Entertainment Design: Week 6
Week 4: Submission
Week 5: Study trip
16 February 2017
Lecture
Brand activation
1) Absolut Transform Today
Sales for the liquor Absolut Vodka dipped during the birth of Millenials, as Absolut Vodka was only popular with Generation X/Baby Boomer. This brand activation is geared towards Generation Y/Millenials as their main target audience with a very subtle approach.
This is because we (Generation Y) don't want brands to be some corporate entity high up there in the sky and directly selling to us their products/service. We want brands to be our friends, understand us and approach us in a more personal way. The idea behind Transform Today is that Absolut Vodka wants us to know that they are supportive of our creativity and ideas, even pushing us to be confident, think outside the box, etc. Absolut is not selling vodka, they're selling their values, and by letting us know they have the same values as us, we will see them as a brand that is like us.
2) Why So Serious? Batman: The Dark Knight
Why So Serious? is an Alternate Reality Game (ARG) by 42Entertainment to promote the movie The Dark Knight. It brings the message of the movie (choosing different sides of justice, or no justice at all) and the DC comic universe into the world that we live in right now, engaging fans from all over the world in an extremely immersive experience. For 15 months, the Earth is Gotham, and people are divided into supporters of Joker, Harvey Dent, or Batman, doing all sorts of activities en masse in public and attracting attention of people who aren't familiar with the happenings and the media.
Due to its huge success (the movie became highest grossing movie of the year), this sort of brand activation, and Why So Serious? in particular has become a largely studied method of marketing/advertising, especially of the viral sort.
3) Onitsuka Tiger: The Zodiac Race (2009)
Onitsuka Tiger, a shoe brand, launched a campaign revolving around the legend of how the Chinese zodiac came to be. It comes in a form of a video, made by a mix of techniques (2D and 3D animation, stop motion) and displayed in their website. They also reimagined the islands of Japan in the shape of a shoe as the setting of the story.
Shoe collections based on each of the zodiac signs are released later on, and visitors (later turned customers) can take a test to determine what their zodiac is (most westerners aren't familiar with this zodiac system, I assume). They can later shop for shoes in the collection line of their own zodiac.
4) Smartcar (Mercedes): Tag Your Own Adventure
Their brand activation's main platform is on Facebook, specifically taking advantage of the album feature in said social media where an album is used to contain multiple pictures at once. The album is used as a flipbook of some sorts, as Smartcar collaborates with artists to create illustrations that, when viewed together, form an animation. Users can tag their friends to vote where the storyline goes, and more illustrations are created after a decision has been reached. The animation never loses grip on the big idea of the product, always finding a way to sell or introduce the car's unique features in the storyline.
It certainly is an interesting idea that has never been done before, but I personally think that it's not the best because of how internet access can be unreliable for certain people depending on their location, and having to press the "right" button rapidly to view the photo while in that condition makes it a really hard, time-consuming chore since the photo takes time to load. It takes away the animation from the arranged images, too.
Brand storytelling
1) Dove Real Beauty Campaign
One of the best campaigns out there. Dove realizes the problem in today's society, particularly with the female population. Their research tells them that only 2% of women worldwide believe that they are beautiful. This is caused by the superficial media that promotes a certain image of a woman that is considered beautiful, leaving out women that don't exactly fit that category into being labeled as "not beautiful".
Dove realizes this as a problem and launches this campaign to redefine beauty, making people see themselves beautifully. By doing this, people start to believe that large companies, such as Dove, actually have the capacity to care of the problems in society, in this case self-esteem and self-confidence. The message resonates to their target audience (women) in a personal manner, telling them that every single one of them is beautiful in their own way, and that eventually can bring about brand loyalty.
2) Fanta: Play Fanta
Approaching their target audience (teenagers) through multiple interactive entertainment platforms. They have graphic novels, games, TV ads, of course by collaborating with artists in the execution. Characters with diverse personalities are designed, content is localized for people from 190 different countries to enjoy the same entertainment, music is made interactive by the player doing certain actions.
3) Burberry: The Tale of Thomas Burberry
This comes in a form that is similar to a movie trailer, and it is so good that people started questioning if it is really a movie that is going to launch. Some people beg for the creators to make a real movie out of it.
