Campaign of the month: Mercedes
Another engaging and innovative microsite for Mercedes sees Agency Republic win this month’s IAB Creative Showcase Award, sponsored by Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions. The Mercedes-Benz new R-Class microsite was developed to allow consumers to engage with the car in an inspirational manner, rather than simply describe its features and functions and expect consumers to gauge from this the experience it offers. The site takes the user through ‘six journeys’ written by six writers including children’s author Laurence Anholt and sports expert Mike Harris, each presenting their unique take on the car, accompanied by audio and illustrations tied into the narrative to produce a thought provoking consumer experience.
This is the second Creative Showcase Award for the Mercedes-Agency Republic partnership, which won in April 2006 with the A-to-S site. Following that success it decided to allow consumers to feel the R-Class – rather than simply show and tell – but this time using animated visuals and inspired writing delivered in an open unrestrictive and fluid manner.
The first runner-up this month was Dare Digital with its campaign to promote ‘The Big Idea’ – a Vodafone sponsored TV show on entrepreneurs. The strategy was to drive people to a site where they could submit their idea to the show – if successful they won £10,000 to help develop their idea.
The second runner-up was unit9 with ‘Creative Mind’ – a microsite for Adobe. The site immerses the user in a surreal environment of creativity and possibility and the interactive result is a free-flowing, whimsical animated experience that shows off the capabilities of the Adobe Creative Suite 2.3 software package within the abstract framework of a designer’s mental universe.
