Yes, we all know talking on the phone while driving can be dangerous and Mundra Group in India has clearly portrayed this message in their new campaign for the government. The ads are pretty self-explantory and least to say gruesome. See for yourself:
It’s clear when seeing a video game you’re not seeing real-life content. It’s not a filmed video but to a gamer, during the time he/she is gaming they are very much a part of this virtual reality world. The virtual reality world creates a fantasy that includes weapons, costumes, characters or environmental factors that cannot be found in real life.
Today, advertisers have taken notice of the growing popularity of video games and have already begun to use it as an advertising platform. They have placed billboard and out OOH ads into games, including ones whose premise does not fit well with an ad (Halo, for example). Gamers are claiming that these sorts of ads disrupt the gaming experience and refer to the gaming publishers as “selling out.” The lack of congruency between an ad and a game’s premise lacks the subtlety that is necessary in order for brands to not build bad reputations with their consumers.
Alternate Reality Games may seem pretty nerdy to some, but the results of these sorts of campaigns leave a huge impact! For example, take the McDonald’s Olympic campaign: The Lost Ring. In order to help better understand how ARG could be utilized as a marketing tool, the international franchise McDonald’s, with the help of digital ad agency AKQA, created their own ARG called ‘The Lost Ring.’ With no explicit branding done in the game itself, the fast food chain was able to seamlessly get a large amount of free attention from media outlets, word of mouth and the press.
The aim of their marketing efforts was to enhance McDonald’s brand image and commemorate the company’s long-standing support of the Olympics. The ARG began on Mar. 3, 2008 and ended at the closing ceremony of the Olympics. Gamer from all around the world received clues both online and offline about ancient Olympic legends. Over 4 million people across 100 countries participated in the game and worked together across the world to solve the legend.
Prior to the start of the game, McDonald’s sent out 50 packages, which contained the first few clues of the game, to the most active game bloggers. The ARG featured six characters who had amnesia and found themselves blindfolded in different places around the world. The players were allowed to communicate with each other through chat, email, social networks and public forums. The players also reached out to the general public, involving them in helping solve clues along the way.
Results: McDonalds and the creators of the game were able to make The Lost Ring so challenging that no one could possibly solve it on their own. Players were forced to develop a global, virtual community. The company was able to traffic millions of players to sites that were subtly branded with the McDonalds logo.
