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After a frightful year of scandal and criticism, fourth-quarter results on Wednesday, February 2nd, should concentrate all eyes on the accompanying mission statement and outlook.

Meta [FB] trades around $300 after an all-time high of $384 reached last September before Frances Haugen [FB 'whistle blower'] gave incriminating and damaging testimony to Congress that further rocked the company; most certainly prompting the subsequent sudden rebranding !!!!.

Can a name change or rebranding alter behavior? Unlikely !!!

Cynics argue it's just 'news displacement,' although, in fairness, Zuckerberg has long been talking about the Metaverse.

On October 28th last year, at a 'Connect 2021 Conference', Facebook stunned the market by announcing a 'rebrand' and changed its name to META, short for 'Meta Platforms Inc.' while for the moment [and foreseeable future] retaining its stock market 'FB' moniker.

Augmented Reality. Virtual Reality. The Metaverse is a digital reality that combines aspects of social media, online gaming, and cryptocurrencies to allow users to interact virtually.

Augmented reality overlays visual elements, sound, and other sensory input onto real-world settings to enhance the user experience.

Virtual reality, in contrast, is entirely virtual and enhances fictional realities.

Evangelists of the Metaverse view the concept as the next stage in the development of the internet.

FB has already invested vast amounts in AR and VR, with hardware such as Oculus VR headsets.

AR glasses and wristband technologies remain in development.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes AR glasses will shortly be as ubiquitous as smartphones and opines that over the next several years, FB "will effectively transition from people [and investors] seeing us as primarily a social media company to being a metaverse company."

Last week, LVMH, the eponymous global fashion brand and powerhouse, expounded on the subject while presenting a shareholders meeting on January 27th.

Given that its luxury products are something we can all appreciate and understand, CEO Bernard Arnault is cautious on the Metaverse, which he describes as a 'Bubble' akin to the 2001 Dotcom bust. He continued, it's an infatuation, but like the DotCom era, there will be important future marketing lessons to be learned. "It can undoubtedly have a positive impact - if it's well done - on the activity of brands, but it is not our objective to sell virtual sneakers at 10 Euros - we are not interested in that."

It would seem that Mark Zuckerberg, if nothing else, has pulled off a remarkable marketing coup; in as much The Metaverse will now always be synonymous with him and Facebook.

Once companies reach an $840 billion market capitalization of Meta Platforms Inc [FB], they tend to have long lives.

How the 'Metaverse' pans out as a commercial proposition is an entirely different question.