The Fast and Furious might have a few more moves, but Disney Interactive Studio’s Split/Second media day definitely has more game. In anticipation of the launch on May 18^th, Disney Interactive Studios put the pedal to the metal and hosted 20 media for a day of stunt driving and game playing.

Joining the event all the way from Black Rock Studio in Brighton, UK was Senior Art Director Dale Strachan. Dale hosted the guests and ran them through demos of Split/Second, highlighting the various Power Play options and what separates this game from others in the arcade racing genre.

Following the demo of Split/Second with Dale, attendees moved outside into more action with the IFPDI Stunt Drivers, a group of professional stunt drivers, who brought the stunt driving in the video game to life.

At the end of the day, attendees walked away with a demo from a studio member that worked on the game, a review copy and, for some, a bit of a queasy stomach.

Check out the game on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/GatoradeCanada?ref=ts#!/splitsecond?ref=ts

On March 9, 2010, Universal unveiled the newest addition to its successful Barbie DVD franchise, entitled Barbie in a Mermaid Tale, which received PR support from High Road to drive buzz with media and consumers.

Targeting girls aged 3 to 10 with core target of 3 to 6, as well as their moms, the goal was to generate consumer excitement for the DVD release. Given March was a noisy timeframe for children’s entertainment and consumer products, particularly due to the spring break push, our secondary goal was to push through the clutter to ensure Barbie in a Mermaid Tale maintained share of voice during release time frame.   

To achieve these goals, High Road engaged in a media relations and promotions campaign, as well as a direct-to-consumer screening event with a strong focus on the mommy blogger and online communities.

To drive excitement about the movie with moms and their daughters, Universal and Mattel hosted a Barbie in a Mermaid Tale screening event in Toronto on March 6^th. The event offered an exclusive and engaging experience, highlighting the mermaid and surfing themes as well as the “different is special” message from the film, and featured a visit from “Barbie” herself. Tickets were given away through contesting on mommy blogs and broadcast media.

More than 200 parents and children attended the screening, and over 1,600 watched a video posted to YummyMummyClub.ca and MSN about the event that was produced by the event’s host, Erica Ehm.

Learn more at: http://www.yummymummyclub.ca/barbie_movie_premiere?s=newsletter031810

To drive awareness for a new LG mobile phone (which has a full slide out QWERTY keyboard) and reach the target audience of Canadians between 16 and 24, High Road created and implemented a national texting championship. High Road developed an integrated campaign that brought together experiential marketing teams, public relations, advertising, web strategies, and sponsorships in 18 cities across Canada, including Toronto, Calgary, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Regina, Ottawa, Vancouver, Montreal and Quebec City.

For each city, High Road worked with regional partners to design a texting championship kiosk in a high traffic consumer area. We managed the signage and sponsorship opportunities for LG partners Bell, Telus and Rogers in the kiosk area for each event. High Road also supervised the hiring and training of street teams who worked the kiosk area to encourage Canadians to register and compete in the texting championships.  The cheerleaders and referee-uniformed team members worked closely with each contestant to register their entry on touch screens, help them choose a phone, and then move them on to the competition station. At the end of each city competition, the kiosk team provided photographs and participant marketing data to High Road and LG.

In addition to the regional competitions, there was also an online element which included YouTube videos, photo posting, and Facebook integration, which enabled Canadians who weren’t located in one of the 18 cities to compete.  All of the competitions culminated in a final National Championship event in Toronto where finalists battled for $25,000. In all, over 20,000 Canadians competed across the country. High Road’s success in extending LG’s brand awareness while adhering to strict budgetary guidelines led LG to choose High Road to mount a second National Texting Championship in 2009.