I started writing this post a month ago, but stopped as I did not have access to the Internet while in Brazil, so pardon the taste of yesterday’s news here.
Unlike Bernie, I don’t have a teenager daughter, so I have just a very fuzzy idea about what The Twilight Saga is all about. But it doesn’t take a Roger Ebert or Peter Travers to know that it’s at least as popular in Brazil as it is in Canada and the US: its second installment ranked as the top box office in Brazil this year. Taking the subway in São Paulo 2 weeks before the opening of New Moon, it was hard to miss this eye-catching, vending-machine-like, err, device:
Twilight Interactive Display in São Paulo
Here are some more pictures, in case Twilight is your thing:
The main feature was the embedded camera, that allowed you to take a picture of yourself and edit it to transform yourself into a werewolf or a vampire. Your picture then became part of the gallery for all to see. No, I did not try it, or at least that’s what I claim 🙂 . It actually looked a lot like a very big version of an iPhone app, except that you could not shake it to start over. You could also watch movie trailers and download an app to your cell via Bluetooth.
The company behind it was a Brazilian “digital interaction agency”, Ginga. I know the explanation above is as clear as mud, so here’s their own video showing how it works:
How effective is this new media outlet? Hard to tell. But they used a 1.0 version of their displays for the first movie of the series, back in December 2008, and Ginga claims the following:
This solution was integrated with the whole digital campaign: website, banners, and a strong community created for the fans in Brazil.
RESULTS
Over 4.5 million people reached by the subway campaign over a month.
One of the top 10 box-offices in 2008 in Brazil.
Over 180,000 content downloads via Bluetooth.
Not too shabby, eh? Here’s the video of their first version (which, by the way, looks much more impressive than the second one):
P.S.: If you see me blogging next time about Hannah Montana, it’s a sign that the end of the world is coming.
The bamboo raft 
Cool! I sent it to my daughter right away! 🙂
Seriously, I wonder why we don’t see more vending machines like this in Canada? There are lots of places (e.g. TTC) where they wold be really successful.
Agreed! Toronto has the extra advantage in the cold months, as many people stay in the PATH or other underground/indoor pathways. I bet they could even make money out of it, as opposed to just using it as an ancillary marketing device.
Interesting. If Toronto is anything like London, the underground advertising space is *very* restricted and exclusive. I watched an episode of Dragon’s Den once where they had a start up that sold disposable umbrellas… they weren’t interested in the umbrellas at all. What they were interested in was that they had an exlusive licence and got to put in strategically placed “vending machines”….. the twist? they made more money from interactive advertising than umbrellas.
Anyway….
Seems gimmicky. If this automatically interacted with your iPhone/BB or Android on passing…. then it would be cooler. I think that companies are still waiting to see what the imposition line is when it comes to advertising….
Juanny, good points. Culture, geography, laws, and, above it all, unknowns, all play a major role in how this kind of marketing innovation is accepted by the public. Being successful in Brazil does not mean it will work in Canada, or in London. Beats me why soccer is such a marketing failure in the US, despite all the diversity there. But I do think that the high level concept is good and it may need to be tweaked to work in different places.
This rocks! But I hope there is hand sanitizer next to the machine. I don’t want to get H1N1.
Won Jun: LOL! I haven’t thought about that aspect of it. I guess that’s one reason why the Twilight Machine would not work in other countries 🙂 .