“Source Code,” the new Jake Gyllenhaal movie, debuts this Friday at the SXSW Film Festival with a unique marketing twist: an interactive game based on Microsoft Tag.
The movie’s promotional campaign includes a Tag on all marketing and advertising materials worldwide, including posters, banners, magazine ads, and TV spots. When scanned with a smartphone, the Tag launches an interactive mobile game called Source Code Mission. Based on the movie’s plot, the game asks you to help Captain Colter Stevens (Gyllenhaal) find the bomber of a commuter train. You gather clues by completing five tasks and reporting your findings.
“This interactive game will be the centerpiece of Summit's web campaign for the movie, and is designed to replicate the film's unique concept for consumers to experience,” says Jack Pan,executive vice president at Summit Entertainment, the studio behind the movie.
The game also has a social-media aspect: Players become part of an online community and get a profile page on the game site, plus they’re added to an animated photo mosaic based on the movie's poster. As an added bonus, those who finish the game will be entered in a contest to win a trip to the 2012 SXSW festival.
According to Mashable’s report, Summit wanted to create “a true value proposition for anyone who scanned the code,” instead of just having the Tag point to a movie website. CNET, TechCrunch, and WebProNews also interviewed Gyllenhaal, co-star Michelle Monaghan, and director Duncan Jones about the movie's unique marketing concept.
What a cool concept – almost like being a movie extra! What do you think? Will you play the game? Let us know in the comments below or on Tag’s Facebook or Twitter pages.