Cannes Lions
OGILVY & MATHER, Taipei City / PXMART / 2017
Overview
Entries
Credits
Description
An interactive video released in stages made ghosts seem to actually appear, generating a mass paranormal incident.
Because people can’t see ghosts, they usually ignore their existence. So we made people see ghosts. We broadcast two versions of the same TV commercial, making people think ghosts had materialized on their screens, and igniting a controversy. And in a 3-stage media campaign, we exploited the interactivity of the internet to keep people searching to uncover the real truth. When the mainstream media actively joined in reporting this mysterious case, a paranormal event erupted, and people couldn’t help but pay attention.
Execution
1 Week, 2 versions of the Same TVC, a 3-stage Media Campaign … A Paranormal Incident Shakes Taiwan!
(1) Invisible ghosts:
On television, we released the first TV commercial film in history starring lead characters who were all invisible. News reports flooded the media.
(2) The ghosts appear:
Three days later, we randomly broadcast two versions of the commercial – one with invisible ghosts, and one where they materialized. Released on television, YouTube and Facebook, the commercial convinced many people they really had seen ghosts. The story continued to heat up.
(3) The Big Reveal:
One week later, we released a web-based interactive video, revealing the truth. The ghosts were still invisible in the video, but if anyone typed the letters “RIP” while they were watching it, the ghosts suddenly appeared. The campaign rose to a dramatic climax.
Outcome
• Website visits instantly surged to over 700,000 in one hour, temporarily crashing the server.
• The fan page was flooded with requests from viewers asking for confirmation of ghost sightings.
• The video achieved over 4.27 million views.
• Fan page post engagement rate surpassed 32%, with over 29,000 shares.
• 17 million Taiwan dollars in earned media.
• New store memberships among young consumers grew 16% over the previous year, growing 9% more than ordinary members
• Sales of 101.67 billion Taiwan dollars during Hungry Ghost Festival, up 18%
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