You may not realize it at first, but when you visit RED's website, you're actually entering a multiplayer world of sorts. Immediately, you're assigned an avatar (I got what looks to be a ghostly woman) and encouraged to roam (you can even fly!) a darkly mysterious, somewhat spooky world. As you meet other site visitors, you have the option of chatting.
The site is a pretty thin but clever demo for one of Red's core focus points, which is building deeply immersive, branded web experiences, such as the agency's work for "Star Wars Lego III" that recently won a Favorite Website Award (FWA) for Site of the Month, among others.
More than a simple promotional site, "Star Wars Lego III" is a really convincing nod to popular massively multiplayer online games. Users are free to explore a vast galaxy filled with iconic scenes from the films, configure their avatar, and (of course) battle it out with other users to build with Legos.
Stepping away from the geek set, RED used its expertise to build a similarly engaging site to promote MTV's "Skins," a raunchy teen melodrama adapted from a British series of the same name.
With an airy, Tumblr-esque layout, the site pushes the usual offerings associated with a television show: character bios, webisodes that continue the story online, and links to behind-the-scenes content. But one particularly noteworthy feature is "Where it went down," a Google Map that charts scandalous, mostly anonymous user updates in your area. While parents would probably cringe at some of the things the show's fans post, there's no arguing that it's compelling content for the high school crowd. There's also a mobile app because, well... kids today...
RED Interactive Agency is headquartered in Los Angeles. The agency has worked for a number of brand clients, including HBO, UFC, and Polaroid.
