Saab and USA give out spy lessons

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Client: USA Network/General Motors
Creative Agency: Omelet

With season one of "Burn Notice," USA Network had a major hit show on its hands. Viewership was through the roof for a new cable show, and it had achieved what every show aspires to -- yet few actually deliver: a large, loyal and very active fan base. People loved to watch Matt Nix's (creator and executive producer) razor sharp stories of a spy who gets burned -- meaning his name gets exposed from the inside -- and he's left in Miami with nothing but some old friends, his mom and a lot of people wanting him dead. Season one ended with a bang, literally, and the show got picked up for additional 16 episodes for season two. That was the good news.

The challenge came between season one and season two when a devastating writers strike occurred and much of the momentum was potentially lost for the hot new show and its active fan base.

Omelet was brought in to create a sustainable engagement opportunity that reinvigorates and entertains the loyal core audience of "Burn Notice," while also reaching people that haven't yet experienced the show. So the concept had to be educational, mainstream and approachable, yet cool enough to take the core audience along for the ride. And it had to integrate the new Saab 9-3 convertible, which had an overall integration deal with the show, in an organic way. It also needed to provide tangible ROI in the process. Oh, and did we mention the sweepstakes, where users who complete the game are eligible to win an all-new Saab 9-3?

It was a great challenge that had us dealing in the forefront of entertainment and marketing. Lucky for us, the brilliant teams at USA Network (Alexandra Shapiro and Jesse Redniss), "Burn Notice" (Matt Nix and Mike Horowitz) and GM (Dino Bernacchi and Steve Haener) were on board to help.

Based on an original concept from Omelet -- and working alongside the staff writing teams from "Burn Notice" -- Omelet wrote, produced, directed and created a mainstream version of the A.R.G., an A.R.E. (Alternative Reality Experience) called "Covert Ops," a nine-week episodic live action video game that allows users to work alongside Michael Westen, Fiona Glenanne and Sam Axe to experience first-hand what it takes to be a covert operative on the run.

Starting at the launch of the season, every week a new episode launched and introduced a new plot point and a mini-game for users to interact with. From helping scramble surveillance cameras to planting a bug in the hopes of framing a suspect, the nine-week gaming experience kept audiences excited for more. The digital dashboard was the front seat of the Saab 9-3 and utilized all the new technology features, like On-Star and cool dashboard lighting. And, of course, being behind the wheel of a luxury sports car, we had the inevitable seven-car chase, complete with original Saab footage tearing through the streets of Miami.

Having recently concluded "Covert Ops," here are the latest success metrics:

• Since the launch, "Covert Ops" has delivered 7.6MM page views, 259K uniques, and 305K visits per week. (Please note that uniques are duplicated.)
• For the length of the show, "Covert Ops" accounted for 26 percent of total "Burn Notice" traffic.
• Engagement to the "Covert Ops" game has significantly grown from the first week (July 13) to the final week (Sept. 14). Pages per visit in the first week were 11.3 and grew to 35.2 in the final week (up 213+ percent vs. the first week), minutes per visit in the first week were 8.7 and grew to 11.9 in the final week (36+ percent vs. the first week), and pages per uniques in the first week were 12.1 and grew to 42.5 in the final week (up 251+ percent vs. the first week).

-- Steven Amato, executive producer, Omelet

Creative Showcase is meant to be a teaching tool and an inspiration for our readers. We comment only on creative that we really love. Our panelists discuss what makes it great, but if they feel there were missed opportunities that would have made it better, we invite them to mention those. And finally, we seek out a wide range of opinions that reflect the marketplace for the panel, in order to provide constructive, useable feedback for agencies, clients and others involved in these creative pieces.

What makes a great microsite? Is it the depth of content? The level of interactivity? The positioning of the sponsor's product within the experience?

Let's face it -- many agency brainstorms for the launch of a new product consistently produce a "Mission Impossible"-style [scavenger hunt] "big idea." Most times, it gets killed due to the complexity required to execute. But a virtual mission -- done entirely with an online microsite -- well, that's easy! (FYI, your interactive producer and Flash designers beg to differ.)

What Saab and USA Network have done is find the sweet spot where a brand sponsoring a mission-based game (microsite) actually makes sense. If you are a fan of "Burn Notice" (the show), then the content is naturally compelling because it centers around the show's characters and theme. Saab's presence in the experience is a natural extension of its sponsorship. It is entirely relevant and, although at times a bit gratuitous, excellent at showcasing the 9-3 convertible. As a show sponsor, Saab got much more than spots/dots, banners/buttons. And the platform was right on the money for reaching its audience in an uncluttered way.

Functionally and aesthetically, the microsite does a great job of drawing you into the experience, and the barrier to entry is minimal (unless you enter the sweepstakes, in which case there's a page-long registration form). The "missions" are well constructed, yet concise and not overly challenging. Your mission progress is even bookmarked, so if you accidentally hit your "back" button, you can pick up where you left off (nice foresight by the developers). The sponsor's product is prominently featured within every level of the game, and there is even a permanent strip at the bottom of the screen in case you have seen enough and just want to navigate directly to the "Find a Saab Dealer" page.

As far as spy mission microsites are concerned, this one accomplished more for Saab than just spinning wheels.
-- Robert Tucker, founder of rt interactive / new media consulting

Can you figure out what this is about with a quick glance? Is the message intuitively obvious to the casual observer? Yes, it's a "Miami Vice" wannabe without Michael Mann's genius. But do they want to sell me a car, watch a TV show or play a game? Answer: They don't want me to know. The site is a vector to sell cars first, the show second.

What does this material tell us about its audience? This is escapist literature for the web. I can be a pirate, a soldier, a jet pilot, a spy, and I can drive this fancy car, too. So the creators are marketing to escapers, hoping they'll buy a car to emulate the characters on the show. Escapers with process schizophrenia!

Selling cars would be fine if it weren't so obvious (considering the audience). There are five action items (links) on the homepage: three required (terms of service, privacy policies), one a link to the TV show, and one to "launch" the game/sales pitch itself. Four change color when moused over in order to catch the eye during page exploration. The TV show link doesn't, indicating the show isn't important. Question: Do the show and site audiences differ? How?
 
Mouse over "Presented by SAAB (logo) Born From Jets" and another menu pops up that (surprise!) is all about the car. It not only changes color and size, it also makes noise! Will this generate sales? Probably. Could it have made 2-3 times more? Easily (follow suggestions made in my previous iMedia writings on consumer psychology and fair exchange).

The "Launch" link changes shape and makes a noise, but only when clicked. And dear God, if somebody had told me clacky music would start, I would have ripped the speakers off my monitor before I heard it. I did -- swear to God -- start laughing.

Here's what the music said to me:

"Ooh, ooh, ooh, I'm so cool! I'm gonna watch this show and be a gun running fool. I'm going aaaallllll the waaayyyy. I battle knuckle dragging meanies and hypersmart baddies and every show has an implant queen or two. And I always win because I've got the fashion model androgeny almost kinda IRA love interest and token older wiser special ops smart guy with the sexy cool almost kinda dangerous name of "Sam Axe" on my side...Yeah, I'm going aaaallllll the waaaayyyyy!"

Is this something I would have recommended to a client in a similar situation? As I wrote above, the basics are all there. Tweaking of sound, image placement, some variations in animation and thematic reward-based storytelling would have put this through the roof.
-- Joseph Carrabis, CRO and founder, NextStage Evolution