Choose Your Own ADventure

You remember those "Choose Your Own Adventure" books? I sure do. One of my favorites involved your house being taken over by an explosion of slime. Needless to say, I saved the day. Of course, that's neither here nor there. The reason I bring this up is because the "Choose Your Own Adventure" format has made its way into advertising.

According to the good folks at Cream, by way of an article at AdAge, Italian automaker Fiat has launched a campaign where movie theater audiences watch a trailer and then text message their votes as to how the story should be resolved a few minutes later.

I love this idea for two reasons. First, because it acknowledges and appeals to this ongoing trend in media interaction. Anytime a company can get potential customers actively involved in their product, it is a good thing. Second, the campaign is being executed in movie theaters. This is perfect because it provides a captive audience which is easily monitored. Because the numbers of people who participate in the experience can be tracked, it is much easier to chart the effectiveness of the advertising.

While I haven't seen the ads yet, I'm keeping my eyes peeled. If I find them, I'll add a new post. Until then, dust off your old CYOA books and start reading. I'm going to go see if I can still defeat the slime.