The metaverse, or Web 3.0, is growing every day and is projected to be worth over $1000m by 2030. But this digital world is already failing to learn from mistakes made in the real world. 60% of people feel the metaverse lacks inclusivity with many not able to be represented as their true authentic selves.

As the name suggests, Decentraland is a decentralized autonomous organisation (or DaO), meaning to bring about change, you have to win over the community. So we needed something to entertain and excite them while making a broader point.

As a deodorant brand, Degree is all about removing barriers to movement in the real and virtual world. So the brief was to spark a conversation about the need for inclusivity in this new world. Our aim was to tackle this lack of inclusivity and representation in the metaverse and make a fundamental and lasting change

The Metathon was the world’s first marathon in the metaverse, designed to shine a light on the need for more inclusivity in Decentraland and force the community to approve lasting change on the platform. The event saw people who can’t move in the real world running alongside rappers, footballers and Olympic athletes, using the first NFT wheelchairs, prosthetic wearables and plus-sized avatars in Decentraland. This gave more people the opportunity to take part in a marathon than ever before. We also worked with a panel, made up of members of the disability community to design the first accessible space, course and podium in Decentraland.

The event was designed to not only raise awareness but to spur the Decentraland community on to make lasting change, making the metaverse more accessible and inclusive, permanently.

Degree is all about inspiring confidence in everyone to move more, to help everyone overcome their personal barriers. But we saw an opportunity to take this beyond the physical world, into the metaverse, opening up more ways to move than ever before.

In particular, we wanted to focus on underrepresented groups - who may face particular challenges to moving in the physical, built environment - but the metaverse provided the opportunity to unlock their movement potential and fulfil the brand’s purpose to inspire everyone to move more.

The Metathon was a 24-hour experience that allowed participants to run a marathon-length, fully accesible course in the metaverse. Anyone with a computer was able to participate, irrespective of any physical limitations. The experience began with selecting an avatar. In addition to the standard avatar, Marathon entrants were able to race in a wheelchair, prosthetic legs or a plus sized avatar for the very first time in Decentraland.

During the race we created a series of checkpoints where runners could engage with influencers who were able to share their own inspirational stories and encourage runners to keep going. Influencers included double Paralympian Blake Leeper, rapper Fat Joe and captain of the Mexico soccer team, Hector Herrera.

At the end of the race, we designed a wheelchair-friendly podium and gave our NFT medals to everyone that took part.

The Metathon was the most successful event in Decentraland history, with each participant spending an average time of 2 hours, 14 mins in the race experience. That equated to a 350% uplift in engagement from the next more popular event.

The Metathon sparked a global conversation, earning 700M impressions worldwide.

As part of the event, we also gave away over 2000 wheelchairs and prosthetics as NFT wearables.

But most importantly of all, we secured lasting change in the metaverse.

Decentraland is a democracy, meaning you can’t make change without the approval of the community.

But, thanks to the Metathon, 98% of the community voting to make Decentraland more inclusive, permanantl, by over 1.5 million votes.