Success Story Roll the dice Leading advertising and creative agencies use Adobe® tools to create an immersive interactive branding experience Well known for its successful got milk?® television commercials, the California Milk Processor Board (CMPB) is always looking for new and creative ways to extol the virtues of milk. GET THE GLASS, an integrated advertising campaign focusing on the milk-deprived Adachi family, is the latest installment in the got milk?® chronicle. The CMPB wanted an advertising campaign that would deepen consumers’ relationship with the CMPB brand. Naturally, it turned to Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, the agency responsible for the got milk?® advertising campaigns. Goodby recommended a campaign that included traditional broadcast advertising and an interactive branding experience. “The interactive branding experience builds on the story and entertainment value of the commercials and gets consumers to spend more time with the CMPB brand,” says Paul Charney, senior copywriter for Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. North Kingdom built a physical 3D model of the GetTheGlass.com game board, filmed the virtual world using a special HD camera, and completed all post production in Adobe After Effects. The finished interactive experience is a mix of the physical model enhanced with 3D and motion graphics. “Efficiently managing download time is a critical part of the process for our Adobe Flash developers. Adobe Flash Professional enabled us to compress the huge 3D video files and put the load time up front, so when people are playing GetTheGlass.com it is very fluid and they don’t have to wait for sections to load.” David Eriksson, creative director, North Kingdom Goodby worked with the creative digital agency North Kingdom to create GetTheGlass.com, a sophisticated online experience that mimics a traditional board game. The agencies used Adobe Flash® Professional, Photoshop®, Illustrator®, and After Effects® software to develop the award-winning website. This one-of-a-kind, interactive branding experience garnered over one million visits within the first six weeks of its launch. The broadcast advertising continues to drive traffic to the site, where consumers spend an average of 10 minutes helping the Adachis GET THE GLASS. “Including an interactive branding experience as an integral part of its advertising campaign has positively impacted the California Milk Processor Board’s got milk?® brand,” says Charney. “It has broadened the reach of this California brand to one that is recognized around the world.” Tradition with a twist As part of the GET THE GLASS advertising campaign, Goodby developed the concept of an interactive branding experience that leverages people’s familiarity with traditional board games where players roll the dice, answer questions, and move game pieces. “There is a vocabulary for board games that everyone knows,” says Charney. “We wanted to capture the traditional board game feel, while simultaneously integrating contemporary elements.” Goodby wanted to create a unique experience that combined familiar board game conventions with a 3D movie-like feel. Goodby designers used Adobe Photoshop to convey the immersive design and game logic to the developers at North Kingdom. Using the composites as a guide, North Kingdom brought the experience to life. The final product includes five distinct areas that feature different challenges for players to master. The goal is to help the Adachi family navigate all five regions, break into Fort Fridge, and get the glass of milk. The site also includes five sub-games within the overall interactive experience. Players use their mouse or keyboard to tackle interactive challenges and help the Adachis overcome physical handicaps caused by their lack of milk. Master Mind trivia-based challenges that appear on playing cards also test players with milk-related questions they must answer to advance. Goodby had a lot of fun creating interactive challenges for the Adachi family that directly relate to their milk deprivation. “Adobe Flash Professional helped us create a visually immersive and truly engaging interactive 3D experience,” comments Charney. GetTheGlass.com combines familiar board game conventions with a 3D movie-like feel. North Kingdom used the flexible Flash development environment to efficiently manage download time, making the game smooth and easy to play. Companies Goodby, Silverstein & Partners San Francisco, California www.gspsf.com North Kingdom Skellefteå, Sweden www.northkingdom.com Building a virtual 3D environment To create something that looks realistic but exists in a digital world, North Kingdom first built a virtual 3D model of the game in 3ds Max and Autodesk Combustion and then built a physical 3D model of the game board. “The model was huge—three meters by two meters—but it was the key element in creating the detailed and unique user experience we knew we were after,” explains David Eriksson, creative director for North Kingdom. Once the model was built, North Kingdom filmed the virtual world using a special HD camera. All post production was done in Adobe After Effects, which designers used to add layers and movement. Designers used the powerful motion controls in After Effects to produce more realistic animations. These controls included Timewarp to slow down and speed up footage, Motion Tracker to precisely match the motion of source footage, and Motion Stabilizer to give