I recently ran into this article introducing the newest creative partnership with hip-hop mogul Jay-Z and Bing maps and decided to check out the ingenious campaign myself. Developed by Droga5 New York, this multiplatform campaign sets fan across the nation on a virtual scavenger hunt through major cities in the US in order to find pages from Jay-Z’s upcoming memoir Decoded. The site integrates Facebook Connect to access your data and build you a user profile. Clues are featured in locations where the actual content of the pages took place and published on a wide variety of places - outdoor, bus stops, pools, etc. Although the hunt takes place in the “real world,” fans can play along using the Bing Maps interface to search through the city streets to find the clues.
As a huge Jay-Z fan, this idea came across brilliant to me and completely brand congruent with what the Jay-Z brand stands for and who he is. He’s an innovator, a music mogul and a genius in his own right. Not only does it push the limits of traditional marketing, it integrates new technology to bring a never-before-seen completely user-generated site that takes the whole idea of virtual maps to a new level. The start of the game is somewhat cumbersome; as you have to download Microsoft® Silverlight along with Bing 3D and it can run slow depending on your connection. Overall though, once you start, you can dive right into the clues and finding a page of the book. It did take me awhile to figure out what to do after you crack the first two clues, but after that it’s completely user-friendly. I found the aerial view to be easier than the street view and the actual questions to be somewhat tricky (depending on your knowledge of his lyrics). The nice feature is having the Bing search engine right on every page for you to search through.
Try it out for yourself and give us your comments!
