Creative thinking helps Mercedes-Benz #escapethemap
Striking lines, sharp handling and amazing technological achievements are familiar hallmarks for Mercedes-Benz cars, and today Mercedes-Benz UK has announced that these qualities are transferring into the virtual world for an exciting, entrancing new online marketing campaign.
Designed to attract younger people to Mercedes-Benz, Escape The Map opens in a beautiful virtually-rendered Hong Kong, where lead character Marie finds herself and her C 63 AMG Coupé trapped in Streetview. Rather than looking up addresses of her old house, like most of us do when we first look at similar sites, Marie needs to escape from the map before her face is forever blurred-out, like everyone else who’s pictured there.
On the plus side, Marie can of course enjoy endless access to empty streets in perfectly-rendered high-definition cityscapes. As an incentive to help her break-free, and to win a stunning real-world C 350 Coupé, Mercedes-Benz is asking people to go online, and crack a couple of quick clues.
Marie races through Hong Kong before ending up in London, for her ultimate escape. The reward for successfully answering the simple interactive challenges is an entry into a draw to win the car.
Launching in earnest on Saturday 12 November with a 30-second TV advert during ITV1’s The X-Factor, Escape The Map blends print, online and broadcast in one boundary-breaking campaign.
As well as a YouTube Homepage Takeover, and nationwide advertising on the sides of buses, a cover wrap in Metro Newspaper on 14 November uses
Blippar, the free augmented reality app that uses a smartphone’s ‘magic’ lens to enhance the world around the user with info- and entertainment.
David George, Marketing Director Mercedes-Benz UK, explained the reason for the campaign: “Escape The Map is a bold brand-sharpener – it presents Mercedes-Benz as a vibrant, fresh, aspirational premium brand – and shows people a new side to one of the most prestigious companies in the world. The interactive element is vitally important too. We’re talking to a new generation of people who double-screen or even triple-screen – watching TV whilst browsing on their iPad or smart phone.”
Escape The Map is directed by the award-winning Carl Erik Rinsch, awarded the prestigious Grand Prix at Cannes last year for his work on Phillips’ “The Gift”. He’s also just directed “47 Ronin”, a $220million blockbuster for Universal. Marie is played by rising star Mariah Bonner, who’s appeared in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and Rules of Engagement.
As well as an award-winning Director, Escape The Map also features music that has been created by Oscar winner, Atticus Ross. Atticus received the Academy Award for Best Original Score for his soundtrack for The Social Network.
The lead character, Marie, is already waiting for help inside Streetview, from where she tweets. You can follow her on twitter @girlinmap or search #escapethemap. The overall winner of the C 350 Coupé will receive their prize from actress Mariah Bonner at Mercedes-Benz World at Brooklands in the New Year.
Behind-the-scenes films and “Making of…” and “Interview with the Director” footage will be posted on Mercedes-Benz UK’s YouTube channel shortly after the campaign goes live on the 12 Nov; youtube.com/user/mercedesbenzuk
A gritty Hong Kong alleyway is already up on escapethemap.com, and waiting for the launch on Saturday 12 November.
The UK campaign has been created in association with Mercedes-Benz UK’s advertising agency AMV BBDO. Executive Creative Director Paul Brazier added: “This is a really exciting, ground-breaking idea, with technology and high production levels at its heart. Perhaps that’s why it’s so relevant for Mercedes.
“The strange world of Streetview proved the perfect backdrop to show off the C 63 AMG Coupé. A little different from what you might expect from Mercedes-Benz.”
