While Volkswagen of America has, as of December, switched lanes after 10 years with Arnold Worldwide, Boston - moving to Crispin, Porter + Bogusky, Miami - the Arnold-devised 120 Feature Films web blitz that began in the fall not only represents what's being called the largest use of online spots for a single branded entertainment initiative, but also illustrates the new roads agencies are taking to create a buzz-worthy campaign.

Arnold CD Dave Weist says that once the concept of doing a :15 spot for each of the Passat's 120 "not-so-standard" features was hatched, a multitude of production companies were approached for contributions. "We wanted each feature film to have its own style," he explains. "We really wanted it to be like you'd go from one world to the next with each movie."

Diversity came from Brand New School and Anonymous Content's V3 in LA, Interspectacular and Tomato repped by New York's Curious Pictures, Lifelong Friendship Society in London, bicoastal Brickyard VFX and Lobo in Brazil, who each pitched two to three ideas on scores of Passat features. Each team would proceed from a minimal brief: "We couldn't show the car and we couldn't show the feature itself," says Interspectacular co-founder/CD Luis Blanco. "Everything had to be done as a metaphor."

"They surprised me [with] how open they were to ideas," says V3 director Shyam Madiraju, who used a dejected foot at a counseling session to depict cruise control.

The amount of online buzz around the films has resulted in between 15 and 20 of them being formatted for broadcast. Considering that the spots were relatively inexpensive to make (around $2,000 per film says Weist), spreading them across various mediums certainly gives the client much bang for the buck.

Arnold Worldwide>www.arnoldworldwide.com
VW 120 Feature Films>vw.com/passat