Chivas18 looks to crowdsourcing to reignite HK’s movie making spirit
The Hong Kong film industry has been one of the more mature and vibrant industries in the region. However, over the last few years other markets in the region have taken the place of out of the box movie making. Premium Scotch whisky brand Chivas18, through its latest initiative The Scene, looks to be a catalyst in reinvigorating the movie making spirit of Hong Kong.
Conceptualised and executed by Geometry Global, the recently merged entity of G2, OgilvyAction and JWTAction, ‘The Scene’ is an advertising platform for Chivas18.
The Scene engaged Hong Kong filmmakers at grassroots level by inviting them to participate in a crowdsourced film called ‘Dream City’, led by a local, award-winning director. Harnessing the power of PR and social media, the invitation was spread far and wide, generating thousands of applications for the project and 36 million unique impressions.
As per company officials, The Scene reached 10 million people and increased Chivas’ fan base by 50 per cent.
Video blogs and behind the scenes footage of the film’s production were shared online daily, which spurred public interest in the project by a further 11 per cent. During this time, sales of Chivas18 in Hong Kong rose significantly.
“The Hong Kong film industry used to be world famous – it had a cult following and led Asia’s film industry by a mile. It has since taken a backseat to China in terms of both the quality and quantity of films produced. But we set out to be the catalyst for change. With Dream City, we combined the experience of veteran filmmakers with the ambition of young talent, reigniting Hong Kong’s interest in the movie industry,” said Harshad Sreedharan, Managing Director at Geometry Global Hong Kong.
Hong Kong audiences spent 19,060 hours watching the content online, according to Mr Sreedharan.
