LSN : News : The Young V&A embraces immaterial play

This whisky campaign is a nod to the metaverse

It’s A New World of Cocktails by Crown Royal, New York

Canada – Whisky brand Crown Royal is targeting younger audiences with a metaverse-inspired ad campaign promoting its ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails. The video campaign, It’s A New World of Cocktails, presents an immersive fictional world, which the brand has created using 3D printing technology. In it, 3D models enjoy Crown Royal RTD cocktails while gaming with friends, playing basketball and socialising at a rooftop party.

According to Crown Royal, the campaign will be supported by a ‘fully immersive platform’. By using these marketing techniques, the brand is tapping into the aesthetic associated with gaming audiences who will already be socialising in metaverse playgrounds, and introducing them to the traditional world of whisky.

As a sector more commonly associated with heritage and provenance, whisky brands are rapidly modernising; showcasing the ways in which the spirit can be made more accessible and fun for younger audiences.

Strategic opportunity

Across sectors, brands can take inspiration from metaverse environments by applying familiar aesthetic conventions to their communications. Consider pushing this idea a step further by inviting audiences to interact with one another virtually

The Young V&A embraces immaterial play

The pre-walker and toddler zone of the Play Gallery. Image by Picture Plane © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The Stage area of the Imagine Gallery © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

London – Responding to the isolation that young people have faced during the pandemic, London’s V&A museum is transforming its existing Museum of Childhood into a space that fosters creativity and play. Set to open in 2023, the East London site will now be known as the Young V&A, and will host three new galleries called Play, Imagine and Design.

Each gallery space will take an unconventional and immersive approach to a children's museum – complete with an amphitheatre-style stage, a free-play construction area and a working design studio. By encouraging touch and interaction, the V&A is recognising the importance of offline activities to aid development in young people. ‘This vital investment – working to counter the ongoing effects of Covid-19 on young people’s access to creative education, collaborative play and artistic inspiration – is more urgent than ever,’ explains Tristram Hunt, director of the V&A.

To discover how future generations will navigate the offline world, and become known as IRL inhabitants rather than digital natives, join us for our Youth and Media Futures online event on 2 December.

Strategic opportunity

Young people are craving real-life experiences and opportunities for socialising. Brands and organisations should facilitate this through engaging events, immersive spaces and escapist environments

Twitter wants fans to tip with bitcoin

Global – The social media giant is expanding its money donation feature – Tips – to welcome the use of cryptocurrencies. Through this update, users can now tip their favourite Tweeters using Bitcoin payments application Strike – offering a seamless method for supporting individual profiles and small businesses.

In the future, Twitter also plans to allow users to connect their cryptocurrency wallets to the platform, as well as verify non-fungible token (NFT) ownership. By doing this, the company taps into the post-social creator movement emerging within decentralised Alternet Economies. ‘We want everyone on Twitter to have access to pathways to get paid,’ says Esther Crawford, staff product manager at Twitter. ‘Digital currencies that encourage more people to participate in the economy… help us get there.’

By facilitating token exchanges through its existing platform, Twitter showcases a practical application of how cryptocurrencies can be integrated into our everyday interactions and help bolster the fan economy.

Twitter Tips with Bitcoin, US

Strategic opportunity

Apps and social media platforms should integrate digital currencies into existing services, future-proofing their paths to payment in preparation for a world in which money will be purely virtual

Stat: British youth strive for socialism

Youth in Power by Ryan McGinley

Young people in Britain are increasingly turning their backs on capitalism, with a study by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) finding that the majority of young people aged 16–34 would like to live in a socialist system.

The research reveals that two-thirds (67%) of young people in Britain would like to live under an explicitly socialist economic system. Meanwhile, nearly eight out of 10 (78%) say they blame capitalism for the housing crisis, while 75% of those polled believe the climate emergency is specifically a capitalist problem. A further 75% also agree with the statement that ‘socialism is a good idea, but it has failed in the past because it has been badly done’.

With Generation Z increasingly displaying activist mindsets, such figures solidify this group’s continuing desire to re-assemble, decentralise and decolonise our outdated systems.

Strategic opportunity

When targeting young citizens, be hyper-aware of their social and politicised mindsets. Highlight how your brand is supporting equity-driven causes through long-term initiatives, instead of relying on tokenistic campaigns