I’m taking this really cool class at UCI, called Transmedia Marketing Through Storytelling. This is the case study that I found and wrote about for the class. Here is a great youtube video that goes over the whole campaign:
Modernista! a Boston-based creative and communications agency was hired to create an alternative reality game (ARG) for the Showtime television program Dexter. The goal was to increase excitement leading up the the premiere of a new season of Dexter.
It started with mock murder scene at 2010 Comic-Con in San Diego. Then it moved online. Two characters engaged players across two main sites (sleepsuperbly.com and serialhuntress.com), as well as countless microsites, social media profiles, mobile components, and real-world locations. The outcome of the game was actually determined by player participation, and elements from the ARG appeared in the new season of DEXTER.
The primary medium was two websites that players could become members of. The platforms used consisted of fake websites, blogs, twitter accounts, ustream, audio, youtube videos, flash, foursquare, and even an ebay listing. Modernista! used any media that was appropriate to move the story along, to hide clues, to create suspense, and to entertain.
I put together a timeline to show the extent of the campaign:
Hunterprey is a blog that goes over the whole campaign. Modernista! has the case study on their website.