By Bobby Carlton
If only this Death Wish Coffee Co. VR project moved forward…because it was so rad!!
Here is a project that never moved beyond the concept artwork and a quick interactive VR demo. In 2022 we were talking with the Death Wish Coffee Co., makers of the world’s strongest coffee, about building out a fully immersive digital twin of their HQ located in Saratoga Springs, NY.
The goal was to create a digital twin of Death Wish Coffee’s existing workspace that would allow them to use it for various activities, such as workforce training and remote team meetings. They could also hold events in the virtual and real world and connect with their consumers through fun avatars.
Our amazing team of technical artists and 3D modelers wanted to capture the essence of Death Wish Coffee’s mission and attitude. While you can’t taste the world’s strongest coffee in the immersive environment, you would still experience Death Wish’s signature blend that will have you feeling like you’re getting a jolt of caffeine running through your veins!
The project started with a visit to Death Wish Coffee Co’s HQ in Saratoga Springs, New York. We took photos of the facility and its retail space, and then our team created an interactive demo of their virtual shopping experience using those photos and scans.
What we ended up with was a very awesome VR shopping experience that let people from all around the world interact with Death Wish’s products by picking them, look at packaging, trying on virtual wearable goods, check out the extensive Death Wish Coffee Mug collection, and even put items into a virtual shopping cart and have their items delivered directly to their doorstep.
The Death Wish Coffee Co Metaverse would have been a branded meeting space for Death Wish Coffee drinkers all around the world to visit. FS Studio envisioned our experience as a way for the company to show its value to potential buyers and corporate partners like Costco. It was a polished and branded meeting space that would allow you to show presentations, videos, showcase immersive 360 videos of their marketing campaigns, fully immersive walkthrough of their coffee shop, your roasting facilities highlighting their quality control and everything that Death Wish Coffee Co. stands for.
Our team wanted to give DWC customers a premium “backstage pass” to explore and socially interact with the Death Wish Coffee Company, the DWC Brand, DWC Team and meet and bond with their fellow Death Wish Coffee power-drinkers and Brand Ambassadors. Visitors to the DWC Metaverse could “walk” through the virtual Death Wish Coffee Co. store.
Consumers would be able to explore, examine and purchase buy Death Wish Coffee and exclusive, customized “Metaverse Edition” DWC merch. Visitors will be able to socially interact in real time 3D “digital twins” of selected interiors of the real world Death Wish Coffee Co. HQ in Saratoga Springs, NY. Your customers can fully immerse themselves in the DWC Brand and vibe.
This was a super cool virtual shopping experience and showed how companies and brands could sell physical products in a virtual space. It also showed how FS Studio could create a virtual space that echoed the company’s mission statement, brought their IP into online Web3 world that leaned on creating a social environment for their team and their customers.
A big part of our vision was collaboration and socialVR. We saw the space as way for consumers to have the ability to design their own Death Wish Coffee custom avatars, have a gamified social customer interactions in the DWC Community Room through an interactive virtual events such has DWC ping-pong tournaments, host “Pop” up special Music events and performances on the DWC virtual stage.
Remote teams would be able to create a Death Wish Coffee Co. B2B Private Conference Room for the DWC team to meet with partners, suppliers, distributors in real time 3D, totally immersed in the DWC Brand. Launch a creative Death Wish Coffee virtual “tasting” engagements where consumers can jump in and meet with members of the DWC team in real time as they describe and sell visitors Death Wish Coffee products.
Companies such as Walmart, Nike, McDonald’s, and many others have already turned to virtual marketing and have seen amazing results.
A Virtual Store and Test Space!
On top of the social engagement and collaborative workspace, FS Studio saw this a space t osell virtual goods such as Death Wish Coffee mugs, avatar clothing, virtual gift cards to be used in-world or through the Death Wish Coffee website, and collect important coffee consumer data.
Death Wish Coffee Inc Metaverse Market research lab/Focus Group – VIP invite only party, with meet and greet with key DWC leaders, merch auction using virtual currency (all to get feedback in a fun way about possible merch), the participants get mailed a merch box based on what they auctioned.
Through a Death Wish Coffee Co. Metaverse environment, the company could approach marketing objectives in a scalable and economical way. Be able to get real-time data from consumers all around the world through a Metaverse product research approach, where they could quickly set up a virtual shopping experience of a real-world location to look at product placement to discover works best, where is the best position for new product, see what attracts your customers more to put your product in their carts vs their competitor, and then reset the scenario quickly for the next customer.
Check out some of the Death Wish Coffee Co. concept art below and thank you Death Wish Coffee for allowing us to share this.
It is Predicted that As Soon As 2030, 2D Websites Will Evolve into 3D destinations as a Metaverse Hub
Business websites will no longer be a place for information or e-commerce, instead they will become a lobby for consumers to enter a branded metaverse experience.
The next generation of internet experience will:
- Always in real-time as a digital twin.
- Mostly a 3D experience.
- Mostly interactive.
- Mostly a social experience.
- Mostly a persistent experience.
Having a branded metaverse experience is an extension of your website, your physical location, your products, your branding, and your identity. It’s a brand/consumer, consumer/consumer, brand/brand engagement that isn’t possible in a real world environment.
The website, Gartner predicts that within four years, 25% of people will spend at least one hour per day in the metaverse. While the gaming and streaming community will spend even longer time in the metaverse world hoping and shopping. Research VP Marty Resnick at Gartner said, “Vendors are already buildings ways for users to replicate their lives and businesses in digital worlds.”
A recent report released by McKinsey & Company estimates the metaverse will generate up to $5 trillion in impact by 2030. The impact varies by industry, with an estimated $2 to $2.6 trillion impact specifically on e-commerce.
“The potential impact of the metaverse varies by industry, although we believe it holds implications for all.”
The report surveyed over 3,400 consumers and executives about the metaverse, finding around 61% of business leaders expect “it to moderately change the way their industry operates”, per the report.
Businesses getting involved in the metaverse now will have long-term advantages over their competitors, though the digital space will require the current workforce to learn new skills.
Another report released by the financial institution Citi, foresees that by 2030 the metaverse will have grown to 5 billion consumers and predicts that the metaverse will be valued higher between $8 trillion to $13 trillion in business opportunities.