The trailer essentially tells the story of Thomas Burberry, the founder of the now internationally-acclaimed brand, and how he started creating outfits for the military, indicating that Burberry started out by providing tough clothing that is able to withstand even the harshness of the battlefield, which not many people know of. In the trailer is also drama and romance that happens in young Burberry's life, inciting intrigue in the viewer's mind about what is going to unfold.
4) Nike+
Have you ever had that moment of revelation when you think you can do anything, and you're so motivated to get in shape you sign up to a gym membership, but months have passed and you've never set foot on the gym? In response to this kind of phenomenon, Nike introduces Nike+, an integrated system that connects all the Nike gadgets together. It uses a unit called Nikefuel, which is similar to calories, but more standardized, considering that calories differ based on body types and other factors.
The whole idea is to gain Nikefuel "points" by doing more physical activities. This is where their tagline, "Everything Counts" comes in. Every physical activity you do, from cleaning up the house to joining a marathon can be converted into Nikefuel. When you reach your Nikefuel milestone, you can celebrate. There's also a leaderboard for the amount of Nikefule you have compared to your friends. It's almost like a game.
Another thing is that Nikefuel can be used as a currency as well. Poeple with a certain amount of Nikefuel or more gets access to exclusive products that are only unlockable once they reach that amount of Nikefuel. Clothes are not just clothes anymore: they become trophies that you can flaunt to people in the community, because they know that it's a symbol for the efforts that you've made. You have to earn these exclusive merchandise.
This gets people motivational and moving, hard and fast, especially because everything counts.
Storytelling in advertising
Stories are 22 times more memorable than facts, which is why stories are the best way to advertise. People remember them easily. It tells them everything about the brand, their concept/valuse. It creates an emotional connection with the audience, which when done right may invoke brand loyalty. It adds substance to advertising/marketing.
Stories are essentially an important part of society. It is said that if a society is exposed to stories that are hollow and fake, it degenerates.
Assignments
Assignments 2A + 2B
Reflection
Brand activation reflection
Task: produce a case study on your selected Brand Activation designs and explain why is it the best you have seen.
Batman: The Dark Knight ARG (Why So Serious?)
Although the task says to "explain why it is the best you have seen", I have to begin by saying that all the examples provided were excellent, but since the nature of the product/service is different to begin with, the methods of brand activation are also varied depending on what they are trying to sell.
With Batman: The Dark Knight, 42Entertainment was able to create such a terrifyingly immersive 360° alternate reality experience because of the fact that DC has a universe of its own, much like its biggest competition, Marvel. The ARG is as successful as it is because 42Entertainment utilized the universe where the movie is set in, bringing it into real life, and making sure that it is as realistic as possible by applying the ARG through multiple platforms.
Another factor that plays into the success of this viral campaign is that the fans are heavily involved, and voluntarily so. The ARG takes advantage of the large fanbase of DC Comics, and their moves are well played when they started the game at Comic Con.
By dividing fans into supporters of The Joker, supporters of Harvey Dent, and supporters of Batman, it instills a sense of defending the character whom they think is just, and by that, standing up for the moral values that they think is important. This sort of strategy can be seen years after The Dark Knight in Batman v. Superman and Captain America: Civil War, where fans are encouraged to "pick a side" to defend, sparking arguments between each side and essentially making people talk more about the movies.
42Entertainment's impressive feat also includes how they implement ARG in real life, especially on a global scale. They have numerous Gotham websites, casual games, printed materials like Gotham newspapers that are sent to fans, Gotham cabs, mobile phones hidden in cakes containing messages from Harvey Dent... these things might cost a fortune, but when you're in partnership with Hollywood, something as large-scale as this is not impossible. Personally, when I try to think about the technicalities of the execution, there are so many questions that pop up in my head about things that need to be sorted out.
All in all, to me, Batman: The Dark Knight ARG is successful in its entirety because they turn the world into Gotham and engage fans so deeply into the flow of the game, simply because they are people dedicated to the film/a character. It gets people talking, and although some people might think it is nothing but stupid, any publicity is good publicity. Besides, with all the things that happen during the span of their 15-month campaign, people are sure to know that the game is ongoing, and would at least here it in the news or become curious enough to look it up on the internet—by the time the movie is released, everybody not living under a rock would know about it.
