The latest effort from Levi's Silvertab brand, LostChange is a multi-media program based around a Web site, which incorporates episodic narrative content, interactive games, a strong music element, product integration and e-commerce. The site is linked to print, retail, TV and other ad venues and combines, in new ways, the marketing efforts of different brands, including Motorola and Sony.

The project originated with Silvertab, together with Levi's agency TBWA/Chiat/Day and cYclops, an integrated production company and the project's "virtual agency." They helped assemble a multidisciplinary team that included Motorola agency Ogilvy & Mather, Sony agency Y&R, as well as Idea Bridge's Mitch Kanner, Web think-tank/developer ThinkThinkThink, UK Web company Lateral and others.

LostChange is the third installment in the Silvertab multimedia marketing effort which, since the brand was created ten years ago, has brought together many of the current participants including cYclops president Mike Jurkovac (who had previously been at Levi's former agency FCB), Chiat/Day's Chuck McBride, and Albert Watson, who directed the Web episodes. The efforts stemmed from an early conversation between McBride and Silvertab's marketing manager, the late Steve Wilke. "We talked about where is the next place for brands like this one to participate," says McBride. With the technological bent of the brand, the Web made sense and Silvertab undertook such initatives as last season's travel-focused Lost But Not Lost project.

The line "Equipment for Modern Living" was developed to engage the brand's desired demographic: a younger consumer with an eye for style and a willingness to pay a little extra for it. Further, this consumer, dubbed the "urban nomad," was found to have a predilection for gadgets and a wandering spirit.

"We have a relatively small budget for this brand so we had to think outside the box on things we could do differently," says Silvertab VP marketing, Sean Dee of LostChange. "One of the things we discovered was that our positioning could encompass other brands. So we developed a program that at its core is a film and print campaign and Web program that is essentially a co-branded initiative targeted to the same group of consumers." The Web component features filmed episodes, which focus on three exemplars of the target audience and what happens when one of them finds a yellow sack full of dough. The bag also contains a Motorola V100 two way/cell, which conveys the message "You have something of mine." Over 13 episodes, the trio embark on an adventure and spending spree in Thailand, shadowed by a mysterious figure who may be looking for the money. Silvertab clothing and Motorola and Sony product are prominently incorporated throughout the story. The site is designed after a covert agency theme and offers segments for gaming, with a series of prizes offered for game scoring and for playing along with the "Missions," based on information from the movie. Participants can obtain product information throughout the site and can purchase gear by linking to other sites including JC Penney's.

The site also has a strong music component with a score created by Will I Am from the Black Eyed Peas, who appear in the series and who are already affiliated with Silvertab.

The original score and music inspired thereby will be released as separate LostChange CD this fall. In addition, rapper/actor Fredro Starr appears in the episodes as well as in Silvertab print ads featuring Motorola products. "We wanted to create branded content, rather than an ad," says McBride. "We thought the best was to do it was to invite other brands inside it so it doesn't feel like it's being monopolized by one brand and is therfor more commercial."

cYclops worked on LostChange with Mitch Kanner, who, with his company Idea Bridge, brought together agency players like O&M chief creative officer Rick Boyko and Y&R's Jim Ferguson. Kanner worked with the project's digital agency of record, ThinkThinkThink and its founder Brian Boigone developing the Web strategy as well as content (for more on Web strategy see www.boardsmag.com). Jurkovac brought in writer Ernest Lupinacci to work on the LostChange storyline and assembled the production team including director Watson, who shot the print campaign concurrently. New York-based Rhinoceros Visual Effects and Design created opening title sequences and graphic design. The episodes were edited by Barry Alexander Brown.

"Because we were shooting a film there was a storyline for the print campaign," says Jurkovac. "And it's absolutely synergistic in that."

"For example, this month you have a print ad with Fredro Starr wearing the oversize product Silvertab wanted to showcase with a Motorola pager in his hand. That image is in the stores and has LostChange.com on it, so Levi's is using their marketing might to drive people to the Web site." Other participants are also incorporated into the ad campaign, like Atomfilms.com, which is included on print ads and in turn features LostChange on its Web site.

Dee says the project represented a new approach in all realms, including budget. "We're experimenting a bit and learning about a new potential model. It's not about getting the budget first; first, identify the partners that make sense for you and for the consumer that add value to the consumer instead of gratuitously just trying to get in front of their eyeballs. The investment from other brands is in some instances monetary and in other instances, it's what I consider a barter arrangement around product, promotion, inclusion in their programs, etc. So, what I'd say this provides you is, unlike a traditional commercial, an opportunity to extend your brand message into a myriad of new consumer outlets."

The entire project represents a new approach to a group of consumers, says Boyko. "It's coming at the audience in a different way," he says. "It's not necessarily seen as advertising, it's much more of an entertainment factor. The brands that are in there fit; they are not forced, they are comfortable in the stories."

McBride says the LostChange program could represent a new ad/content M.O. "I think we're getting started in terms of going somewhere that could potentially be very different and dynamic. A lot more is going into it because of all the different inputs." He adds: "I continue to have more conversations about what's beyond commercials. I've had more of those conversations in the last three months than I had in the last six months, and before that I didn't really have that conversation. So it's all going forward and I think creative people especially have to get more used to this kind of environment."

Webfiles:

Lost Change> http://www.lostchange.com