ABC and Lexus Team Up for Special VR Mini-Episode of Terror Drama Quantico

ABC and sponsor Lexus are hyping the midseason return of Quantico with the network's first virtual reality experience, which takes viewers inside a specially scripted mini-episode of the terrorism drama. Quantico's writers helped agency Team One create the 3:30 video, watchable by anyone on YouTube 360 and via the Littlestar Cinema VR app for users of Samsung smartphones and Samsung VR gear headsets. The YouTube 360 perspective mimics the head-swivel of better-equipped VR viewers: You navigate the screen with your cursor, or click the arrows to turn the camera angle, as you help two series characters find and capture a bad guy (or rather, an FBI agent playing one). In the clip, Johanna Braddy and Graham Rogers play FBI trainees Shelby Wyatt and Caleb Haas, who trade the kinds of quips you'd expect from a promo for a broadcast thriller built around young law enforcement recruits in the age of global terror. (The dude agent is irrepressibly horny. The lady agent is horrified she ever dated him.) You, the newbie, get to wander into a club and look for aforementioned "bad guy." Once Shelby gets him outside, there's another twist. How does it all end? The good guys win, naturally. The piece prominently features a Lexus LX 570 SUV. ABC and the automaker also promise two easter eggs with additional content for those dedicated enough to find them. And while ABC bills this as the only VR experience the network has scripted thus far, the gimmick is not Lexus's first foray into VR marketing. Other auto marketers have been playing with ways to use the technology as well. But it's a nifty enough idea and execution, especially once the scene actually moves inside the bar, where there's more to see. A behind-the-scenes video includes fun technical tidbits about the production—that it had to be done in one take, and that the camera was helmet mounted—once you get past the pap about how great it is to have the viewer "on the scene" with the actors. (Alas, the viewer is still far removed, sitting at home or maybe alone in the office, engaging in a slightly different form of make-believe.) Beyond the novelty, it's not a bad way to blend the respective interests of both ABC and Lexus. "It's a much deeper level of engagement for a sponsor while still remaining organic and true to the storyline," says Jeffrey Weinstock, vp and creative director for integrated marketing at ABC. Brian Bolain, corporate marketing communications and product marketing manager at Lexus, adds: "This project allowed us to seamlessly integrate Lexus into Quantico's storyline so fans could explore the new LX virtually while enjoying the show's 360-degree bonus footage." As for how it compares to other similar tech-driven experimentation, at least as a desktop experience, it falls short of simpler split-or-toggle-screen ideas, like Converse's Valentines ad and Honda's "The Other Side." Worse, for anyone afraid of heights or public speaking, it's probably not the best use of a Samsung VR headset—even if it is more fun. CREDITS Agency: Team One Executive Creative Director: Alastair Green Group Creative Director: Jason Stinsmuehlen Associate Creative Director: Jon King Creative Technologist: Mike Rozycki Account Director: Joel Dons Account Supervisor: Trina Sethi Associate Media Director: Elaine Evangelista Media Supervisor: Noopur Chhabra Public Relations Account Supervisor: Kat Kirsch Senior Producer: Chad Bauer Social Media Account Director – Meredith Gruen Social Media Account Supervisor – Robin Watkins Media Partner: ABC VP & Creative Director: Jeffrey Weinstock Director, Integrated Marketing: Chris Powers ECD, Entertainment Marketing: Charlie Bowyer Senior Manager, Integrated Marketing: Meg Smith Digital Account Executive: Tara Smith Production Company: Unit 9 Director: Jonathan Pearson Executive Producer: Luca De Laurentiis UK Production Manger: Kane Phillips VR Lead Tech: David Crone VR Tech Assistant: Chris Belcher Post Production Supervisor: Zlaten Del Castillo Production Company: Wee Beastie Executive Producer: Monica Hinden Executive Producer: Josh Shurtleff Line Producer: Monica Monique Production Manager: Vlad Doclin

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ABC and Lexus Team Up for Special VR Mini-Episode of Terror Drama Quantico

Team One integrates the car into 360-degree bonus content

Gabriel Beltrone

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Gabriel Beltrone