Launch the 2010 Mazda3 in Canada’s Quebec province during the worst car market in history. The Mazda3 is critical within Mazda’s portfolio of vehicles. The new Mazda3 launch campaign had to stand out during a period when competitors were flooding the market with retail messages and 'best deal' advertising. Campaign success would be judged on consumer interaction, awareness, and vehicle sales.Our 18-34 year-old millennial target audience is cynical about advertising, so it was critical to engage them, rather than sell them. Well versed in social media, it was critical to make them active participants in a dialogue.We created Canada’s first ever 'alternate reality' campaign, taking Quebecois on a virtual thrill ride, as they searched for the '33 Keys', one of which ultimately gave away a new Mazda3. The campaign leveraged multiple media: television, print, online, outdoor, social, events and guerilla tactics.

The adventure started when we delivered a 'pirated' message simultaneously across all Quebec TV stations featuring a young woman pleading for help to save the future. Viewers were led through a series of puzzles, code-breaking tasks, and live hunts for '33 keys'.We used traditional media elements to drive awareness and pulled participants into the game by leveraging their affinity for social media through the 33 Keys’ network of unbranded websites, blogs, and social media applications seeded prior to the launch.We set clues and dead ends across the province using billboards, streaming video, guerilla placements, a fake TV show we created then “hijacked” for the game, mobile, radio, TV roadblocks, social media. They drove real time engagement as people searched for one of the hidden keys. The campaign concluded at a live event where one of the 33 keys started a custom-built 2010 Mazda3.

Tens of thousands of players engaged in the game within days. Interactive click-through rates were nearly 600 times the industry average. News stories and blog posts delivered over 6.4 million impressions (equivalent to 80% of the Quebec population!). Unaided brand awareness jumped 11 points. Within four months of the campaign launch, sales skyrocketed 30%, making the Mazda3 the top selling vehicle in Quebec (for the first time!).All goals were exceeded. Interaction goals were exceeded by 20-130%; Awareness levels were 120% above goal, Sales exceeded goals by 10%. The results were deemed exceptional by Mazda, particularly given the economic environment.