Brands should avoid marketing cryptos and NFTs when trying to convince customers with their metaverse offering, as they can make the virtual world seem like the "wild west," a strategist has warned.

Bradford Bird, partnership and collaborations at digital fashion house The Fabricant said that crypto and NFTs can be a "pretty scary and wild west place" and scare off consumers.

He was speaking on a panel at the Meta Festival – the "world's first 24-hour event in the metaverse" – which took place last week and included speakers from Decentraland, Netflix, Burberry, and Coca-Cola. Bird said brands should concentrate on "providing value to the community by showing them around these virtual worlds and not scaring them off."

"Offering real tangible value to your consumers that way I think is definitely the way forward," he added.

Oliver Lange, the head of H&Mbeyond – fashion label H&M's open innovation retail lab based in Berlin – agreed with Bird.

Speaking on the same panel about innovation, he said that NFTs were "not the primary focus" for the brand, which was instead "opening the door for people who want to take conscious steps" into the metaverse.

"Maybe they want to be educated, they want help, they need a partner in entering the virtual world. That's the most important and exciting step and, at least for our purpose, why we create virtual spaces and meet customers and users there to help them find around and to learn together with them," he said.

Many big brands have centered their metaverse strategies on NFTs.