BACKGROUND.

Intel launched a YouTube experience that was unique in that viewers could actually immerse themselves in the video and be a part of the action. With a series of games, the viewer is turned into an action hero who must fight spies to return the Intel® Core™ Processor to headquarter. With existing assets created for the YouTube experience, the client saw an opportunity to extend this campaign to iPhones.

THE ASK.

To demonstrate the attributes of Intel’s 2nd Generation Core Processors via an exciting, high-speed, mobile iAd that blurred the line between content, game, and advertising.

MY ROLE.

I was the Creative Director on this assignment. We were extremely short on staff so I also worked on the UX & UI (storyboards, wireframes, use case scenarios) and art directed the designs. I also led client presentations for the concepts, wireframes, and final designs.

MY PROCESS.

To demonstrate the incredible multi-tasking power and speed of Intel’s new processor, I conceived a game that would educate the consumer of these benefits through context associated within the action of the plot.  I borrowed threads of narrative from “The Chase”, an Intel-created, action-adventure video whose storyline takes place through a wide variety of program windows on a computer desktop. A YouTube sensation, “The Chase” was a natural starting point for extending the movie-style chase sequence into a mobile environment. The end result was a wholly original and engaging iAd known as “The Escape;” a highly interactive, mission-based game in which the user controls a femme fatale who has four missions to ultimately defeat her enemies. Intel’s processors play a vital role in empowering users to triumph in each mission.

The Apple iAds (which had just launched around the time of this project) proved to be the perfect vehicle for this campaign. I worked closely with the Apple team in storyboarding the game, designing the flats, and documenting animations, sounds, and video clips to be applied. Being a mobile extension of the YouTube game didn’t mean that this experience couldn’t stand out on its own. Smartphones offer advanced features that made this game uniquely sophisticated. We created a series of spy missions, asking the user to shake the phone, use the accelerometer, and tap to punch and shoot at enemies. In many ways, the smartphone made this game much more personal and realistic than through the big browser. I layered in videos from the YouTube experience to reinforce plot lines and each mini-game correlated to processor capabilities. This unique mobile game taught consumers about the benefits of the Intel processors through a fun-filled adventure.

THE RESULT.

“The Escape” was an overnight success and crushed all anticipated results. Within 3 months, over 5 million consumers had opted into the game, playing a total of almost 3,000 hours of “The Escape.” The iAd outperformed historical and concurrent tv campaigns- boosting nearly 4x stronger Intel preference than tv ads. Additionally, the iAd was favored over rich online video ads by almost 3x’s. It also bested overall iAd average in key categories by over 2x. In the short 3 months that the iAd ran, “The Escape” drove Intel brand awareness, interest, and engagement to the finish line.