Hancock Flying Whale

The reviews may be the mixed, but the he marketing campaign is going all out for Hancock, which opens next week. Here’s a nice combination of an ad and a advergame in one unit, from the scene in the movie when Hancock tosses the whale (the link is to the agency mock up).

Made at Skive, the unit is a good mixture of footage from the film that seemlessly segues into the game part. It’s running across the MSN network in Europe, so will be in multiple languages, but as a simple and addictive it game it does not need much explanation. You can also see the trailer in the same unit.

Banner ads have a relatively predictable click-through rate to sites, with better performance when the content can be seen in the ad. Having the game as the attraction, following up with the trailer, is a way to make the units more relevant to the user, letting them experiment there on the site instead of taking them away. For me, this is a far more effective use of the banners if you use them in a campaign then a straightforward display add that tries for awareness or click-through.