Cannes Contenders: McCann Melbourne
How will Australia perform at Cannes this year? In the lead up to the Festival, Campaign Brief will be showcasing the work we hope will impress the judges…
McCann Melbourne
The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is an art house film festival with a loyal but small fan base. McCann’s job was to grow the interest to a broader audience, and the agency chose to do that by enhancing core fan engagement and giving them an easy way to share all the things they love about MIFF. With over 70% of all ticket sales made online in 2014, providing fans with increased opportunity to share MIFF film content online would be the key to unlocking the potential advocacy and enhancing fan engagement. The solution was the Emotion Simulator – a custom-built movie chair, produced by AIRBAG, which saw the face of willing participants electro-stimulated to demonstrate the way movies screening at MIFF would make viewers feel. Participants had 12 electrodes placed on the various major muscles of the face, allowing the simulation of happiness, sadness, disgust, fear, anger, and surprise. In this way a two-hour film was concentrated into a minute-long experience unlike any other, creating Emotional Trailers that participants and MIFF could share on social media. The excitement around the Emotion Simulator and Emotional Trailers resulted in the highest ever sales in the Melbourne International Film Festival’s 65-year history. The Emotional Trailers drove an 800% increase in social shares and tickets to preview films sold out within two days.