Creating the Ultimate in Immersive Experiences

It's been a while since we posted some marketing nuggets on these here pages. For a marketing company, there's no excuse for not telling the masses what you've been up to... heck, we preach that very thing.

So, why haven't we?

I'm glad you asked. You see, we've been neck deep in creating an immersive experience that we couldn't talk much about before last week... and since last week, haven't had the time to talk about it. The project we've been working on is probably the coolest project we've ever worked on.

Really? Cooler than VoodooPC's Out Of Box Experience (OOBE) packaging project? Cooler than Hewlett-Packard's Blackbird (OOBE) packaging project? Cooler than the Alternate Reality Game (ARG) we created for the Node Gaming Centre? Cooler than any of the work you've done for professional sports teams?

Yes. It is indeed the coolest thing that Francomedia has ever done, without question. It's groundbreaking, it's bleeding edge, it's never been done before and we're leading the charge.

OK, so what is it?

Again, we're glad you asked. The project is tied to a new publishing company called Enthrill. Enthrill Entertainment Inc. publishes thrillers, but through new methods and means. Their goal is to Enlighten, Engage and Entertain through immersive experiences... who better than to do this work that than the crew that wrote the book (almost complete) on immersive experiences, Francomedia.

Enthrill's first thriller is called One Child, by best-selling author Jeff Buick. We were charged with putting together a marketing plan together that would fit the goals of the organization as well as create hype for this new novel. What we ended up doing was much more; building the actual product, the customer experience and the marketing plan (which is very, very unique).

The marketing plan included creating 8 web sites, 28 social media profiles, an online ordering system and a radio station with daily audio updates.

Essentially, we have created an alternate reality online for readers of the book, as they read the digital version, they can visit the Facebook profile of a character and interact with them. Readers can visit the characters' company web site, read their tweets, link in with them on Linkedin, and more. Through this interaction, readers can get to know the characters more intimately giving the characters and the story more depth.

Readers that registered with full contact information, received post cards from characters in New York, readers can e-mail some characters, phone some of the corporations and enter contests on our faux radio station.

It's no longer a book, it's an experience.

Taking things to a whole new level, we have taken this 30 day story, starting July 27th and ending August 25th and released is in real time; realeasing it day by day as the story unfolds. This has never been done in the publishing industry and we are making waves.

Adding audio and video content to the story also enhances the reading experience, as you read the book, you can click to hear the soundtrack to the book. There are also 4 video sequences of the story that were filmed.

The four video sequences, included a cast and crew of about 30 people - this was no small production - and will absolutely thrill the readers when they arrive at these chapters later in the book.

We were fortunate to have the experienced help of the whole Francomedia team, as well as enlist the services of some of the top names in producing this experience for readers:

Video - writer/producer/director Grant Nolin (The Downholers, Half Mile of Hell & Gemini Award Nominee), and the whole crew at Zoom Web Video.

Audio - guitar legend Rick Plester (Scorpions, MSG, Black Symphony), voice talent Al Murdoch (EA Sports, CityTV, Midway Games), Voice actor Murray Vair (CKRY, 1000+ Commericals) and Roberto Dorazio (Corus Radio, Little Steven's Underground Garage).

Social Media - our own Christina Greenway (Social Spawner) and Kristin Reilly (Professional Gamer, Social Community Builder, CBS Interactive).

We have created an alternate reality, bringing characters from the book to life, bringing faux corporations to life and providing a reading experience that incorporates audio and video, like never before. The feedback we have gotten so far has been incredible - people are genuinely blown away by the concept and by taking part in the experience.

You can check it out, by registering for the free 9 day trial, here.

I'm certain that this will be done by many others to come, they will likely have bigger budgets, they may do a better job and may even take it to whole new levels. You can count on it.

That's just how it is when you've done something first - it's always easier to copy and improve than it is to innovate. Our team at Francomedia is a team of creative professionals, bent on innovation and immersive experiences.

Speaking at the IMC

On Tuesday next week, I will be speaking at the Internet Marketing Conference in Calgary.

You can find out more about it here.

My presentation is on Alternate Reality Games (ARG) and Immersive Marketing... I've got 30 minutes to provide some examples and explain how to make a successful ARG... if you're at all familiar with ARG's, you'll know that we will be moving fast to cover it all. There will be time for questions after the other two speakers, as we form a discussion panel.

This international conference is in it's 10th year of production and is the largest in dealing with internet marketing... this is the first time it's come through Calgary.

It seems more and more companies are beginning to jump on the social marketing bandwagon and everyone and their dog are calling themselves internet marketers. I wrote a blog a while back that explains that social media is simply a tool, and like any tool it needs to be in the right hands. We recently had Christina Greenway join our team, as our social marketing manager - she has a background in marketing and knows the tools - this is a great mix.

It never ceases to amaze me how even today, large companies put inexperienced people in charge of the very thing that will drive their business, their marketing on the web. Having a teenager run your social media or a technical person run your web site is a recipe for failure online. Nothing against teens, there's no question they understand the tools, probably better than most people out there - but they are not brand or marketing experts. And, nothing against technical people, but just because you are the only person in the office that knows what a browser is, does not qualify you to drive the marketing speak of your company on the internet.

So, as a business owner, you should take time out to check out this conference, you need to understand the tools that will drive your marketing over the next few years. But, please bring along your marketing person(s) - for they are the ones who can make these tools work for you in presenting your brand online.

It's important to learn how these tools work, but ensure that the right person is using them - this conference is a great place to start taking your online marketing to the next level.