Published on: 01 January 1970
For anyone who wants to get a good sense of how brands enter the Metaverse, Absolut provides a great case. As the sponsor of Coachella Music Festival, the brand brought the festival experience from the real world into the Metaverse and vice versa.
The experience took place in Decentraland, a virtual world where people’s avatars can live, play, and socialize. It’s a metaverse platform that you could consider a digital village. Entering the Absolut.Land experience makes avatars dance without controlling it. While dancing, visitors could get a sneak peek of the real world and even interact with real-life visitors.
Activations in the real world were digitalized, featuring the ‘antigravity’ dance floor accessed via a colorful ‘Pride Tunnel,’ and a selfie room where users can screenshot their avatars. There was an opportunity to order cocktail kits, play songs on a jukebox to dance, and unlock wearables. In the physical experience, people could jump in and be a bartender and serve people (avatars of course) drinks in Absolut.Land’s metaverse world, while connecting and interacting regardless of where they are.
About 600 avatars were already lined up before the metaverse experience opened its doors. Over the weekend, Absolut.Land attracted 30,000 players.
The success of a brand like Absolut relies heavily on being at the forefront of culture. Going into the metaverse is a way to observe emerging youth culture, experiment with digital innovation, and prove that Absolut is a catalyst for great experiences. As the brand is convinced that the Metaverse offers a way to socialize in the future, Pam Forbus revealed that Absolut has doubled its media investment this fiscal year with nearly 80% going to digital and about 10% of its annual marketing spending to the Coachella program.
Inspired by Pamela Forbus, IRG participant 2022 & CMO of Pernod Ricard North America
