--Is Promoting the Show by Buying Media within an Online Game
UK commercial terrestrial broadcaster, Channel 4, has tapped design firm, Hi-ReS! (note: the latter is best known for the Web site it created for the cult movie, Donnie Darko), to create a Web site and what it terms an "interactive experience" to accompany its broadcast of the US mystery series, "Lost." (Note: the series, which began airing on Channel 4 on August 10th, tells the stories of survivors of a plane crash on a desert island.) The "experience," which is delivered via the Web, phone, and email, is designed to bring viewers deeper into the show's stories and characters.
During the first six weeks of the 24-part series, viewers will be invited to visit the Web site (www.channel4.com/lost) to find supplemental interactive "episodes": each weekly episode will, via an interactive narrative, use the dreams and memories of one of the show's characters to build on his or her role in the show. "Each character is explored in two ways," a Channel 4 spokesperson told [itvt]. "One path explores the reality they left behind when they got stranded on the island, allowing the viewer glimpses into the past of the characters--e.g. by allowing them to go through documents on their desk at work, items in a safety deposit box, etc. The other path explores the reality of being stranded on the island and having to cope with life with complete strangers through the characters' dreams, mixing past and present, the real and the surreal in an interactive journey."
To progress through the "experiences" presented by the supplemental online content viewers will have to unlock a series of clues, which they will have to search for not only on the Lost Web site itself, but on other Web sites and even via other communication channels: viewers might, for example, find themselves having to call answering machines in order to move forward, or find themselves receiving emails pointing them in the right direction.
Channel 4 has also come up with an innovative way to advertise the show: by buying media within a game. During the show's first week, "Lost" posters appeared on large billboards within the sci-fi virtual world of the popular multi-player game, "Anarchy Online." Since the show's second week, the billboards have been displaying full-motion trailer clips (note: the campaign will last through the show's fourth week). The technology that enables the show's in-game advertising is provided by Massive.
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