Week 5: Study trip
16 February 2017
Lecture
Brand activation
1) Absolut Transform Today
 |
| Image credit |
Sales for the liquor Absolut Vodka dipped during the birth of Millenials, as Absolut Vodka was only popular with Generation X/Baby Boomer. This brand activation is geared towards Generation Y/Millenials as their main target audience with a very subtle approach.
This is because we (Generation Y) don't want brands to be some corporate entity high up there in the sky and directly selling to us their products/service. We want brands to be our friends, understand us and approach us in a more personal way. The idea behind Transform Today is that Absolut Vodka wants us to know that they are supportive of our creativity and ideas, even pushing us to be confident, think outside the box, etc. Absolut is not selling vodka, they're selling their values, and by letting us know they have the same values as us, we will see them as a brand that is like us.
2) Why So Serious? Batman: The Dark Knight
 |
| Image credit |
Why So Serious? is an Alternate Reality Game (ARG) by 42Entertainment to promote the movie The Dark Knight. It brings the message of the movie (choosing different sides of justice, or no justice at all) and the DC comic universe into the world that we live in right now, engaging fans from all over the world in an extremely immersive experience. For 15 months, the Earth is Gotham, and people are divided into supporters of Joker, Harvey Dent, or Batman, doing all sorts of activities en masse in public and attracting attention of people who aren't familiar with the happenings and the media.
Due to its huge success (the movie became highest grossing movie of the year), this sort of brand activation, and Why So Serious? in particular has become a largely studied method of marketing/advertising, especially of the viral sort.
3) Onitsuka Tiger: The Zodiac Race (2009)
 |
| Image credit |
Onitsuka Tiger, a shoe brand, launched a campaign revolving around the legend of how the Chinese zodiac came to be. It comes in a form of a video, made by a mix of techniques (2D and 3D animation, stop motion) and displayed in their website. They also reimagined the islands of Japan in the shape of a shoe as the setting of the story.
Shoe collections based on each of the zodiac signs are released later on, and visitors (later turned customers) can take a test to determine what their zodiac is (most westerners aren't familiar with this zodiac system, I assume). They can later shop for shoes in the collection line of their own zodiac.
4) Smartcar (Mercedes): Tag Your Own Adventure
 |
| Image credit |
Their brand activation's main platform is on Facebook, specifically taking advantage of the album feature in said social media where an album is used to contain multiple pictures at once. The album is used as a flipbook of some sorts, as Smartcar collaborates with artists to create illustrations that, when viewed together, form an animation. Users can tag their friends to vote where the storyline goes, and more illustrations are created after a decision has been reached. The animation never loses grip on the big idea of the product, always finding a way to sell or introduce the car's unique features in the storyline.
It certainly is an interesting idea that has never been done before, but I personally think that it's not the best because of how internet access can be unreliable for certain people depending on their location, and having to press the "right" button rapidly to view the photo while in that condition makes it a really hard, time-consuming chore since the photo takes time to load. It takes away the animation from the arranged images, too.
Brand storytelling
1) Dove Real Beauty Campaign
 |
| Image credit |
One of the best campaigns out there. Dove realizes the problem in today's society, particularly with the female population. Their research tells them that only 2% of women worldwide believe that they are beautiful. This is caused by the superficial media that promotes a certain image of a woman that is considered beautiful, leaving out women that don't exactly fit that category into being labeled as "not beautiful".
Dove realizes this as a problem and launches this campaign to redefine beauty, making people see themselves beautifully. By doing this, people start to believe that large companies, such as Dove, actually have the capacity to care of the problems in society, in this case self-esteem and self-confidence. The message resonates to their target audience (women) in a personal manner, telling them that every single one of them is beautiful in their own way, and that eventually can bring about brand loyalty.
2) Fanta: Play Fanta
 |
| Image source |
Approaching their target audience (teenagers) through multiple interactive entertainment platforms. They have graphic novels, games, TV ads, of course by collaborating with artists in the execution. Characters with diverse personalities are designed, content is localized for people from 190 different countries to enjoy the same entertainment, music is made interactive by the player doing certain actions.
3) Burberry: The Tale of Thomas Burberry
 |
| Image source |
This comes in a form that is similar to a movie trailer, and it is so good that people started questioning if it is really a movie that is going to launch. Some people beg for the creators to make a real movie out of it.
