Purple Creative and Glenfiddich create interactive VR tasting for Global Travel Retail
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Glenfiddich and creative agency Purple Creative have created an interactive virtual reality HTC Vive whisky tasting experience called ‘Glenfiddich Virtual Infinity’ in airports around the world.
The tasting allows visitors to virtually discover the infinite layers of flavours in each of Glenfiddich’s three Cask Collection whiskies and write their own 3D tasting notes in a virtual world. Purple Creative and Glenfiddich saw Global Travel Retail as the perfect environment for a VR experience with real depth, as whisky shoppers have time on their hands, and are open to trying out interesting new tasting experiences.
Purple created the HTC Vive tasting experience in partnership with Wolf In Motion, a London-based VR design and production studio.
In the Glenfiddich GTR area in select airports, visitors can enjoy a Cask Collection whisky tasting. Participants pick out the key tasting notes of each expression before putting on their VR headsets, at which point they are virtually transported into a recreation of Warehouse 8 in Dufftown, Scotland. In the virtual world, Three Solera Vats stand in front of them and they are surrounded by casks. They select a Solera Vat using their hand controllers and enter the world of that expression, where they write and draw their own tasting notes in the air. The brush they ‘write’ with creates a ribbon effect that matches the colours and aesthetic of the image. Guests can write above, below and all around themselves, walking through their 3D words. They can delete their tasting notes using a scissor controller that cuts the ribbons and erases the script.
Gary Westlake, founding partner and creative director, Purple Creative comments: “Glenfiddich is a family run company with a rich history of innovation and pioneering, so it’s fitting that they are the first whisky company to embrace this new tech and enable drinkers to write their own virtual tasting notes.”
Coralie Vial, Glenfiddich global brand manager, adds: “VR is allowing us to interact with people in a whole new way, and the beautiful imagery that Purple created for this project means that whisky drinkers can express their tasting notes in a completely individual fashion, and in a completely new medium.”
The Virtual Reality experience took six weeks to create. It launched in Singapore at the travel retail TFWA conference from 7-11th May before rolling out roll out across participating airports from June.
