Tazo tea and RZA bring overnight camp experience to Staten Island

Dive Brief:

Unilever-owned Tazo tea brand announced the return of its overnight experience, according to a company announcement. Originally offered earlier this year, it's now called Camp Tazo: Zen and features musician RZA, the mastermind behind hip-hop group the Wu-Tang Clan.
The immersive, two-day experience this February takes place on Staten Island, New York, where the Wu-Tang was formed. RZA will assist participants through a series of "Guided Explorations" to help them "free their minds, conquer doubts and seek the creative potential that exists within them."
Creatives are invited to submit a video application at the Camp Tazo website for a chance to participate. Updates will be available on Facebook and Twitter, and an online conversation about the event will be conducted through Instagram.

Dive Insight:

The newest Camp Tazo follows the first overnight experience for adults earlier this year. Last year, the brand said the campaign was inspired by a survey it conducted which showed that three out of four respondents wanted to get out of their comfort zones and 70% regretted not trying something new. While that might apply to camping on Staten Island, this iteration of the campaign is also tapping into the mindfulness trend that is popular among millennial and Gen Z consumers.

Previously, Tazo tapped drag queen Alyssa Edwards, a star in the VH1 reality TV series "RuPaul's Drag Race," as camp director. It offered classic camp activities like hiking, foraging, cooking over a fire and boating, and played off the double entendre of "camp." That "Brew the Unexpected" campaign aimed to tap into Edwards' popularity among younger consumers.

That could be the case with RZA this time around, although possibly only for millennials and younger Gen Xers; the Wu-Tang's first album was released before Gen Z was born. Still, this is not RZA's first excursion into brand experiences. In 2017, he teamed up Chipotle Mexican Grill to create SAVOR.WAVS, a digital experience that turned Chipotle sounds and visuals into unique multimedia songs for each menu combination. Last fall, the Wu-Tang Clan worked with Impossible Foods and White Castle to create a four-part space-themed video series about the veggie burger at the fast food chain.

Younger consumers have said they prefer experiences to products, an attitude that many other brands are attempting to tap into. AB InBev beer brand Stella Artois, for instance, launched last year a Stella Space audio guide that focused on being in the moment and savoring a beer. Similarly, Marriott International offered last spring its Bonvoy Moments, a series of unique experiences for loyalty members, such as exclusive cooking classes.