Context

Animated Avatars and Text to Speech

In the past couple of weeks, I've come across a few viral marketing executions that employ animated avatars and text to speech software. While the technology has been around for a while (see the Achmea Gnome advertising campaign that ran more than 2 years ago), it seems that only recently advertising agencies and brands have discovered it.

How it works ? Users can register a personal message, add it to an animated avatar and then send it around to friends, much like a rich media post card. Some executions like Burger King's Angus Diet and Sun's Super Chants allow you just to change a part of a pre-edited recording. Others like the Virtual Buddy from Bubblicious enable you to add your own voice to a personalized character by phoning in to a special number.

The greatest execution I saw so far is ESPN's Voice of the Fan, because they use the technology for a kind of message board. Instead of using plain text messages, fans can use the avatars to express their opinions and emotions. Voice of the Fan lets you pick an avatar from among a couple dozen animated characters and customize its features, hair, and clothing (like Bubblicious Virtual Buddy). You can record your comments on a PC mike or by calling an 800 number, and your character reads them aloud on ESPN's Message Board.

ESPN thought maybe 10.000 people would sign up in the first months; they got 175.000, according to an article in Wired. In the same article, the Editorial Director of New Media (great title!) predicts the following : ""I see a future where thousands of fans at a virtual tailgate party are talking to each other and watching the game together."

I think he's right. And the future is near ... if we make and raise virtual babies, why wouldn't we virtually watch games together ...

Compose your own trailer movie

From Adrants: "For the release of the Wedding Crashers, they've created a section on the movie's website where visitors can "crash" the movie trailer.

Visitors who enter their name, a friend's name and their head shots will appear atop the bodies of their characters in a "re-cut" version of three minute on-line trailer. Once the "re-cut" trailer has been completed, people will want it to be seen so, of course, they'll send it out to their friends. It's a very simple, yet ingenious way to get the movie's site spread virally."

Of course, I gave it a try. Check out the trailer movie starring Franky Goes to Hollywood. While re-cutting 'my' trailer, I found out that the photo upload mechanism is ingeniously built as well.  I saved the 172.938th personalized trailer ... since the end of June. And that's only the number of people actively composing the trailers, you'll have to add the friends passively watching the trailers. I don't know what numbers the movie company orignally was after, but it seems a success to me.

Skwiizz it

New viral from Fanta

After the Pink Kiss (send a Valentine Kiss to your friend(s)) and Icy Lemon (trick your friend(s) via e-mail), Fanta has a new viral action for the Fanta Skwiizz : "skwiizz" a picture of an enemy or friend and pass it on via e-mail. The last one is particularly targeting students in their exam period, but it could be fun for everbody. BTW, the skwiizzed picture receiving the most votes, wins a party for 150 people!

The above three Fanta mini-sites have one thing in common : they rely on user-made content. The sites allow the users to create their own content and spread it via e-mail and blogs (example: Skwiizz on Aardschok.net). This combination pulls users into the site, which means that Fanta hardly has to spend any money on traditional online media ... 

Can you flick it ?

This is an old one I ran into : finger football from Canon.

Canon found a terrific way to exploit their sponsorship of the Euro 2004 football games. Download and cut out top players (print them using a Canon printer, of course), re-enact a magic football moment (using your imagination), put it on film (using a Canon camera) and submit it to the website and win a prize (yes, an all-in-one Canon camera and printer).

I loved it - also the accompanying tv ads -, but you have to be a bit of a football fan to appreciate it : http://www.canyouflickit.com