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Client: DreamWorks Home Entertainment
Creative Agency: New Media Maze

Visitors to the DVD launch site are invited to scare their mates by entering their email address and mobile telephone number. The site then sends an email to the visitor's friends, inviting them to click on a link, and watch the video. As they're watching it, their mobile phone rings, and a voice whispers, "Seven days." Dave Smith, director, New Media Maze, adds "Once they've experienced the terror of the viral, we 'reveal' that in this instance it was just a wind up by their friend, and invite them to spread the fear by entering the details of five of their friends. In this way we create a viral effect. We've already launched the viral in Australia, where it has really taken off -- there's already been over ten thousand interactions with the viral, from a very small seeding base. We've also had some great feedback directly from consumers and also seen several people discussing the viral in Australian newsgroups, which is a great endorsement of the campaign."

As well as building the viral, which combines flash, php, a database and integration with VoIP telephony, New Media Maze is seeding the campaign over Europe and the UK.
-- The New Media Maze team

This is just fantastic. Creative meets technology in Ammityville. ‘Going viral’ is the most challenging assignment this industry has ever handed out, and this piece is up to the task.  

Unlike most viral efforts, this one employs a number of touch points, for both sender and receiver. They’ve integrated these into a seamless experience that doesn’t feel overly complicated or demanding. That in itself is an accomplishment.

There’s a big potential hurdle to this, and it’s getting people to give up their mate’s mobile phone number. However, the intro page handles this well, and once experienced, the prank sells itself.

For the just-punk'd, the ‘how’d they do that’ factor is strong. And that’s the key element driving this piece. This combination of technology and creativity comes across as intelligent, innovative, and contemporary, qualities most brands would do well to evoke. 
-- Doug Schumacher, president, Basement, Inc.

I love it when marketers think beyond their own self-inflicted blinders. The "Ring 2" campaign demonstrates the not always obvious connection between digital marketing and telephony. This is a wonderful execution -- not only is there the play on words -- "Ring 2," but there is the extension of pure fear the movie so classically instilled in its viewers.

I would wager that this worked incredibly well from a viral aspect. But I do wonder how well it was received by the chosen recipient -- a risk clearly more easily taken in the European media market than in the American market. I think I would be freaked out if I got a call that said I was going to die in seven days.

Again, excellent job to the team for going beyond just one screen and for truly understanding the film's emotional roots.
-- Kate Thorp, president, interactive advertising, AKQA