American Gamester: Jay-Z's 'Decoded' Gets Gamified

Play Now -->

DATE : Mon, 07 Feb 2011 19:23:34 -0800
Entered in Database : 2011-02-08 03:23:34
length : 25712310
Link to the Show / Show Notes

Complete Premium video at: http://fora.tv/conference/gamification_summit_2011

Demetri Detsaridis, the executive producer at Area/Code, demonstrates how Jay-Z's memoir Decoded launched using a unique social game that attracted public interest and incentive. Engaging the curiosity of customers, pre-released pages of the memoir were printed on various surfaces and hidden around the world – from food wrappers to the silk lining of a Gucci jacket.

-----

Rapper Jay-Z's recently-released memoir, Decoded turns reading back into a game for adults with a new campaign sponsored by Bing and headed by New York ad agency Droga5. Not relying just on traditional marketing, pages from the book are printed in secret locations.

This epic scavenger hunt takes place as much online as it does in the real world. For its part, Bing launched interactive 3D maps that allows users to search the streets of New York, L.A., New Orleans, Miami, London (all cities mentioned in the book) and more, letting users look for clues. The grand notion is to have players find, "decode" and assemble the book together online.

Interactive design experts Area/Code designed the gamified elements of this monumental project. In this in-depth case study of how they went about gamifying a book online and in real-life, Area/Code GM and Executive Producer Demetri Detsaridis discusses this historical marketing campaign. - The Gamification Summit

Demetri Detsaridis is the General Manager and Executive Producer at Area/Code. Founded in 2005, Area/Code is a cross-media game design and development studio whose credits include landmark Facebook game Parking Wars, iPhone hit Drop7, current release CSI: Crime City, and consulting for clients like Nike, Nokia, Foursquare, Team Detroit and J. Walter Thompson.

Before joining Area/Code, Demetri was the Co-Founder and Creative Director of Massively Mobile, a London-based mobile games studio, and prior to that, a game designer at mobile gaming giant Gameloft. Demetri was also a member of the original development team of Warner Bros.' superhero MMORPG DC Universe Online and a longtime game designer and producer at award-winning casual gaming pioneer Pop and Co.