| Title | SMURFS: THE LOST VILLAGE |
| Brand | AOL |
| Product/Service | GAME |
| Category |
D03. VR, AR & Emerging Tech Games |
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Entrant
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UNIT9 London, UNITED KINGDOM
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Idea Creation
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UNIT9 London, UNITED KINGDOM
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Idea Creation 2
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OATH London, UNITED KINGDOM
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Media Placement
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OATH London, UNITED KINGDOM
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Media Placement 2
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OMD UK London, UNITED KINGDOM
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Production
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UNIT9 London, UNITED KINGDOM
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Credits
| Alex Horton |
UNIT9 |
Director |
| Christopher Womersley |
Oath |
Creative Director |
| Karol Goreczny |
UNIT9 |
Art Director |
| Jakub Jakubowski |
UNIT9 |
Creative Technologist |
| Marc D'souza |
UNIT9 |
Executive Producer |
| Aurelien Simon |
UNIT9 |
Executive Producer |
| Tomaso Cariboni |
UNIT9 |
Producer |
| Andrew Oaten |
UNIT9 |
Tech Lead |
| Mathieu Le Muzic |
UNIT9 |
Unity Developer |
| Quentin Gauvrit |
UNIT9 |
UX Designer |
| Silvia Massotti |
UNIT9 |
UX Designer |
| Lukasz Schaefer |
UNIT9 |
Designer |
| Ryan De Silva |
UNIT9 |
Storyboard Artist |
| Virgil Tanasa |
UNIT9 |
3D Animator |
| Brian Horgan |
UNIT9 |
3D Animator |
| Stefano Tsai |
UNIT9 |
3D Modeling and Texturing |
| Yifei Chai |
UNIT9 |
Creative |
The Campaign
The experience itself consists of a number of procedurally placed level elements that, when combined, allows fans to explore their own environment augmented with Smurfs.
A team of their favourite Smurfs embarks on an exciting adventure through the mysterious Forbidden Forest where they encounter fantastical creatures and face challenging obstacles on their quest to discover the Lost Village and its secrets.
The adventure culminates in a final “boss” stage, with a good old fashioned battle with baddie Gargamel. Upon completing the final level, fans unlock a video trailer for the movie.
Creative Execution
Leveraging key elements from the movie and the essence of the Smurfs themselves, we had to recreate the “Lost Village” and these blue characters in 3D. It was a challenge because our timeline had to precisely coincide with the movie release to further amplify the buzz surrounding “The Lost Village” and act as a powerful PR tool that delighted fans along the way.
Because HoloLens is such a new device for the mass market and embeds new ways of interacting, we needed to make sure that our experience felt intuitive (especially to young children) and behaved seamlessly. At the same time we wanted to preserve the fun and sense of adventure which is a broader part of The Lost Village film narrative.
Reach: Behind the scenes content resulting in 20.8 Million Impressions and 15.9 Million video views with an astounding 62% video completion rate.
Engagement: We had incredible PR pick-up, with stories featuring in The Drum, M&M Global & Mashable, among many others. These stories generated over 40m media impressions and 15.5m organic social impressions
Impact : We offered moviegoers a glimpse into the future of branded entertainment, while generating industry buzz and showcasing an exciting use of MR technology suitable for audiences young and old. We believe this is a great example of the future of storytelling in mixed reality for entertainment brands, showing how 3D characters can be brought to life in your own environment.
Smurfs, “The Lost Village” was one of Sony Pictures’ biggest theatrical releases in 2017. The digital extension was backed by AOL’s agency Oath. These two entertainment powerhouses wanted nothing more than to bring the magic of the Smurfs from the big screen to life, in the most cutting edge way possible. We used the emerging technology of the HoloLens to create a world as delightful as the movie and characters themselves.
Except in this version, we invited fans to become completely immersed in it. It’s gamification, augmented reality and entertainment all in one unforgettable experience.
Fans plunge into the magical world of Smurfs and explore the Forbidden Forest in search for clues to find the Lost Village, accompanied by one of the Smurfs. Together they will face many dangers lurking in the forest and even attempt to trick Gargamel himself. Smurfs: The Lost Village is an interactive experience targeting kids aged 9 and under and their families.