The trailer essentially tells the story of Thomas Burberry, the founder of the now internationally-acclaimed brand, and how he started creating outfits for the military, indicating that Burberry started out by providing tough clothing that is able to withstand even the harshness of the battlefield, which not many people know of. In the trailer is also drama and romance that happens in young Burberry's life, inciting intrigue in the viewer's mind about what is going to unfold.
4) Nike+
 |
| Image source |
Have you ever had that moment of revelation when you think you can do anything, and you're so motivated to get in shape you sign up to a gym membership, but months have passed and you've never set foot on the gym? In response to this kind of phenomenon, Nike introduces Nike+, an integrated system that connects all the Nike gadgets together. It uses a unit called Nikefuel, which is similar to calories, but more standardized, considering that calories differ based on body types and other factors.
The whole idea is to gain Nikefuel "points" by doing more physical activities. This is where their tagline, "Everything Counts" comes in. Every physical activity you do, from cleaning up the house to joining a marathon can be converted into Nikefuel. When you reach your Nikefuel milestone, you can celebrate. There's also a leaderboard for the amount of Nikefule you have compared to your friends. It's almost like a game.
Another thing is that Nikefuel can be used as a currency as well. Poeple with a certain amount of Nikefuel or more gets access to exclusive products that are only unlockable once they reach that amount of Nikefuel. Clothes are not just clothes anymore: they become trophies that you can flaunt to people in the community, because they know that it's a symbol for the efforts that you've made. You have to earn these exclusive merchandise.
This gets people motivational and moving, hard and fast, especially because everything counts.
Storytelling in advertising
Stories are 22 times more memorable than facts, which is why stories are the best way to advertise. People remember them easily. It tells them everything about the brand, their concept/valuse. It creates an emotional connection with the audience, which when done right may invoke brand loyalty. It adds substance to advertising/marketing.
Stories are essentially an important part of society. It is said that if a society is exposed to stories that are hollow and fake, it degenerates.
Assignments
Assignments 2A + 2B
Reflection
Brand activation reflection
Task: produce a case study on your selected Brand Activation designs and explain why is it the best you have seen.
Batman: The Dark Knight ARG (Why So Serious?)
Although the task says to "explain why it is the best you have seen", I have to begin by saying that all the examples provided were excellent, but since the nature of the product/service is different to begin with, the methods of brand activation are also varied depending on what they are trying to sell.
With Batman: The Dark Knight, 42Entertainment was able to create such a terrifyingly immersive 360° alternate reality experience because of the fact that DC has a universe of its own, much like its biggest competition, Marvel. The ARG is as successful as it is because 42Entertainment utilized the universe where the movie is set in, bringing it into real life, and making sure that it is as realistic as possible by applying the ARG through multiple platforms.
Another factor that plays into the success of this viral campaign is that the fans are heavily involved, and voluntarily so. The ARG takes advantage of the large fanbase of DC Comics, and their moves are well played when they started the game at Comic Con.
By dividing fans into supporters of The Joker, supporters of Harvey Dent, and supporters of Batman, it instills a sense of defending the character whom they think is just, and by that, standing up for the moral values that they think is important. This sort of strategy can be seen years after The Dark Knight in Batman v. Superman and Captain America: Civil War, where fans are encouraged to "pick a side" to defend, sparking arguments between each side and essentially making people talk more about the movies.
42Entertainment's impressive feat also includes how they implement ARG in real life, especially on a global scale. They have numerous Gotham websites, casual games, printed materials like Gotham newspapers that are sent to fans, Gotham cabs, mobile phones hidden in cakes containing messages from Harvey Dent... these things might cost a fortune, but when you're in partnership with Hollywood, something as large-scale as this is not impossible. Personally, when I try to think about the technicalities of the execution, there are so many questions that pop up in my head about things that need to be sorted out.
All in all, to me, Batman: The Dark Knight ARG is successful in its entirety because they turn the world into Gotham and engage fans so deeply into the flow of the game, simply because they are people dedicated to the film/a character. It gets people talking, and although some people might think it is nothing but stupid, any publicity is good publicity. Besides, with all the things that happen during the span of their 15-month campaign, people are sure to know that the game is ongoing, and would at least here it in the news or become curious enough to look it up on the internet—by the time the movie is released, everybody not living under a rock would know about it.