hand-held video shots the look of a locked-off shot. The finished interactive experience is a mix of the physical model enhanced with 3D and motion graphics. The perspective of the video makes players feel like they are really in the Adachi world, fighting to get the last glass of milk, and enables them to experience the different textures and environments. Artistic details bring it all together Adobe products were used throughout the design and creation of GetTheGlass.com. Goodby used Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop to create all of the game cards and North Kingdom used After Effects to make the cards fly on and off the screen when players land on different spaces. Goodby designers also built the CMPB logo featured in the game in Illustrator. “Using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, our amazing designers created all of the textual design elements, making everything look really in sync and beautiful,” remarks Charney. To give the game cards a nostalgic feel to match the design, Goodby started with bits and pieces of old typography from magazines, game boards, and other sources. After scanning the artwork into Illustrator, the designer used Live Trace to quickly and efficiently create rough vector outlines, which he then modified, redrew, and adjusted until he achieved a unique look and feel. The vector foundations for the cards were then handed off to another designer, who applied distressed paper textures and shading in Photoshop to bring the graphics to life. Creating a smooth, seamless experience For North Kingdom, Flash Professional was the enabling development tool. Designers used the Image API in Flash to create and add texture to the dice to give them a realistic look California Milk Processor Board San Clemente, California www.gotmilk.com www.GetTheGlass.com Challenges •Extend brand awareness and positive brand perception •More deeply engage consumers online •Efficiently manage game download time •Make players feel like they’re part of the game Solution •Design initial game board comps in Adobe Photoshop •Create all textual design elements in Adobe Illustrator •Use Adobe After Effects to add layers and movement •Bring the game to life using Adobe Flash Professional Benefits •Attracted global audience, with over one million visits in the first six weeks •Created immersive and fun experience, with players spending an average of 10 minutes on the site •Positively impacted and broadened perception of CMPB brand •Pushed the limits of creative design and development Toolkit •Adobe Flash Professional •Adobe Photoshop •Adobe Illustrator •Adobe After Effects Goodby, Silverstein & Partners used Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop to create the game cards and North Kingdom used After Effects to make the cards fly on and off the screen. Adobe Flash Professional makes it possible to transport players to “jail” on Milkatraz Island, where they must serve their sentence, post bail, or attempt escape. “Interactive has become a proven model for extending the reach of brands and consumers’ relationships to those brands.” Paul Charney, senior copywriter, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners and feel and to manipulate the 32-bit images at runtime using ActionScript. North Kingdom also used the flexible Flash development environment to sort through the challenges of making the game smooth and easy to play. The FLVPlayback component in Flash enabled North Kingdom to play progressively downloaded FLV files over HTTP. Developers applied Prebuilt ActionScript code snippets called Behaviors to objects in Flash, enabling them to save an inordinate amount of time. They could load multiple videos into a single FLVPlayback component, change which video is currently displaying, start and stop the currently playing video, and seek to cue points and times and synchronize the video with animation, text, and graphics. The FLVPlayback component also helped North Kingdom maintain a reasonably sized .swf file for easy download. Adobe Systems Incorporated 345 Park Avenue San Jose, CA 95110-2704 USA www.adobe.com After the first region of the game preloads, players begin viewing the introduction and start rolling the dice and moving forward while the other regions are still loading in the background. “Efficiently managing download time is a critical part of the process for our Adobe Flash developers,” states Eriksson. “Adobe Flash Professional enabled us to compress the huge 3D video files and put the load time up front, so when people are playing GetTheGlass.com it is very fluid and they don’t have to wait for sections to load.” Everyone is a winner The CMPB loves the way the different elements of the integrated GET THE GLASS advertising campaign help extend awareness of the benefits of drinking milk and play off one another while connecting people to the CMPB brand. For Goodby and North Kingdom, the interactive GetTheGlass.com branding experience represents a new frontier in advertising campaign design and production. Goodby now plans to regularly propose interactive components as part of clients’ advertising campaigns. “Interactive has become a proven model for extending the reach of brands and consumers’ relationships to those brands,” says Charney. Adobe, the Adobe logo, After Effects, Flash, Illustrator, and Photoshop are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. © 2008 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. 95010349 01/08 A