Increasingly, 3D projection mapping has become a staple in the campaign arsenal of digital agencies. If executed well, they are awesome activation hooks – they will almost always draw a crowd. Creatively, however, they run the risk of becoming a bit stale. Cue a smart bit of innovation from Nestle in promoting Contrex mineral water in France.
Nestle decided to gamify the 3d projection. Setting up a row of violently pink stationary bikes in the middle of a French city, passing women were encouraged to hop on one and cycle. Cycling, in turn, powered a 3D projection of a cartoonish male stripper in a matching violent pink animation, strutting his stuff to the delight of the participants.
To carry on watching the show, the cyclists had to carry on pedalling, which in turn meant they had to hydrate with some Contrex. As a reward for powering the full strip-show, the perspiring ladies were treated to a message from the virtual Chippendale, informing them that they’d burnt 2000 calories.
Of course, the activation in isolation would be of minimal value without leveraging it for publicity – and leverage it Nestle did. The YouTube clip of the event above is sitting on 12 636 991 views and 25 796 likes. It has earned a remarkable 1 084 083 Facebook shares, has been featured in 470 blog posts and made Mashable’s list of most-shared adverts two months in a row.
The entire production is a brilliant example of the confluence of sound concept, novel execution and successful pursuit of sustained value.
