Title	VIRTUALLY DEAD
Brand	HTC
Product/Service	HTC
Category	E02. Virtual Reality (VR)
Entrant	OMD UK London, UNITED KINGDOM
Idea Creation	OMD UK London, UNITED KINGDOM
Media Placement	OMD UK London, UNITED KINGDOM

Name	Company	Position
Robert Wigman	OMD	Account Executive
Raluca Paraschiv	OMD	Account Executive
	DOJO
	Bearded Kitten

The Campaign

In order to boost brand engagement, drive product trials and eventually sales, HTC would offer people the opportunity to experience an apocalypse, but still get up and eat their cornflakes the next morning: Virtually Dead. It was an immersive zombie experience where attendees would be faced with a deadly virus and a mob of flesh eating zombies to contend with. We engulfed participants in this world with the help of a cast of 35 actors, various scary moments and tunnels to navigate, eventually allowing the cutting edge technology of HTC’s virtual reality to push the boundaries of realism. The players would shoot, bash, slash and explode their way through hoards of the undead that would be close enough to touch in virtual and reality. The experience lasted for one hour with 13 minutes of VR.

Creative Execution

A bloody apocalypse was coming to town near you. People paid to come to our branded experience, with tickets sold by Noma Labs who pushed 6 teaser videos re-targeting the same audience with different edits via Facebook and in-app promotions via their Dojo App. We also had tube posters go live in London for 2 weeks, promoting the event in the geographically relevant major tube stations. After showing the first teaser video in London, tickets sold out in just over a week. We extended the time period and put on more shows to meet the demand: 900 shows over a three-week period from 19th March to 3rd April, which is the equivalent to a popular West End show running for over two years. We created the opportunity for future B2B and brand partnerships with an exclusive experience window, which was opened for marketing teams from PepsiCo to Nike to Disney. On the day, the zombie slashers were picked up by an army truck and taken to the venue, which was in a secret location in East London, adding to the excitement and creepiness of what was to come. The secret training facility was entered through a dank warehouse that stretched over a kilometre, immediately becoming immersed in the storyline. Eventually the players would take on the living dead in 360° virtual reality on an HTC Vive headset. Vertigo games created a bespoke version of their zombie shooting Arizona Sunshine experience specifically for the gory part-virtual apocalyptic experience. After spending the day slashing zombies, we followed up with attendees via email inviting them to pre-order the headset and continue experience the pioneering tech in their front rooms.