CHALLENGE

QNX Microsystems, a company specializing in embedded software for everything ranging from traffic lights to air traffic control systems, wanted a way to promote its new online developer community, Foundry27, to a broader audience. What they got was the first miniature developer in a box.

STRATEGY

When the topic is something as esoteric as embedded software development, finding a balance between a heavy tech focus and something a little more accessible is a challenge. We put our creative team to task: create a web experience that blends the facts about what QNX does with a game that even the tech-illiterate could enjoy. Until now, very few people had ever purposely set foot inside inside the workstation of a coder...but The Pocket Geek would change all that.

CREATIVE AND EXECUTION

The game puts players into the role of master and tormentor of The Pocket Geek, a miniature developer who, with the right motivation, can accomplish as much as a coder fifty times his size. Using a collection of tools ranging from energy drink to earthquakes, users must keep the geek's productivity and energy levels stable so as to accomplish as much as possible in the five days allotted to the project.

Bringing in a live actor to play the geek allowed the character to come to life in a hilarious way that would attract players. If that wasn't enough, QNX offered a fantastic prize package to back up the campaign featuring a PS3, an iPod touch, and a lot more. Every month, the player able to squeeze the highest productivity out of the Pocket Geek would walk away with the swag.

The Pocket Geek went on to win a Site of the Day award from FWA for March 2nd, and the hits continue to grow.