Musical Chairs
- Brand
- Vitaminwater
- Year
- 2012
- Objective
- Awareness
- Industry
- Food & Drink
- Mechanic
- Music & Rhythm
- Platform
- Web
- Agency
- Plan8
- With
- Droga5 NY
- With
- Feels Like
Objective
Vitaminwater was an official global partner of the 2012 London Olympics but got only about a fifth of its sales from outside the US, in markets where the brand was barely known despite already operating in two dozen countries. With Olympic marketing everywhere, the campaign needed a way to cut through — enlisting pop star Jessie J to give people abroad a reason to engage and, ultimately, to try the drink.
Solution
You land on gamesonlybetter.com and log in with Facebook, which drops you straight into a live session with five strangers from other countries, all watching Jessie J's "Laserlight" video at once. Without warning, the video freezes and objects pop up on screen — whoever clicks one first claims it, and everyone else in that round is knocked out. Get eliminated and you can either keep watching the video play out or jump back in for another round. Survive to the end and you unlock a bonus clip that only finishes this way, plus entry into a draw for tickets to Jessie J's Camden Roundhouse concert; along the way you also pick up badges and coupons, like a "defense badge" for grabbing the last object, redeemable for a free vitaminwater.
- 1
The player arrives at gamesonlybetter.com, a promotional hub for vitaminwater's Olympic "games, only better" campaign, where Musical Chairs is offered as one of the featured games, localized to the player's market.
- 2
The player logs in with Facebook rather than creating a separate account.
- 3
The player is automatically matched into a live session of six people from different countries, with no setup or invites required.
- 4
The Jessie J music video "Laserlight" plays synchronously for all six players and doubles as the game board; at unpredictable moments it pauses and clickable objects appear on screen, and players race to point at and hold an object to claim it, echoing musical chairs.
- 5
A player who fails to claim an object is eliminated from the session and is offered the choice to keep watching the rest of the video or start a new game immediately.
- 6
The video resumes and the pause-and-claim round repeats, with the field of players narrowing each time until a single winner remains.
- 7
The winner is shown an exclusive ending of the "Laserlight" video that only victors get to see.
- 8
Winning also enters the player into a drawing for tickets to a Jessie J concert at Camden Roundhouse held during the Games.
- 9
Actions during play earn badges and coupons, such as a "defense badge" for claiming the last object, which can be redeemed in a store for a free vitaminwater.
