Ukoko

One of the big disappointments with marketing that incorporates user-generated-content is that it rarely seems to resolve into something worthwhile for the users. Far too often it’s reduced to a competition: “make a film, win a prize” or “send a picture, win a prize”. Hardly imaginative, especially considering that those who regularly conrtute to Flickr/YouTube et al do it to share rather than compete; they are part of a community where the only opinions that count are your friends and peers, not the opinion of a selected-panel-of-judges.

But the Nokia Global Animation project executed by Universal Everything is one of the few exceptions to normal UGC marketing ideas. Nokia Global Animation project is, on the surface, a regular user-generated-content project but what makes it different is it’s inclusive aims, making all contributors part-of something bigger. Every contribution makes small but important difference, and, while I’m sure the images may be moderated, there won’t be one winner or, more importantly, any losers.

You’d have to be living in box not have noticed Producer/Director JJ Abrams viral campaign surrounding Cloverfield. Slusho, a recurring meme in Abram’s projects, has made cameo appearances in Alias and Heroes and one viral site for Cloverfield for a bit of cross-fertislisation so he’s not just limiting it to the web. The TV show Lost (an Abrams production) also had a sucessful extended reality called The Lost Experience and, in the run up to next series of Lost, there is currently is another campaign called Find 815.

Now it seems he’s at it again with the launch of the teaser for upcoming Star Trek film. Apparently starring Chris Pine in the James T Kirk role, the teaser can be seen on the official website but if you scroll down to the “Under Construction” banner there’s a small red dot. Click it to go through to another viral website and watch the “live” video stream from the construction site of the Enterprise NCC-1701 (under construction, get it? I’m here all week, folks).

So what else might be in store for the long run up to Star Trek movie’s release? It’s certainly an audience up for another extended experience or alternate reality game and Abrams certainly earned the title of a master at exploiting cross-media to tantalise and tease his audience. We have nearly a whole year of waiting to find out.

Do Tank Digital Creative Agency created an interactive TV mash-up for Dutch TV channel 3Voor12’s weekly White Noise music show. The iTV show features a DJ set from Dave Clarke where the audience are given the ability to become the VJ by pulling user-generated images from Flickr. Our Flash-based iTV application spools the images and plays them back, synched in time with the music. It rocks, seriously.

Watch 3Voor12 on YouTube