generation of our consumers are. They want to immerse themselves in a brand new universe.”
