Dive Brief:

• Tequila brand Jose Cuervo plans to open what it says is the first metaverse distillery this summer, per a press release.
• The virtual distillery will live on the popular metaverse platform Decentraland and will provide age-appropriate visitors with tequila education, limited-edition products and entertainment.
• Jose Cuervo's immersive space in the metaverse was designed with agencies Ache and Tangible. The virtual distillery follows a similar move by Heineken after it launched what it claims to be the world's first virtual brewery earlier in March.

Dive Insight:

Alcohol brands are increasingly viewing the metaverse as not only a place to advertise, but also a place for brand and industry education. Virtual bars, distilleries and breweries provide a space for consumers to interact with brands and learn about how their products are made. Virtual environments provide a ripe opportunity to teach people about the brand's products on a deeper, more memorable level, as seven in 10 Gen Z and millennial consumers have expressed interest in using the metaverse, per Harris Poll data cited in Jose Cuervo's announcement.

Jose Cuervo's virtual distillery will provide consumers with tequila education along with entertainment. Beyond agency partners, the tequila maker has partnered with food and beverage experience designers Bompas & Parr to create the virtual distillery's aesthetic and consumer experience. M2 Studio will handle the coding aspects, building the virtual space in Decentraland and programming the user experience.

"As experts in creating experiences for distilleries, the opportunity to create a distillery in the boundary-less metaverse, without the constraints of real life is a first-of-its-kind for Bompas & Parr and the world," Harry Parr, Bompas & Parr's co-founder, said in the press release. "Together with Cuervo, we're bringing the poly-sensory experience of the real world into the limitless world of Decentraland, and we're delighted to be working on this project together."

Once the activation kicks off this summer, the virtual distillery will join the growing list of alcohol activations on the metaverse platform Decentraland. Heineken's similar concept from earlier in March — though a parody — shows that the space is of increasing importance to alcohol brands to educate consumers on how their products are made, while also providing them a unique and memorable experience. While most people can't visit Jose Cuervo's real distillery in Mexico, any age-appropriate individual can visit the virtual activation, helping to extend the tequila brand's reach.