The era of Metaverse gigs is upon us, where virtual spaces now make it possible for people to explore diverse immersive experiences and avenues within the digital realm from anywhere around the world. In a bid to create a connection with young discerning audiences, India’s premium lifestyle brand, Van Heusen from Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Ltd. and the entertainment platform, Paytm Insider presented a fabulous live concert ‘Van Heusen MetaPlay’ on PartyNite Metaverse, featuring India’s most-loved pop band ‘When Chai Met Toast’ (WCMT) on 2 February 2023.
WCMT’s debut live metaverse concert was a huge success, thanks to the aura created by their infectious happy sound which transcends age, genre and even language, drawing in a whopping number of viewers from around the globe. The concert took place on the PartyNite Metaverse where the band won many hearts by performing their classical tracks, blending acoustic folk with indie rock tunes. The audience members had an unforgettable experience at PartyNite, where they got a chance to witness the artists’ avatars in a larger-than-life virtual concert.
Within the world of PartyNite’s Metaverse, the audience was able to explore several marvellous opportunities by living vicariously through their meta-human avatars while experiencing an exotic metaverse landscape. The event featured a metaverse apartment, a Van Heusen metaverse showroom, the concert arena and the concert stage. Following this sequence, the fans were seen jumping into the metaverse world, transitioning themselves from IRL (in real life) to virtual characters.
By logging into the PartyNite app, the audience members first landed at their individual metaverse ‘Apartment’ where they found a Van Heusen commercial being aired on the screen. At the wardrobe area, the member was directed to enter the Van Heusen metaverse which led them to a showroom space. The Van Heusen virtual store had a set of over twenty ensembles on display for the audience members to dress up before they headed to the concert area. The ensembles were picked from Van Heusen’s range of sub-brands starting from formal, casual, and denim to activewear and High Fashion categories. Throughout the metaverse activity, Van Heusen intended to introduce the concept of a virtual version of a Van Heusen clothing line that enables the brand to be a part of the consumers’ evolving interests. The showroom also had a portal through which the audience members were transported to the concert arena.
The concert arena was modelled as a modern urban cityscape with branding on hoardings promoting Van Heusen and the concert. The attendees had the liberty to explore the map, move around the city streets and finally reach the concert stage to witness the immersive concert. The event gathered momentum in no time, with thousands of avatars swarming the concert venue. By joining the Showtime mode at 7 PM, attendees could see a large concert stage set up in the middle of the street featuring the 3D avatars of the WCMT band artists performing. Also, visual effects were used on the artists’ avatars. As the music played, the artists were urging the fans to make their avatars dance, clap and sway their hands along to the music. Moreover, firefly-like lights floated around the space during the performance which made the concert even more interesting.
The show itself was around 30 minutes in duration and was filled with interactive moments. And, it’s fairly important to say that anyone who took part in this Metaverse concert had the chance to be more immersed in the whole experience than watching a live-streamed video. Additionally, the screen that was present on the stage played graphics and also displayed the timings of the shows during the day.
Apart from that, the ‘concert periphery’ area featured an exclusive playable Van Heusen NFT Drop. During the concert, a handful of people were able to claim exclusive Van Heusen’s high fashion metaverse clothing ensemble which gave their characters a distinguishing look along with a unique dance move that they could use during the rest of the show. Van Heusen power coins spawned right through the concert for fans to collect. A special gift hamper from the brand was presented to the audience member that managed to collect the most coins.
Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Ltd. Van Heusen chief operating office Abhay Bahugune said, “The live event scene has transformed forever with immersive metaverse experiences powering virtual events. Van Heusen as a brand has always championed innovation and dynamism and this event was the perfect testament of our brand leading unique, first-of-its-kind entertainment experience. Partynite’s metaverse environment enabled the brand to connect with young discerning audiences to discover the brand in a meaningful and engaging environment. This musical concert was just the perfect amalgamation of fashion, music and cutting-edge technology that we shared with our consumers. We are also proud to be the first fashion brand to enter the metaverse in India with such an immersive experience. Partnering with one of the newest explorers of the metaverse space, ‘When Chai met Toast’, we wanted to place our brand at the heart of this interactive experience. WCMT’s concert kicked off a new craze of live concerts in the metaverse. Our endeavour was to be one of the first brands in the fashion and lifestyle space to embark on this journey with WCMT and create a meaningful interaction on this new experiential platform and we were successful in doing so. Most importantly, we were able to create a unique brand integration that engaged consumers and created a strong connection.”
Paytm Insider business head Varun Khare said, “I think fans want new experiences. And, the Metaverse is opening up a new avenue for musicians and fans to experience live concerts in a digital dimension. This year, the huge success of WCMT further cemented the Metaverse as a venue for artists to host concerts. We are extremely glad to have teamed up with Van Heusen and PartyNite to make this concert a grand success together. We are thrilled to entertain thousands of fans who were eager to let loose at Van Heusen MetaPlay, ultimately offering them a metaverse experience of a lifetime in a musical symphony that they will never forget.”
PartyNite Metaverse CEO Rajat Ojha said, “This event was genuinely layered, throwing open a plethora of use cases for the metaverse. Blending in WCMT’s creativity and Van Heusen’s brand communication we could drive maximum user engagement which of course was immersive and would hence help in creating recall. With this event, we could create and integrate varied spaces and stitch together a whole new content experience. Also, it is a great way to democratize the indie music scene and provide unimaginable reach.”
