Frozen Indigo Angel
Frozen Indigo Angel
Frozen Indigo Angel was the 大象传媒's first live Alternate Reality Game. The game began when its star, , posted a video blog claiming that a series of words, 'Frozen Indigo Angel', had appeared in a vodcast he made for Radio 1. When he began asking questions about who put them there and why, he was fired. In his blog he appealed to people to help him uncover what was going on at Radio 1.
Thousands of people followed the campaign through his video weblog, also through YouTube, DailyMotion, FaceBook, MySpace, Twitter, GoogleGroups and email. Paul's followers alerted Paul when they spotted new incidents of the words appearing in an attempt to get to the bottom of it all. In the build up to Radio 1's Big Weekend the words appeared hidden within Scott Mills, Jo Whiley and Edith Bowman's Radio 1 shows, on podcasts, vodcasts, written in DAB text, on the Radio 1 WAP site, hidden in tracklistings and on interactive TV.
The plot
Between them, Paul and his followers we able to uncover a plot that revolved around a subliminal messaging device, designed to influence Radio 1 listeners. 'Frozen Indigo Angel' was the phrase used to trigger those subliminal messages and via hidden transmitters at Radio 1's Big Weekend thousands of people were going to be subjected to it.
At the festival
For uncovering the plot a number of players were rewarded with tickets for Big Weekend where they could watch some great bands and help Paul locate the transmitters. Those unlucky not to win tickets could still keep in touch and assist Paul via SMS and Twitter from the comfort of their armchair whilst watching videos online, streaming on red button and listening on FM and digital. At the festival, players were presented with a series of challenges, and with Paul leading the hunt, were able to locate and destroy the transmitters.
Why?
Frozen Indigo Angel was about bringing Radio 1 to the new communities rather than expecting them to come to us. Weblogs, Flickr, Twitter, mobile phones, MSN, FaceBook, YouTube and Myspace - this is where young people spend their time now and this is where most of the game was played.
Overall, the game touched hundreds of thousands of people. Emails were sent to nearly half a million people. The game's websites attracted over 150,000 views and Paul's videos were watched over 40,000 times. That's not to mention the thousands of views for videos created by the players themselves. Forum posts about the game attracted almost 100,000 views and 35,000 people were immersed in the whole experience at the Big Weekend itself.
Useful links
- Paul's personal blog - Spotted on TV - Sandwiched between Beyonce and Shakira on Radio 1 - Most viewed topic ever working together to solve a puzzle - Player film of rendezvous - Discussion whilst watching winners collect tickets from an agent via a Liverpool street webcam - Blogger describes the pick up - Event Summary - Player blogs his Big Weekend Experience
- More in Alternate Reality Games