Tata Tea to host ‘metaverse’ Holi party, virtual concert

Tata Tea has announced a promotional event and virtual concert, offering a ‘metaverse’ Holi party that will also feature a music concert within the virtual arena. The move showcases an increasing number of brands looking to cash in on the buzz around the concept of the metaverse, which looks set to grow in the coming days.

The metaverse Holi party is hosted on immersive event platform Yug Metaverse, with an open link for users to log in through. Those visiting can adopt a virtual avatar from a select range, and participate in ‘games’ or activities that are part of the platform for two days – 18 and 19 March. The two-day event will also showcase a musical performance from Indian music composer duo, Sachet-Parampara.

Puneet Das, president of packaged beverages (India, South Asia) at Tata Consumer Products, said, “Tata Tea Premium’s Holi Party in metaverse is an effort to leverage the growing power of digital story-telling and personalisation, as a means to connect with our customers. This campaign will enable people to celebrate Holi and the festive elements associated with it – such as the regional songs, delicacies and stories in a new medium.”

In recent times, creative agencies, event designers and organisers are steadily looking at interests in the metaverse field from clients. In January 2022, Punjab-based Cryptic Entertainments organised a metaverse concert on Ethereum-based virtual events platform, Somnium Space. A one-off ‘metaverse wedding’ was also organised as an early attempt to showcase the rise of events on immersive platforms – after the covid-19 pandemic necessitated the use of virtual ways to simulate physical events.

Event organisers such as Dreamcast Global and Immersive Realities told Mint recently that they are also hearing more on-ground interest from corporate brands to incorporate the idea of the metaverse in their upcoming events. However, critics have remained sceptical around whether the present idea of the ‘metaverse’ is actually is immersive – or remains to be a glorified version of in-browser navigable menus.