ENO celebrates 50 Years in India with first-ever Metaverse Stand Up Show

The event was headlined by leading stand-up comic Zakir Khan and supported by other comics such as Rahul Subramanian, Kaneez Surkha.

GSK Consumer Healthcare’s leading antacid brand ENO has completed 50 years in India. Over the past 50 years, ENO has consciously leveraged humour as a tool to communicate and create awareness around acidity. Its quirky approach has translated into iconic campaigns that have evolved from print to TV and, now, digital platforms.

In recent years, ENO started collaborating with comic influencers as part of a long-term content strategy. To celebrate its 50th year and build a community of fun foodies across India’s diverse food cultures, ENO took the next natural step in its evolution, creating India’s first-ever stand-up comedy event in the metaverse.

The event was headlined by leading stand-up comic Zakir Khan and supported by other comics such as Rahul Subramanian, Kaneez Surkha, Sahil Shah, Rahul Dua, Kiran Dutta and Shraddha Jain. Titled, “A Plateful of Laughs”, the comics donned customized avatars and interacted with each other in an amphitheatrical metaverse venue. The humor centered around their personal experiences with acidity and their quirky observations of India’s food and foodies.

Before the event, there was a 3-day Instagram teaser campaign, where Zakir invited the other comics to the metaverse show, and each one revealed their personalised avatars. The event itself saw Zakir do a 10-minute set about his first love - food, followed by interactions with the other comics. Following the event, the comics will be posting videos on Instagram of their experience in the metaverse. This successful campaign was a joint-effort of Team WPP. ENO’s creative partners Ogilvy conceptualised and created the theme of the event, the creative roll-out strategy and the design. Genesis BCW co-created the branded content with the comics and ran the internal communications. The Metaverse experience itself was powered by PartyNite.

“We are very proud to celebrate ENO’s 50 years in India, adding to the legacy of one the most iconic and loved brands in the country. It is a brand that has always been about pushing the boundaries of communication and becoming a real wingman for the everyday acidity sufferer. Celebrating this in the Metaverse is a preview of the next 5 decades, as the brand continues to remain relevant, contemporary and full of life. The brand has always been about pushing the boundaries of connecting with its vast consumer base, spread across rural and urban India. We have been leaders in digital content creation, and the comedy genre is not just in sync with the brand, but also helps build unique allyship with the consumer.”

- Anurita Chopra Chief Marketing Officer, India Sub Continent at GSK Consumer Healthcare India

“Everyone who knows me well, can corroborate the extent I am willing to go to when it comes to my passion for food - even if that means going into the Metaverse! I am excited to have partnered with an iconic brand like ENO as they continue to evolve and take the first steps in the metaverse. They have brought joy into our lives through innovations and humorous storytelling for over five decades. I am hopeful that our fans will enjoy the fun-filled food ride.”

- Zakir Khan, Stand-up Comic

“A brand completing 50 years is no ordinary feat. So, when ENO turned 50 we knew we had to make the celebrations extraordinary. Instead of looking for the perfect place for the occasion, we ended up creating one. And so, ‘Plateful of Laughs’, India’s first stand-up comedy event inside the metaverse, came into existence. We had partners across functions like tech and PR working in complete synergy to create a cutting-edge metaverse experience. In collaboration with some of the most sought-after names in the comedy circuit, we created an experience that was truly out of this world.”

- Ritu Sharda, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy North

“A huge congratulations to GSK Consumer Healthcare and brand ENO on this commendable milestone. It has been our privilege to be part of that journey for over a decade and to see the brand grow as a household favourite for wellness. The ‘Plateful of Laughs’ event is both, a celebration of that legacy as well as an overture to a new set of audiences through the metaverse. For us, that means an opportunity to showcase our earned-plus offer, with the comedy talent provided by The Outstanding Speakers’ Bureau and integrated communications across traditional and digital platforms. The metaverse is the new frontier for communications and together with our WPP partners and GSK Consumer Healthcare, I am sure we will be able to move people for ENO.”

- Deepshikha Dharmaraj, CEO, BCW India Group

“Metaverse is an ever-evolving technology and possibilities are not just being explored by the developers but by users and brand owners as well. We are shaping the new internet, and, in this journey, we are stoked to have a partner like Ogilvy on this journey of ours. Working with Ogilvy to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ENO was technologically and creatively immensely satisfying.”

- Rajat Ojha, Founder, Gamitronics (PartyNite)