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Microsites, Minis and/or Launch Modules.
These are examples of things I did prior to moving to the online ad world.
These are the most popular way to give birth to a new vehicle. I've had the pleasure of giving birth to a number of them. Three of my most recent ones are included here. In addition to handling all the writing chores for the modules, I was also an integral part of the concept, design and architecture teams .
My apologies upfront if not all the links in the modules are functional. For the most part though, they're pretty solid.
This was the mother of all sites. We started wortking on it almost six months before anyone else in the agency was even thinking about it. Ford Trucks, in particular the F-150 is THE vehicle that keeps the lights on at Ford. This was a ground-up redesign that featured some radical engineering steps to put F-150 way out in front of the competition.
The site went up six months before launch and was constantly updated. We made extrensive use of 3D animations and for the first time on the web, we green-screened the spokesperson and embedded him on the web page. It was pretty cool.
When the actual pre-launch site went live, we buried the servers at Ford. When the time came for actual launch site to go live, Ford/JWT contracted Akamai to host it. One of the neat things Akamai offered was the ability to watch server action from around the globe on a map of the world. You could watch in real time as people from places like Kuala Lampur and Bogota and Kuwait signed in to check out the sitre. Amazing stuff, even for me.
The Freestyle Mix module uses the universal language of music to help create a memorable association with the vehicle’s notable product attributes. There are two main sections, one that contains all the product attributes and one that contains the Freestyle Mixer. The module is totally integrated with the national broadcast spots, even using the same music as the basis for the Mixer.
Visitors to the mini-site interact with the product attributes and are entertained by background music/effects associated with the information. When they visit the Mixer to create their personal mix, the music/effects reappear to be used as the basis for creating the individual Freestyle Music mixes. The mixes can be saved and a Tell A Friend function invites others to “come listen to my Freestyle Mix.”
The Explorer site was probably most tame of all the vehicle launches in which I've participated. It was fun to get back in studio for the VOs and coordinating that part. And of course, working with 2Advanced, the flash house, is always a unique experience as well.
The graphics theme for the Explorer was taken in part from a direct mail campaign concept in which they utilized an actual book with clear cell overlays. Much like the anatomy illustrations you remember from high school.