CLIENT: 20TH CENTURY FOX | RELEASED: MAR 2007
CHALLENGE
Following successful campaigns for both Stewie Live and American Dad, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment posed a new challenge to Fuel Industries – the development of a promotional microsite for the DVD release of Eragon. Since marketing initiatives for this “swords-and-sorcerers” fantasy-adventure focused on the relationship between the movie’s hero and his dragon Saphira, the interactive experience required leveraging the dragon in the online promotion.
STRATEGY
We wanted to bring fantasy to life with a scenario that lets users imagine the thrill of owning their own dragon. To create online buzz and drive traffic to the site, the experience would need more of an unexpected and memorable moment than the obvious “fly-on-the-back-of-a-dragon” game. Marketing Saphira as a new and unusual breakthrough in personal transportation would create a platform for a funny, engaging experience to grab users’ attention and elicit viral pass-along.
Extending from a billboard campaign for the movie with the tagline “Riders Wanted”, which sounds similar to a classic VW campaign, we created a satirical interactive website spoofing over-the-top luxury car sites. Playing up the joke, the vehicle for sale on the site is not a car at all – it’s a 2007 Volksdragon Saphira!
CREATIVE & EXECUTION
On loading the site, users are presented a video introduction produced by Karbon Arc, Fuel's in-house video production company. While standing beside what surreptitiously appears to be a car under a sheet, a stereotypical mad scientist / company spokesperson raves about the advances that have been achieved with this new ‘vehicle’. The reveal happen as the sheet is torn off and underneath lies Saphira- the star dragon of Eragon.
Adding interaction and viral elements to the experience, users can trick out their own Volksdragon with features like paint scheme, war guns, and neon track lighting before sending their custom vehicle to peers.
Users are invited to watch the movie trailer and purchase Volksdragon merchandise. Unfortunately, all Saphiras are currently out of stock, but users may still buy “promotional DVDs” and “driving instruction manuals” for the dragon – copies of the movie in DVD and Blu-Ray format.
