Can anyone tell me what this is all about? Nokia has launched the site www.openatownrisk.com, a flash based site that is counting down to something special. The site makes strange references to a secret that has been kept for years and only the likes of Da Vinci and Edison knew what it was. Mmmkaye.
A question to QuicklyBored readers: What do you think it is? A new handset or service? Is Nokia about to unleash some evil demon spirit that’s been dormant for millions of years? I must know!
I blogged about this too (www.speakmediablog.bom). I think the big problem is that the timing fell over the 4th of July holiday in the states so people who might normally pass it around were on the beach instead of online.
Jennifer
Hey Jennifer,
I checked out the link. Great post! I didn’t see the “cease and desist” letter until I read it on your blog.
Here is the permalink for QB readers:
http://www.speakmediablog.com/2008/07/nokias-viral-campaign-confuses.html
It’s true that the timing was terrible. But viral marketing is one of those things where you’ll keep saying to yourself “maybe they meant it to be that way.”
We are in the know.
Yes, the timing was horrible…..because the US is the only country in the world.
Chris — my goodness nobody is saying that. However, the fact that millions of people were not online during the 101 hour count down clearly impacted the campaign.
As I said in my post, timing was merely ONE of the reasons it didn’t work. Other issues were that people didn’t read the fine print of the cease and desist letter to see that it was a joke. They saw the letter and assumed the campaign was over.
Another is that Nokia didn’t plant the seeds of this campaign at all. They put the site up and assumed people would come to it. They should have given it a little push on social sites and blogs.
Take a look at my post and then let me know what you think.
Jennifer
Hey guys, just wanted to let you know that I’ve updated the story. I know it’s really late but at least the video is there for all to see.
http://www.quicklybored.com/2008/08/update-nokia-secret-video-revealed/