Imagine
introducing a new family cleaning product to the
supermarkets - Where do marketing planners start
when it comes to launching a product already in distribution
in the United States and Europe, but not in South
America? Some of the biggest supermarkets in the
world (when it comes to actual floor space) are located
in the 3-million-plus city of Bogota, Colombia, and
the battle for shelf space and brand identity is
fiercely fought.
Using
the high-tech tool of performance animation, TORO
Agency (D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles) President Christian
Toro and VIP Eventos Producer
Juan Pablo Neira took on the challenge, and
succeeded with a smash hit, that took over the city
in a week-long media blitz like none other.
After two
months of careful planning and numerous creative sessions, the team came up with the following strategy of content
and appearances by the character Cybrina, now cast
as "Mariela Futur," the housewife of the
future and spokesperson for Proctor & Gamble's
new liquid detergent, Ariel.
First, the
actress who would play Mariela was chosen - Alexandra
Montoya, a radio personality and humorous impersonator
known by many in the city. She was flown to
the Live Animation studios to be trained and to record
some video for pre-produced commercials that would
start running for a couple of weeks on Bogotan TV,
prior to the opening night.
At the opening
night, a product launch party was staged by VIP Eventos,
featuring Mariela, along with Proctor & Gamble
dignitaries and Bogota spokesmodel Paula Turbay, a
former Miss Colombia. Mariela came up on the screen
at the posh Club Nogal,
and then held a press conference from her place on
a big screen TV during a cocktail reception.
A 10-station
TV media blitz followed, where the trio of Neira, actress
Montoya and Live Animation Producer Gary Jesch moved
the Digital Puppeteer system from one station to another,
and performed real-time interviews which were recorded
for post-production and integration into the station's
news programs. These interviews were themed around
Mariela's appearance in Bogota at the stores to introduce
Ariel. While moving from one station to another across
the city was physically exhausting, the Digital Puppeteer
system never failed to work correctly, allowing the
producers to complete the busy schedule at the convenience
of the station's producers. In the process, many broadcasting
professionals were exposed to the capabilities of live
animation for the very first time, and impressed.
  In
one program at RCN, the city's biggest and most popular
station, Mariela was positioned in the set by chromakey overlay
(above) with three regular actors doing their normal
weekly show. Moments before the show was due to air
live, the director recorded a quick interview with
Mariela that culminated in her giving one of the personalities
a "cyber kiss," complete with eyes closed.
From his control at the Digital Puppeteer, Jesch and
Montoya worked in perfect sync to bring Mariela to
life on the final program and secure a place in the
hearts of Bogotan TV watchers who would find them in
local stores for the next three days.
Three days
of in-store appearances were planned for the end of
the week, putting Mariela in giant supermarkets on
payday, where she would interact with families in the
grocery store aisles, telling them about the merits
of the detergent, and getting them to try it at home.
Proctor & Gamble also supported the store appearances
by putting its product on sale, starting a small price
war with the competitors. But Mariela won that battle,
too, and thousands of Colombians got their first-ever
experience in talking with the Live Animation cyber
human.
 Mariela
works with a Proctor & Gamble assistant in
the stores. Here she says, in her demo, "Take
the cap off the bottle, and smell it. Doesn't that
smell nice? And see, the cap is used to measure
out exact amounts of the liquid detergent needed
for each wash. Doesn't that seem to be a great
thing for your own family's laundry?"
The
customer responds by putting the bottle of soap
into their shopping cart, while the little kids
cheered Mariela and wanted to stay and talk to
her. Each store appearance lasted about two to
three hours.
The
small "spy" camera on top of the box
prop lets Jesch and Montoya see and hear each of
the customers interacting with Mariela, from the
hidden control booth.
The final
element of the campaign brought the Digital Puppeteer
team to a local broadcast studio where a live info-mercial
starring Mariela would be presented during prime-time
TV. Mariela's big-screen TV was placed on the attractive
TV set, where she interacted with the program's hosts
and interviewed a famous local soccer player about
his laundry habits, live, in real-time, in front of
a TV audience. The show pulled an 8.9 rating against "The
Shining," about three points higher than expected
by the marketing planners at the agency. 
At the wrap-up
meeting comprised of Proctor & Gamble managers,
TORO agency managers, VIP Eventos JP Neira and Live
Animation's Gary Jesch, everyone agreed that the consistent,
flawless functioning of the Digital Puppeteer while
moving back and forth across Bogota from event to event,
was the key to the success of the campaign.
The creative
directors also liked the way they could come up with
original ideas, using such an interactive medium as
performance animation, to get the media's attention
at one level, and the customers' attention at point-of-purchase.
Proctor & Gamble people praised all on the consistent
presentation of its brand and the uniqueness of using
Mariela as a spokesperson.
Jesch attributes
the road-case encapsulation and constant monitoring of the moving of the equipment
in and out of the locations, to the system's unfailing
performance on the Bogota tour.
"The
best thing about this job was getting to know and work with
all the people involved. They made me feel like one
of the family the entire time. I have great appreciation
for those at Proctor & Gamble, the ad agency, the
broadcast people, the actors and for Juan Pablo Neira's
production skills and Alexandra's performing skills."
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