As the broadcast sponsor of X Factor New Zealand, Ford and its agency JWT wanted to do something that would bring the various strands of music, aspiration and gratuitous car shots together. And, after filming wannabe stars and their various hangers on singing Che Fu’s ‘Fade Away’ in the back of a pimped out 2013 Kuga on the 27-stop audition tour, it’s released the final product.
Sponsorship isn’t just about logos on hoardings any more. It’s all about ‘activation’ and ‘integration’. And, with the X Factor hitting TV3’s screens this year, broadcast sponsor Ford and its agency JWT have already got in on the act with The Passengers, a campaign that aims to find “traffic light tunesters and side-street singers” to feature on a remix of Che Fu’s ‘Fade Away’. Plus: Last two X Factor judges named.
The myth of the stereotypical gamer as a young, male, energy-drink swilling, junk food-eating light-avoider is (mostly) just that, a myth. An Interactive New Zealand 2010 report found the average video game player was 33, 44 percent were female and 85.5 percent of households had a device to play games on. And the advent of more accessible tech like Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii has continued to bring new demographics into the fray. So, in addition to the global launch campaign for Sony’s new handheld PlayStation device Vita, the local Sony Computer Entertainment office and Satellite Media have released five YouTube webisodes featuring Ben “some dude from TV” Boyce and a few guest stars showing off the new gadget to a bunch of old folks in a resthome.