July 18, 2006
Who is Benjamin Stove?
GM's Alternate Reality Game Yields Real-World Results
Carmaker's Offbeat Online Effort Hypes Ethanol Campaign, Logs 1.8 Million Page Views
[from AdAge.com]
For four months, Christopher Love was plagued by a nagging question: Who is Benjamin Stove? A painting of mysterious crop circles plays a major role in the online GM game designed to promote its ethanol campaign.
Mr. Love, a 26-year-old from Albuquerque, N.M., was caught up in the mystery with thousands of others across the world, spending between 15 minutes and four hours every day trying to solve it. But what he and his fellow detectives didn't realize was they were really involved in an intricate commercial, part of General Motors Corp.'s "Live Green, Go Yellow" ethanol-ad blitz.
'Four-month commercial'
"Who knew a four-month commercial could be so fun?" Mr. Love told Advertising Age in an e-mail. For GM, the feeling is mutual. The automaker's first trip into the world of alternate-reality gaming nabbed the company a small but highly engaged audience for what ordinarily might have been a mundane message: the benefits of ethanol. More than 1,000 players came along for the four-month romp through "a modern-day mystery," said GM's Bob Kraut, director-brand marketing and advertising operations.
The mystery-solving gambit, dubbed "Who is Benjamin Stove?" kept the auto giant's role as backer concealed until late in the process. The goal: Create prelaunch buzz for the ethanol-ad blitz. Alternate-reality games, or ARGs, are catching on with marketers. ARGs ask players to solve mysteries by seeking out clues online and, increasingly, offline as well. Microsoft used an ARG in 2004 to market Halo 2, Audi launched its "Art of the Heist" game last year, and ABC is using an ARG to keep "Lost" viewers intrigued throughout the summer.
1.8 million page views
GM's effort attracted 1.8 million page views through mid-April, with 383,829 consumers spending an average of nearly 17 minutes per visit, according to Stefan Kogler, senior VP-creative director of new media at Campbell-Ewald, which designed the game. (To put that into perspective, a niche cable network such as the Travel Channel might snag about 400,000 prime-time viewers on an average night.) GMD Studios -- the Winter Park, Fla., outfit that created Audi's "Art of the Heist" game -- executed the GM game.
It launched in early January at whoisbenjaminstove.com. There, fictional 29-year-old Tampa, Fla., resident and Newton, Iowa, native Tucker Darby asked for help unraveling the mystery of an antique painting of crop circles he bought in the sale of the Stove family's farm estate in Newton. Benjamin Stove, the farm's last owner, had disappeared without a trace. (Tucker Darby's online picture is actually the ad agency's Brad Fairhurst; other Campbell-Ewald execs appear as well: Christine Wilson posed as Sarah Randall, cynical publisher of debunkette.com, a website on the paranormal and Chris Zientek was Benjamin Stove, who spent his life trying to solve the crop-circles mystery.
Check out the Benjamin Stove site.
Posted by richard ting at July 18, 2006, 12:20 PM
December 22, 2005
French Alternative Marketing Blog
Here's a great French Blog site that focuses on street, guerilla, and buzz marketing activities.
Posted by richard ting at December 22, 2005, 11:42 PM
November 18, 2005
The New Next: Viral Comes Into Its Own
[from mediapost]
In place of crass, one-off Internet stunts that have given viral techniques a bad name, marketers and agencies have begun to realize that many eager consumers truly want to get involved and participate in this narrative-based entertainment, and to place themselves in a position to interact with the story and the brands.
The granddaddy of viral campaigns is, of course, the work done for the 1999 film "The Blair Witch Project." The trend is full-blown by now. For a wake-up call, check out any of these campaigns I've tracked, all of which have broken some new ground in this emerging genre.
They include Sega Games' "Beta-7"; Audi Auto's "Art of the Heist"; Halo's "I Love Bees"; Lincoln Mercury's "Meet the Lucky Ones"; Mini's "Men of Metal"; Honda U.K.'s "Change Something" (about which I intend to write in more detail in a future New Next); Stella Artois' "Sable & Shuck"; Rainier Beer's "Tim and Chuck" show (which I talked about last month); and Virgin Mobile's www.billythefinger.com.
Posted by richard ting at November 18, 2005, 05:32 PM
November 01, 2005
Million Dollar Homepage
This site has been up for a few weeks now, but the last time I checked there were only about 200,000 pixels sold. It's now up to 534,900 pixels sold! It's such an impressive idea based on the level of
ingenuity and the sheer simplicity of it.
Posted by richard ting at November 01, 2005, 11:08 AM
September 26, 2005
Sony PlayStation bubble wrap exploitation
[via Joseph Cartman via Joystiq]
For those of you that can't get enough of that sweet sweet packaging crack called bubble wrap, then check out this addicting Playstation marketing campaign that was done in Malaysia.
Posted by richard ting at September 26, 2005, 09:34 PM
April 14, 2005
Mail Order Chickens
Here's a nice little viral piece that educates users about Africa's plight similar to Lifeswitch.
The interaction is also a combo of flickrgraph + the Matthew Mahon site. Lots of z-depth action in effect! Overall, the site is well done. I invested at least 10 minutes on the site trying to figure out what the site was.
Check out the site.
Posted by richard ting at April 14, 2005, 07:21 PM
April 07, 2005
Audi - "The Art of the Heist" Becomes Reality
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[from ARGN]
The new ARG that we reported on just a few days ago, The Art of the Heist, shocked players yesterday when it became a real world example of just that: A major heist in the middle of New York City!
Players found clues yesterday that there was going to be a party at a car dealership on Park Ave. at 7:00 pm last night, and made plans to meet up at what they anticipated to be some sort of in-game event. Once they arrived, however, they discovered that instead of a party, someone had apparently stolen an Audi show car! There was plastic over one of the doors, an area inside that showroom that was cordoned off with police tape, and security guards outside.
A woman with a clipboard handed out flyers, and there was a sign asking for further information, along with a phone number to report to. Calls to the number reportedly connected with Audi of America.
Since its beginning just a few days ago, The Art of the Heist has unloaded a boatload of material for players to digest, including acess to dozens and dozens of emails, videos, photos, documents, voicemail messages, and now a missing car. We have to say that this is the most explosive beginning to any Alternate Reality Game we've seen so far. Players have been busy developing resources and getting organized, as the links below will attest. Stay tuned for much more on this one.
Posted by richard ting at April 07, 2005, 10:45 AM
October 21, 2004
Nissan Maxima Urban Meltdown
Starting today, the 2005 Maxima will be positioned in live street scenes that will create an effect of an urban meltdown, causing nearby objects -- such as street lamps, trash cans and parking meters -- to melt and droop. The Maxima will appear at prime locations in New York and Los Angeles, positioned beneath backdrops of large print ads that portray a burned, charred effect caused by the "hot" Maxima. In New York, heaters and glowing lights will be placed around the vehicles to enhance the ultra sensory effect.
Posted by richard ting at October 21, 2004, 01:34 PM
July 27, 2004
Corporate Creativity - Diesel & Zoo York
• Diesel recently initiated a street art project in which artists are encouraged to design a blank outdoor wall in designated areas in Milan, Genoa, Florence, and Rome. Other cultural activities that Diesel is sponsoring include talent support for emerging fashion designers, an international music contest, and an on-line flash film festival.
• In Melbourne, clothing companies such as Zoo York, Etnies, World Industries, Eckô, and Mooks are giving out stencils and stickers with their product in the hope that their consumers will give them free advertising by placing them around town. According to our local reporters there, these efforts are paying off, as there has been a significant presence around town.