Avatar- Viral Campaign

Avatar was a film that positioned itself as an industry changing epic and gave many hope that a viral campaign reflecting would also be as incredible as the much anticipated film. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. Despite drumming up initial interest through websites like Avtr.com, Avatar’s viral campaign failed to live up to the hype created.

 

This may have been because the website was launched in September but went ‘dead’ for two months with no updates offering new light on the campaign.

However the campaign did have the potential to be successful, it offered users the chance to create their own avatar character by uploading their pictures, allowing for personalisation and interactivity. Premiering in September, Avtr.com offered a glimpse into the Resource Development Administration and presented clues about Avatar’s plot. satisfying users' needs for information and wants to be in-the-know about up-and-coming events and media. Furthermore, visitors were introduced to a transmission from Colonel Quaritch that offered great insight into his character and highlighted the tensions on the planet. This allowed them to see humankind's true intentions for the planet. The concept of this campaign was very strong, it engaged audiences with its interactive capabilities such as turning themselves into an Avatar character. Furthermore the ability to share this with others by making it a profile pictures on facebook, twitter etc widened who was exposed to the content.  The website was sponsored by Coca-Cola, and special bottles and cans of the drinks allowed users to interact with 3D features on the website using augmented reality technology when these drinks were held in front of a webcam. This allowed immersion and escape from everyday life for its users, much like the film itself due to its extensive 3D graphics. There was also a quiz for users to see if they would be qualified to join Avatar's program, satisfying their needs for fun and relieve themselves of everyday stress.


The website was different to the boat that rocked one in the sense that it was interactive, it offered more than TBTR basic insight into the film with photos and a synopsis. Instead it presented this content in an exciting way as well as exciting new features. A video screen at the top shows the technology featured in the film in great detail such as the scorpions increasing the understanding of the film. The lack of interactivity and personalisation from the TBTR website meant the experience wasn't as immersive and involving to users so they were less likely to spend time on it and be intrigued to see the film. A key feature of avtr.com is that it is available in English, French, Spanish, German and Manderin showing that it a is a film intended for global success. On the other hand TBTR is exclusively in English highlighting the large contrast in the two films.
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It's not just about being viral but interactive/ pleasurable to audiences too. Thorough detail on this needed. Make sure you identify more specific interactive features of the website. This should be compared to TBTR official website to put it in perspective.