When it comes to reaching out to “digital natives,” people born in the 1980s and beyond who are used to having technology at their fingertips, you have to look at different mediums. That’s why when Mazda Canada wanted to engage a university-aged audience, who is particularly critical and cynical, to promote its 2007 Graduate Program, the auto manufacturer decided to launch a live-action advergame at www.campusjoyride.ca with its agency, Doner Canada, and branded entertainment agency Fuel Industries, Ottawa.
“The world is at their fingertips. If you are really going to talk to people and get people interested, then you pretty much have to be on their wavelength,” explained Brady Gilchrist, executive VP of strategy at Fuel. “One of the problems with advertising these days is how much attention people actually give you. We wanted to create an experience that was going to be interesting and fun and worth people’s times and also engage someone long enough to make the point that Mazda is trying to so something a little different. And that goes a long way, especially with this target market.
Campus Joyride is a live-video driving experience that takes players across three fictional campuses, all based on Canadian Universities. Fuel Industries’ production arm, Karbon Arc, shot video footage of three tracks around three Canadian University campuses and then Fuel developed an engine that would allow players to virtually drive the track. Ballots can be earned for the number of Mazdas spotted on the track, and the name of one student will be drawn at the end of the campaign to win a Mazda 3 Sport.
Among the challenges Fuel encountered was experimenting with technologies to speed up and slow down video as players are driving around the track and making seamless transitions with the video based on user input. “Every second you have someone’s attention you have to think about the user experience and whether or not you are making a good impression and whether or not they think it’s cool,” Gilchrist said.” When you think of how many messages we are bombarded with a day, if you see something that feels like it’s same old, guess what?–it is. They’re not going to pay attention.”
What helped the target audience pay even closer attention to the campaign was the online battle of the bands called the Mazda Rockin’ Roll Call that the agency developed to generate interest in the site. Canadian University and college bands were asked to upload their tracks and have their fans vote for their top 25 choices. From there a panel of judges, including Spin Magazine executive editor Doug Brod, narrowed it down to five bands whose music is featured in the game.
Gilchrist said this campaign was pretty elaborate and only happened because the agency was very open and very collaborative as was the client.
“Anything that steps beyond the norm, people have to have the courage to take the chances. In this case we were really lucky to have both an agency that was really intrigued with thinking beyond what the norm is and a client that was willing to pay for it. That’s a big deal,” Gilchrist said.
Hollywood’s Oscar Season Turns Into A Pledge Drive In Midst Of L.A. Wildfires
When the Palisades Fire broke out in Los Angeles last Tuesday, Hollywood's awards season was in full swing. The Golden Globes had transpired less than 48 hours earlier and a series of splashy awards banquets followed in the days after.
But the enormity of the destruction in Southern California has quickly snuffed out all festiveness in the movie industry's high season of celebration. At one point, the flames even encroached on the hillside above the Dolby Theatre, the home of the Academy Awards.
The fires have struck at the very heart of a movie industry still trying to stabilize itself after years of pandemic, labor turmoil and technological upheaval. Not for the first time this decade, the Oscars are facing the question of: Should the show go on? And if it does, what do they mean now?
"With ALL due respect during Hollywood's season of celebration, I hope any of the networks televising the upcoming awards will seriously consider NOT televising them and donating the revenue they would have gathered to victims of the fires and the firefighters," "Hacks" star Jean Smart, a recent Globe winner, wrote on Instagram.
The Oscars remain as scheduled, but it's certain that they will be transformed due to the wildfires, and that most of the red-carpet pomp that typically stretches between now and then will be curtailed if not altogether canceled. With so many left without a home by the fires, there's scant appetite for the usual self-congratulatory parades of the season.
Focus has turned, instead, to what the Oscars might symbolize for a traumatized Los Angeles. The Oscars have never meant less, but, at the same time, they might be more important than ever as a beacon of perseverance for the reeling movie capital.
The film academy... Read More