IF YOU CAN DREAM IT, YOU CAN DO IT

There’s literally nothing you can’t do in digital—it’s the ultimate sandbox.

Just ask Carmen Electra.

In the weeks before the debut of her movie Meet the Spartans, a spoof of the hit Leonidas-in-a-loin- cloth epic 300, 20th Century Fox set out to develop personalizable, “video-synchronized” promotional emails and mobile phone calls.

At the center of the effort: Carmen Has a Crush on You, a website where users are invited to send a personalized message from Ms. Electra.

Users are asked a series of ques- tions about themselves and the

email recipient, and can upload pictures of themselves or the recipient. The resulting video message is a sight to behold. We enter as Ms. Electra is being “interviewed” about her film for a segment on an

Extra-style celebrity news program.

Along the way, Electra becomes sidetracked with talk about a new love interest, and is cajoled by the reporter to tell viewers more. With amazing seamlessness, Electra names the user by name, even flashing a tattoo of the user’s face on her hip, created using the image the user has uploaded.

FIGURE 2–2.The United Nations “Voices” campaign invites consumers to snap a camera phone image of posters featur- ing people to receive prerecorded mes- sages from them about the challenges they face.

Users have the ability to personalize Carmen’s story by changing the subject of her love interest to someone they know. Users can then enter the phone number or email address of friends they designate, and then send a link to the video to their recipients. Even after all this time, the effort still stands up as one of the most gobsmacking exam- ples of personalizable video.

Cable network A&E has been just as inventive. In addition to run- ning the usual TV promotions for its ghost-hunter reality show

Paranormal States, it has used outdoor billboards to transmit eerie

messages to passersby, in a fashion that sounds as if it’s coming from inside the person’s own head.

The billboards make use of “targeted audio,” which directs sound much as a laser beam directs light, transmitting audio in such a way that it can create a “sound bubble” around people directly in its path. You might hear spooky voices promoting the show, while the person standing next you doesn’t hear a thing.

Look for other brands to start using these technologies—most notably in supermarkets, where you’ll be greeted to offers only you can hear, seemingly from inside your own head.

Of course, as I recently wrote in ADWEEK, targeted audio presents some vexing issues to marketers. “On the one hand, the promise of speaking directly to consumers at the point of purchase is tempting, perhaps all trumping,” I write. “On the other hand, the prospect of invading minds to sell Hamburger Helper is enough to make anyone want to hurl.”

From all accounts, nobody was ticked off by Paranormal State’s use of targeted audio. But several people reported getting the willies— which, to be clear, was exactly the desired effect.

General Electric, on the other hand, uses “augmented reality” to show off its new “smart grid” technologies as part of its ongoing “eco- imagination” campaign. Web surfers can print out a symbol that, when held up to their webcams, creates a 3-D hologram, floating before their very eyes, that demonstrates how green technologies such as

wind turbines and solar energy systems can make life more cost- and energy-efficient (see Figure 2–3).

Augmented reality, or AR, is taking off. Papa John’s recently affixed an augmented reality image on the back of 30 million pizza boxes, enabling users to hold the boxes up to their webcams and use their keyboards to drive an animated 1972 Camaro in 3-D to commemorate the car CEO John Schnatter sold in 1984 to raise money to open his first pizza parlor.

Frito-Lay printed a symbol on bags of its Doritos Late Night Tacos that, when held up to your webcam, “explodes” to reveal holographic images of either Blink 182 or Big Boi, as they perform hot new singles floating in midair right before your eyes.

For its part, BMW recently created an AR experience to promote its Z4 roadster. Users can drive a 3-D holographic version of the car across a blank canvas and even shoot out “ink” from the rear wheels to create their own customized artwork that they can then share on their Facebook pages.

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FIGURE 2–3.Augmented reality: GE uses 3-D digital holograms to demonstrate its “smart grid” green technologies.

Ray-Ban’s website, meanwhile, features a virtual mirror that uses data points collected using your webcam to enable you to virtually “try on” sunglasses before you place a purchase. Move your head from side to side, and you can check out all the angles before you make up your mind. And Topps trading cards has used the same technology with new baseball cards that you can hold up to your webcam to see a 3-D avatar of your favorite player, complete with sportscaster audio narratives. You can even hit commands on your keyboard to see your favorite sports stars swing the bat, throw the ball, or make a catch.

In these early efforts, the technology is certainly not glitch-free. But the point is clear: Nothing’s impossible with enough ingenuity.