Challenge
LG wanted to promote its new IPS monitor features and inform consumers about the differences between this and regular TV monitors. The LG IPS monitor’s main selling point is that it is the most lifelike display ever seen on a television. LG teamed up with Superheroes Agency in Amsterdam to create a film that would demonstrate how lifelike the TV’s display is.
Insight
The LG IPS monitor has been carefully created by experts to ensure the images are clear and the colour changes smooth, this means that watching television or playing games can be enjoyed without any strain on the eyes. The idea behind the IPS monitor is that it offers viewers a colour impression identical to that of the original image for an advanced viewing pleasure. The insight behind the campaign was to find a way that best showed off the new technology and raised awareness about the product.
The company has used unconventional marketing videos in the past to drum up interest in its high-tech products. In January 2012, a video showing a "smart thief" (actually an actor) stealing one a LG Ultrathin OLED television was viewed more than 5 million times.
Solution
Superheroes Amsterdam came up with 'So Real It's Scary', an online film to promote the new series of LG IPS monitors, the ad coincided nicely with Halloween -- a holiday that encourages scary pranks.
LG installed a grid of its new IPS monitors in the floor of an elevator, creating an optical illusion that made it appear as though riders were about to plummet to the ground. Once a person was inside the elevator the lights flickered and the structure creaked to indicate there was a problem. Then the floor appeared to fall away tile by tile. The monitors were arranged on the floor in a three-by-three grid. The reactions of the elevator users were filmed for marketing effect when the floor appears to fall in.
The film highlights the lifelike colours and image quality of IPS technology, no matter which angle the monitor is viewed from. The central message to the video is that LG IPS monitors make images so real; it's hard to separate from reality.
Filmed on hidden cameras, the sight of seeing the poor victims hop from tile to tile or cling on to the railing as they see their lives flash before their eyes certainly got the web amused.
Results
The video went viral at an astounding rate. Millions of people all over the world have seen and shared the movie, and it has been covered on top news and technology blogs across the world.
To date the video has been viewed 12,197,647 times on YouTube.
A week after its release the video topped the viral chart. LG’s ‘So real, it’s scary’ video successfully drove high levels of consumer engagement and by posting humorous content, LG generated a higher number of views compared to their more feature-centric videos, such as LG OLED TV and LG at IFA 2012.