Choose an ad campaign, design piece or Web site you like. Why?

Cloverfield Movie Viral Marketing Campaign

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The most successful ad campaigns are the ones which reflect the ego of their target markets. Generation Y notoriously resists being pitched to; advertisements are typically viewed as something that influences somebody else, never one's self. So how would a mid-January movie with no A-list star billing drum up the necessary hype to stand out from the crowd? By creating a monster, concealing its identity, and leaking a slow-to-unravel mystery plot which audience members are free to explore online, filling in gaps and providing a context to a cryptic movie trailer. The movie "Cloverfield" positioned itself to draw in these Web-savvy users through carefully coordinated viral marketing.

"Cloverfield" is produced by J.J. Abrams, the brainchild behind ABC's wildly successful drama "Lost." Many of the same promotional tactics used to create a backstory for "Lost" have been employed by "Cloverfield," specifically the creation of fictional entities into real-world spaces. Most of the principle characters in the movie have fully fleshed-out profiles on MySpace.com (complete with all the trappings: music that automatically plays, backgrounds which render text unreadable, banter between friends). There is far more information contained on these pages than can ever be revealed in a 2-hour film. The MySpace pages reinforce the idea that these people are just like the Everyday Joe members of the audience, and the events they experience could very well happen to any of us.

The puzzles began with a cryptic trailer leading audience members to 1-18-08.com, which contained photos of parties and chaos. From there, audience members could deduce links to a fictitious product, Slusho, which is manufactured from "sea nectar" by a Japanese corporation called Tagruato. In November, the Tagruato site was "hacked" by an environmental group angry about the company's oil drilling operations. Grainy news footage shows a purported terrorist attack on one of Tagruato's oil rigs, but careful scrutiny reveals a deep, gutteral growl that might just be some sort of deep-sea monster.

None of these companies, organizations or people are real, but you'd never suspect it just by checking out their online presence. Never once do any of them break character. The experience is immersive, self-contained, and designed to provide a "You Are There" feeling to the audience. Clever moviegoers are invited to delve deep into the Web to piece together a larger picture that what the movie alone can provide. For those interested in your standard-issue Godzilla-style movie, the movie's trailer promises to deliver. But those willing to invest the time and brainpower to follow along with the online puzzle are rewarded with a richer experience and a deeper understanding of exactly why the Statue of Liberty's head is resting in the middle of a Manhattan intersection.

I haven't seen the film yet, but I'm putting my money on giant mutated whale angered by the disturbance of its habitat. I only hope it can live up to the hype.

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Social Chameleon

Professional Brainco Application Essays Newspaper Clips Web Video	Choose an ad campaign, design piece or Web site you like. Why? Cloverfield Movie Viral Marketing Campaign Sites: http://www.1-18-08.com/ http://slusho.jp/ http://www.tagruato.jp/ http://tidowave.com/blog/ http://www.myspace.com/hudsonplatt http://www.myspace.com/jamielascano http://www.myspace.com/robbyhawkins The most successful ad campaigns are the ones which reflect the ego of their target markets. Generation Y notoriously resists being pitched to; advertisements are typically viewed as something that influences somebody else, never one's self. So how would a mid-January movie with no A-list star billing drum up the necessary hype to stand out from the crowd? By creating a monster, concealing its identity, and leaking a slow-to-unravel mystery plot which audience members are free to explore online, filling in gaps and providing a context to a cryptic movie trailer. The movie "Cloverfield" positioned itself to draw in these Web-savvy users through carefully coordinated viral marketing. "Cloverfield" is produced by J.J. Abrams, the brainchild behind ABC's wildly successful drama "Lost." Many of the same promotional tactics used to create a backstory for "Lost" have been employed by "Cloverfield," specifically the creation of fictional entities into real-world spaces. Most of the principle characters in the movie have fully fleshed-out profiles on MySpace.com (complete with all the trappings: music that automatically plays, backgrounds which render text unreadable, banter between friends). There is far more information contained on these pages than can ever be revealed in a 2-hour film. The MySpace pages reinforce the idea that these people are just like the Everyday Joe members of the audience, and the events they experience could very well happen to any of us. The puzzles began with a cryptic trailer leading audience members to 1-18-08.com, which contained photos of parties and chaos. From there, audience members could deduce links to a fictitious product, Slusho, which is manufactured from "sea nectar" by a Japanese corporation called Tagruato. In November, the Tagruato site was "hacked" by an environmental group angry about the company's oil drilling operations. Grainy news footage shows a purported terrorist attack on one of Tagruato's oil rigs, but careful scrutiny reveals a deep, gutteral growl that might just be some sort of deep-sea monster. None of these companies, organizations or people are real, but you'd never suspect it just by checking out their online presence. Never once do any of them break character. The experience is immersive, self-contained, and designed to provide a "You Are There" feeling to the audience. Clever moviegoers are invited to delve deep into the Web to piece together a larger picture that what the movie alone can provide. For those interested in your standard-issue Godzilla-style movie, the movie's trailer promises to deliver. But those willing to invest the time and brainpower to follow along with the online puzzle are rewarded with a richer experience and a deeper understanding of exactly why the Statue of Liberty's head is resting in the middle of a Manhattan intersection. I haven't seen the film yet, but I'm putting my money on giant mutated whale angered by the disturbance of its habitat. I only hope it can live up to the hype. Back to main page
© 2008 Erin Wetzelberger