SEGA launches Sonic The Hedgehog Augmented Reality iPhone App in Australia
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog, JWT Sydney and SEGA have launched a multi-platform campaign based around an augmented reality app that can be used in conjunction with out-of-home, TV, magazines, online banners and websites. The campaign has launched exclusively in Australia and the Sonic Vision app is only available in the Australian iTunes store.
To catch Sonic, players can point their iPhone at a poster and a gold ring appears on screen. Sonic speeds past onscreen and players have to respond quickly to capture him. The markers also appear on websites, banners, in magazines and on TV.
SEGA is also distributing Augmented Reality Markers to bloggers and gaming websites encouraging them to be part of the campaign by voluntarily embedding the markers (example below) within their pages to attract Sonic Vision players.
Capture Sonic Here - A Sonic Vision AR marker for blog owners
Fans can also submit their points to a leaderboard and follow the progress of other players, win Sonic prizes and share their scores on Facebook.
"JWT has recognised the rising prominence of mobile amongst gamers and created an experience that is a fitting celebration of a gaming icon like Sonic the Hedgehog," said SEGA marketing manager Neroli Baird.
The campaign also coincides with the much anticipated release of Sonic Generations for Nintendo DS, PS3, Xbox 360 & PC. Sonic Generations delivers the definitive gaming experience for Sonic fans new and old and is considered the ultimate celebration of 20 Years of Sonic gaming,
The biggest topic in sports right now here in the States is March Madness, the annual College Basketball Tournament that decides the best school in the nation. Allstate Insurance, with help from Leo Burnett Chicago is capitalizing on that hype with an interesting social experiment, BFF Brackets:
BFF Brackets is exactly like the college basketball tourney. Except instead of 64 college hoop teams facing off, it's your 64 best facebook friends. The game determines who your "best friends" are on facebook using a custom algorithm. The BFF tournament begins on March 17th, but people can join until March 24th.
This is a nice little campaign that plays off some real tension in social media culture. Who are your real friends and who's just a username on a screen? It'll be interesting to see if Facebook lets this play out, or if it yanks it like Whopper Sacrifice.
For the upcoming TRON: Legacy film, Coke Zero has released Coke Zero LiveCycle, a location-based mobile game that lets you play the movie's light cycle game in real-life. Build your light wall by moving about in the real world and earn points by forcing other players to crash into it.
Turn Bills Into Thrills with the Nokia Bill Exchange
The site interface makes extensive use of a physics engine, built with Box2D in Flash
JWT Sydney has launched a digitally-led campaign for Nokia to promote its messaging smartphone range to the youth market. The campaign - Nokia Bill Exchange turn 'bills intro thrills' - gives consumers the opportunity to convert a 'boring paid bill' into something great and more useful.
Users simply visit the Bill Exchange nokiabillexchange.com and tell Nokia what they'd rather spend their money on. The more outlandish or obscure the idea, the more likely they are to be winners. The three most creative entries each day are selected and their bill value exchanged for something special up to a value of AUD $300. They'll also receive a new smartphone from Nokia's messaging range.
After launch, one of the first winners wanted to go to the moon. A stretch for his $290 bill. Nokia awarded him a NASA training day at Luna Park Sydney which included a flight around the moon on the 'Moon Ranger' and zero-g testing on the 'Rotor'. He was also given a new Nokia C6.
Other initial Bill Exchanges include a guy "sick of Twilight vampire-types picking up the ladies" who was given the opportunity to be "picked up" in a giant Skill-Tester. Other bills were exchanged for a giant igloo, an army of plush Zombies and a chest and stomach wax.
The campaign makes extensive use of Facebook through news feed messaging and allows users to invite their friends to also apply to have their bills exchanged.
"The campaign is designed to truly engage young people with the Nokia brand. We've created an innovative user interface that brings social functionality to a Flash-based site. Using Facebook Graph brands can go beyond Facebook Pages to create their own socially connected sites," explained Ashadi Hopper, National Creative Director, Digital JWT Australia.
Nokia senior marketing manager Adam Johnson, said, "We know our target age group for Nokia's messaging smartphone range don't have a lot of disposable money and the money they do have tends to go on needs as opposed to wants".
"With the Nokia Bill Exchange we are exchanging bills for something great. JWT has helped us create a campaign that is really connecting with the target market for our messaging smartphone range," continued Johnson.
Nokia Bill Exchange executions include: online social media and display advertising; university posters and or digital panels at 37 campuses nationally; street press and MX newspapers.
