Jack Daniel’s opened its virtual doors to the public by commemorating urban art and the 50th anniversary of hip-hop in late September. Currently ongoing, the iconic brand has launched The Verse — the company’s first virtual reality (VR) immersive experience — under its Art, Beats + Lyrics programme.
The experience has debuted ahead of Black History Month in the United Kingdom, which takes place for the month of October. Fans can access the experience across smartphones, tablets, PCs, and VR headsets.
XR Today is honoured to interview Keenan Harris, Brand Director, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey and Telly Wong, Chief Content Officer, IW Group, to discuss the two companies’ collaboration on The Verse.
Recognised as the world’s most valuable brand by Interbrand, Jack Daniel’s has operated as one of the world’s most recognisable brands in the beverage business, selling in over 170 countries across the world. For over 148 years in Lynchburg, Tennessee, the company’s Black Label whisky has remained a mainstay in the spirits market globally.
With offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York, IW Group is a marketing agency dedicated to implementing Web3 and metaverse technologies for massive brands worldwide. The company has worked with Disney, Warner Bros, Apple TV, Netflix, Wells Fargo, Sony Pictures, Walmart, and many others.
In the interview, we discussed the rollout of Web3 technologies to promote iconic brands like Jack Daniels, end-user responses on specific Web3 and metaverse technologies, and trends emerging in the future of advertising.
XR Today: What specific vision did you have for The Verse?
Keenan Harris: For almost two decades, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey’s signature urban art and hip hop program, Art, Beats + Lyrics, has been dedicated to showcasing Black and diverse visionary artists and featuring legendary acts like Kendrick Lamar and Bun B in select cities across the country.
We wanted to build on that legacy and open up the experience to consumers worldwide while celebrating hip hop’s 50th anniversary. By honoring hip-hop culture, The Verse serves as a reminder of the transformative power of art and music, instilling hope and inspiring positive change within the community and beyond.
Telly Wong: The Verse was created to celebrate the nearly 20-year history of Jack Honey’s Art, Beats + Lyrics program while also looking towards the future of urban art and hip hop, especially in the wake of hip hop’s 50th anniversary.
We set out to honor the mission and spirit of AB+L’s live events while giving visitors an out-of-this-world experience that would be impossible to do in real life.
By tapping into the power of Web3 and VR, we’re not only providing a global platform for the featured artists, but also uniting hip-hop fans around the world who are equally fascinated by these new technologies.
XR Today: How is The Verse helping Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey to expand its brand awareness and presence?
Keenan Harris: This virtual art gallery and music experience will showcase Jack Honey’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of innovation while remaining true to our core values of upholding authenticity and passion.
Telly Wong: One of the inspirations behind The Verse was some research we came across, which found that urban audiences were the most interested in Web3 and XR technologies. We wanted to tap into that insight while merging it with the community’s existing passions for art and music.
We hope the experience will speak to tech-forward consumers who appreciate brands that not only speak to their interests, but also recognize their aspirations and engage them in some of these new digital spaces.
For a 157-year-old brand like Jack Daniel’s to be on the cutting edge of culture and technology says a lot about their commitment to innovation and willingness to meet their consumers anywhere— in real life and online.
XR Today: Is Web3 and the Metaverse a key part of artistic expression? Where do you see firms using it the most to build brand communities?
Keenan Harris: Web3 gives artists a new tool to play with, and hip-hop has always been at the forefront of embracing new technologies.
Jack Honey knows our consumers are exploring new virtual worlds and staying on top of the latest in tech and Web3. We wanted to make sure we’re meeting them where they already are and believe it is critical for brands to be there as well.
Telly Wong: Web3 and the Metaverse allow brands to think more globally and, by extension, more culturally. After all, an activation involving these platforms can potentially be attended by anyone in the world.
For The Verse, we’ve already had visitors from countries as far as Japan and Australia in spite of this experience being developed primarily for a US audience.
This opens up some very unique opportunities for international brands like Jack Daniel’s. Future brand communities in Web3 will be global by design, and marketers will need to plan for everything that implies.
XR Today: Which Web3 technologies did you commission, and what purposes do they serve? How well did they work to help you realise your goals for The Verse?
Telly Wong: We tapped into AI creative platforms such as Midjourney and Dall-E in our creative development phase to bring the space elevator concept to life.
We used Spatial as our platform and pushed their Unity SDK to the extreme to yield the most visually stunning and immersive space built on the platform.
For the virtual concert featuring Phony Ppl, we utilized an AI-powered markerless motion capture system to record their performance, which was one of the first applications of this technology in this manner.
The Verse utilized over 100 video, music and sound effects to bring the virtual immersion to the next level. Our gallery level has multiple ASMR experiences one can enjoy. Try to find them all!
We were able to build in some amazing gamified experiences, like driving a vintage car through space, within an already expansive multimedia VR experience.
XR Today: What trends do you see taking place in the future for advertising? How will XR grow and expand for retail and FMCG?
Keenan Harris: XR is an exciting new frontier for Jack Daniel’s. Our digital marketing teams have been looking very closely at these technologies and platforms over the past several years, and The Verse is one of our first activations in this space.
We’re looking forward to exploring ways to marry these new technologies with our existing IRL programs and tactics, as we have with The Verse.
Telly Wong: We’re still in the very early stages of realizing the potential of XR in advertising, which is extremely exciting for a veteran marketer like myself. I watched social media completely transform our industry and I have no doubt XR will do the same in the coming years.
For XR to expand in the retail space, we need more brands and agencies to fully embrace and invest in these technologies as part of a holistic and long-term marketing strategy. Just dabbling in it won’t suffice.
Finding creative and consumer-centric ways to merge XR with existing tactics, like digital delivery and brand apps, are great places to start.
For more information, kindly visit https://www.jackdaniels.com/ and https://www.iwgroup.agency/.
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