2. Introduction
Sony Pictures Releasing Italia is the distributor of the films listed by Sony Pictures in Italy and worldwide.
SPQR Network is the agency responsible for the marketing of the films in Italy, primarily regarding digital media
and non conventional marketing.
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3. About the product
2012 was, together with “Angels & Demons” and “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” one of the most important releases
of Sony Pictures during 2009.
The film is an epic adventure about literally the end of the world, predicted by the Mayas and the mayan calendar,
that brings an end to the world and tells the heroic struggle of the survivors.
The film features impressive 3D effects never before seen on the silver screen, which put the user at the centre of
volcano eruptions, tsunamis and earthquakes.
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4. Marketing challenge
Starting to work on this campaign, we were facing the following challenges:
1. The Mayan prediction about the end of the world 2012 was practically unknown among the italian audience.
2. The astonishing 3D effects and the visual impact of the film is very difficult to explain in words or static
images.
3. As well the cast as the director was largely unknown in Italy.
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5. Marketing objectives
1. Introduce the audience to the apocalyptic narrative and mayan prediction of the year 2012.
2. Create awareness, interest and curiosity about the title.
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6. Solution
To overcome these challenges, one of our solutions* consisted of a web experience realized using augmented
reality.
The reason for which it was decided to explore the new, and in Italy still unknown, AR technology was to combine
the solutions of introducing the mayan narrative and the state-of-the-art 3D effects, at the same time as creating a
large amount of buzz and viral spin offs online.
To support the web experience we stamped and distributed promo cards featuring a strong copy and an invite to
the site to learn more about the 2012 phenomena.
As an ambient activity we constructed an “experience station” inside the centrally located shopping center
“Galleria Alberto Sordi” in Rome, where by-passers were invited by hostesses to try out the AR experience. The
experience station was an approxmately 3 m high tower, with a base of 2 by 2 meters. The video from the
computer was captured and displayed on 2 plasma screens mounted on the top of the construction.
* This was only one of several activities we proposed and delivered during the launch of 2012.
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7. Result
The result was extremely satisfying, and the film went straight to the first place in the box office listings totaling
€5.104.000 the premiere weekend.
In the days of the premier the web experience site had more than xxxxx visitors interacting with the AR and thus
with the narrative of the film.
The ambient activity, starting 5 days before the premiere and ending 2 days after, attracted a high level of
participation and interest, and was appreciated by young as well as old.
The buzz surrounding the AR experience was immediate and massive, both on social networks and on YouTube,
and most of Italy’s marketing newspapers published articles about the initiative.
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