Immersive treasure hunts as marketing campaigns

"A 27-year-old Lisbon photographer realized that, strung together, the boldface letters spelled 'i am trying to believe.' He posted a photo of his T-shirt on the Spiral, the Nine Inch Nails fan forum. People started typing 'iamtryingtobelieve.com' into their Web browsers. That led them to a site denouncing something called Parepin, a drug apparently introduced into the US water supply."

So begins a trip way down the rabbit hole to promote Nine Inch Nails' latest album Year Zero. The trip included USB drives in club bathrooms, fake websites, spectral analysis, and pay phones. The die-hards who made it to the end were rewarded with a private NIN concert.

These "alternate reality games" (ARGs) are amazing ways to have fun with the most hardcore fans and really take advantage of multiple media in an interated way. And for some audiences, there's no such thing as too hard. As ARG developer Jordan Weisman says, "Not only do they have every skill on the planet, they have unlimited resources, unlimited time, and unlimited money. Not only can they solve anything, they can solve anything instantly."
Wired | 12.20.07