At Metaverse Marcom, we specialize in branded UGC on Roblox because they are relatively fast and inexpensive to make, return super valuable data, and provide a viable path to not just scaled marketing reach, but also to unlocking high-potential monetization.
Our focus on branded UGC is further motivated by key data highlighting UGC's importance to the Roblox community:
53% of Gen Z Roblox players customize their avatars “a lot”
1 in 5 Gen Z Roblox players change their avatar’s clothing daily (or even several times per day)
42% of Gen Z Roblox players say expressing themselves with cool clothing and accessories in the digital world (i.e. on Roblox) is more important than expressing themselves in the physical world.
And when it comes to brands making UGC, 39% of Gen Z Roblox players want to see top brands collaborating with emerging designers / community creators.
One community creator who has had incredible success both individually and with brands is Roblox UGC designer Junozy, who is approaching 35 million in UGC sales. He has worked with top brands including Barbie, Elton John, Imagine Dragons, Charli XCX, NCT 127, Karlie Kloss, The Backstreet Boys, Forever 21, Samsung, Visa, Beats by Dre, Tommy Hilfiger, Hot Topic, Mastercard, The Grammy Awards, and more.
I had the chance to connect with him last year and then again just recently, and it's been great to track his work and considerable growth over that time. I'm so impressed by what Junozy has done on the platform, and I'm excited for you to learn from this true Roblox UGC expert who is doing so well to drive sales.
Metaverse Marcom: How do you set your pricing?
Junozy: This is a mistake that I see brands make all the time. Overpricing and overstocking Limited items. Here's one for example...
You have to have a good balance of price and quantity for players to even be interested. And if you don't, then don't expect to ever sell out your item... Roblox learned this the hard way, this item has been on sale for years!
A good premise is that the lower the stock, the higher the price can be. If you want to release something for thousands of Robux, it better be pretty rare. If you want to release something for 35 Robux, the lowest you can, then having a few thousand copies will probably sell out (given the item is good!).
I personally look at the item and put a price that I would pay if I were going to buy that item, and it tends to work out. There's no secret formula to follow, but there's definitely things to avoid.
MM: You've worked on a number of branded UGC. What's the difference between popular branded UGC and unpopular branded UGC? In other words, why do some brands succeed with UGC and others don't?
Junozy: One of the main downfalls of branded UGC is that they don't understand the Roblox market nor what players on Roblox like. Thoroughly understanding what your audience wants that has allowed me, and would allow brands, to succeed in the UGC-sphere.
This has been something that I have been doing, understanding, and learning for over three years- practically since the UGC catalog was created on Roblox.
Let's start with the Roblox market. A big problem, as I previously mentioned are the prices and stock of items released by brands. The more important thing, however, is making an item that players actually want to wear on their avatars. Trying to be
overly-creative with the item's design or slapping a logo all over the item might not be the best way to go.
Here are some examples of good and bad branded items, in my opinion:
Good:
Bad:
Ultimately, I feel like the best way to have success with branded items is to really immerse yourself in Roblox and understand what players want - or work with someone who has. Understanding this platform comes as a second nature to me, as I grew up on it since 2012. The possibilities for making actual cool and unique brand events and integrations is very untapped, which is something I'm planning to dive into soon.
MM: How do you decide what items should be Limited vs unlimited?
Junozy: When deciding if an item should be Limited or unlimited, I really have that planned out before the item is even created. Part of it is if it fits a certain "collection" - I want to keep my "luxury-themed" items more exclusive, hence making them Limited.
Not much to say on this one, I don't create an item and then ask myself... "should this be Limited or unlimited?" Instead, I think of "should I create an item that will be Limited?" and go from there. A lot of it has to do with maintaining my brand, a lot of it has to do with what I'm planning to do to make that Limited unique, and a lot of it- honestly- just has to do with how I'm feeling about it.
MM: Lots of your Limiteds have sold out. What made that happen?
Junozy: When I was designing my Limited UGC collection, I really wanted to focus on making a collection that was both unique and easily recognizable as my own. I wanted people to see an item and know it was created by Junozy. People often want to buy multiple of my Limiteds to complete the collection, or own the whole set. That was step one.
Step two was really making my collectibles exclusive. I didn't want my Limiteds to be run-of-the-mill... I wanted them to be sought-after, and I think that really shows with how quickly they sold out (some in under 30 seconds!) and how much they are being resold for (one even sold for 18x the original sale price!). I was able to offer this exclusivity by only releasing a small, Limited number of copies... a strategy often used by tangible high-end fashion brands.
It's to be noted that people also purchased multiple copies of items because of how exclusive they were, with the intent to make a profit.
Lastly, I promoted on social media! When Limiteds first became a thing, I posted a schedule for the entire month, detailing when I would be releasing certain Limiteds. My promotional content garnered lots of traction, gaining me thousands of likes and followers.
MM: You have given away free UGC Limiteds. Why?
Junozy: I don't see free UGC Limiteds as an investment for financial gain, but instead for social gain. Free Limiteds, to me, are a great way to bolster hype, grow a community, promote a game, and much more. They are great for publicity! I have been able to build a community around my Limited creations. Free Limiteds allow creators to reach people that they weren't able to reach before with their purchasable items... because who doesn't want something for free?
For example, I was able to take an experience from 800 ccu (concurrent users) to 8,000 ccu with a single Free Limited. This is a new, untapped opportunity for promotion - and I expect to see how I can push the boundaries in this space in the near future.
MM: Are you still making Limiteds now? Why or why not?
Junozy: To an extent, yes. Although I believe that the original hype behind Limited items has faded since release (partly due to their influx), I still believe that Limiteds have not reached their full potential on the platform yet. I expect in the not-so-distant future you will see experiences better taking advantage of Limiteds to provide in-game perks to their playerbase, influencers better using Limiteds to build their fanbase, and creators continuing to create unique and exclusive content to build their customer base.
The fact that Limiteds are quantity-based brings a lack of fungibility that we have not seen before to the UGC catalog on Roblox- and there is much more innovation to be done. So, although I may not be the most active Limited-uploader as of now, I definitely have some unique Limited drops- or even events- planned for the near future, so stay tuned!
Follow Junozy and check out his work:
Stephen Dypiangco is the CEO of Metaverse Marcom, a strategy and consulting firm helping entertainment brands enter Roblox and start monetizing. Want more insights to master Roblox for brands?