Join us Dec. 1-3 in New Orleans for the Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit
Get your hobbit on with Google’s latest Chrome Experiment.
In advance of the theatrical release of “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” on Dec. 13, Google has created a Chrome Experiment that lets Tolkien fans enter the world of Middle-Earth. The interactive Chrome Experiment called “A Journey through Middle-earth,” is an adventure game of sorts that lets users explore various locations of Middle-Earth and encounter some of its characters. Users can click on different locations to learn about the history of that place: explore the crannies of Trollshaw Forest or the valleys of Rivendell, and they can try out different survival challenges.
When it comes to movies and TV shows that involve fantasy worlds — especially those with large, incredibly enthusiastic fan-bases — there is a rich opportunity to create online experiences that provide a way to enter those fantasy worlds. For example, last April HBO created a “Join the Realm” site for “Game of Thrones” fans to create their own houses and sigils; and Harry Potter fans got a fun treat in July when Google and Warner Bros. brought Diagon Alley to Google Street View.
The interactive experience was built with the help of digital creative agency North Kingdom and in collaboration with Warner Bros, New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It’s the first Chrome Experiment to bring this kind of 3D experience to mobile. “A Journey through Middle-Earth” works in Chrome for Android mobile and tablet devices. Most of the experience works on iPhones and iPads, but not all of it. More locations will become available in the coming weeks. And, as with any online experience, just watch out for trolls.
More in Marketing
Walmart adds AI-generated audio summaries to select product pages
Walmart has added such audio summaries to product pages on its app for more than 1,000 premium beauty products.
Digiday+ Research: Advertisers diversify their use of DSPs, to Amazon’s benefit
Amazon’s DSP has seen a growth in advertisers’ use of and preference for the platform over the last year and a half, as others such as The Trade Desk and Google have lost some clout with advertisers.
How brands are trying to optimize, outsmart AI answer engines across the zero-click landscape
AI answer engines are prompting marketers to rethink strategies for brand visibility and content optimization in a rapidly evolving, zero-click search landscape.