After the success of last year’s treasure hunt, Volvo is at it again with a new online hunt coinciding with the third Pirates of the Caribbean film ‘At World’s End’
which is due to hit US cinemas on May 25th. Details have yet to be
revealed, but the automaker has set up a blog, calling for all to keep
their eyes peeled for the upcoming campaign and to create a bit of
pre-release buzz. The blog so far contains a short teaser video and a
brief introduction written in full-on pirate talk to get visitors fired
up for the next hunt.

Last summer’s effort promoting the Dead Man’s Chest
was a huge success, pulling in over 52,000 active participants in the
US alone. Players were led on an extravagant online treasure hunt,
ending with seven lucky finalists unearthing their very own Volvo XC90 in sunny Barbados.

Online
games and hunts seem to be the ‘in thing’ at the moment. The
interactive and engaging qualities rarely fail to pull in the punters,
especially when prize incentives are involved and offer the opportunity
for brands to interact with consumers in a far more sustained and
meaningful way than via an intrusive TV commercial. Recent examples of
games-as- marketing include Microsoft Vista’s collaboration with 42 Entertainment Resources where an online scavenger hunt was set up with the winner booking a ticket into outer space!

It’s campaigns like these that signify the changing face of
advertising, where niche, micro-targeted ideas use word of mouth and
inquisitive bloggers to piggyback the message into the mainstream.

Volvo’s first clue has already been posted up on Disney’s ‘At World’s End’ homepage with more soon to follow. So quick! Don your pirate hat and eye patch. Get hunting!

Savvy?

Check out these links:

• http://thehunt07.spaces.live.com/
• http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/pirates/atworldsend/site
• http://www.volvocars.us/thehuntsignup.com