Problem: GM wanted to seed the idea of using E85 gasoline as a cleaner alternative to gasoline. However, they didn't want to spend a lot of money in the broader public arena.
Solution: Wrap the message in an unbranded interactive story that used viral nature of the web to gain momentum.
Role: Art Director / Designer / Writer (concept)
My creative director at the time came to me and said that he'd sold the idea of doing some sort of viral thing around e85 and all he had used was an overlay of the Ethanol molecule diagram over the Renaissance building (GM HQ) - which fit almost perfectly. He asked me to figure out how to go from there. That was one of the best moments in my career.
I came back and said we should make it an Alternate Reality Game and I had a story about a man named Benjamin Stove and it was inspired by Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. Sold!
WIBS was social before there was social. We created a forum, two blogs and had shareable art when shareable art was just a glimmer in Myspace's eye. We weren't just online though. We hid messages in books in 6 major cities around the US. These messages were found by the community within a day or two of the puzzle's releases.
In the end WIBS had over 1200 active participants, a news story in the Des Moines Register, and a community created wiki.
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