The Lost Experience was a multi media marketing alternate reality game developed by Channel 4 to support Season Two of LOST. The marketing campaign was designed to unite LOST fans from around the world in an alternative reality game developed as a spin-off from the TV programme. Working closely with the writers behind LOST, the Lost Experience revealed the ‘back-story’ of the Hanso Foundation, the shadowy organisation behind the fictitious Dharma Initiative which sits at the heart of the TV series. A detailed combination of TV adverts, fake websites, call-centres, blogs, chocolate bars, video and flash mobs were co-ordinated to enable users to follow the story of Rachel Blake, an ex-employee of the Hanso Foundation trying to uncover the truth behind the company’s sinister activities. In the UK alone over 30,000 unique users regularly interacted with the alternate reality game.
Principal In-Game Websites Due to the nature of the game, clues and hacks were released over the 6 months the game ran. While the websites below will give you an idea of the breadth of the experience, it is very difficult to re-create the excitement that came out of the constant reveal of new details, the launch of new sites, fragments of the story, etc. Please refer to the video above for a (very brief) overview of the experience...
The Lost Experience highlights the fine line between marketing and content in a hugely ambitious way, adding a sense of realism to a fictional show. It was about breaking the rules and doing something groundbreaking and new, finding ever more creative ways of storytelling and rewarding the most loyal fans. Ultimately it was about the wisdom of crowds, a truly global network of fans coming together to unfold a story, to tell it to others and to become an integral part of the story itself. The writers of LOST are amongst the best storytellers around today – this harnesses their skills in a fluid and non-traditional way, allowing a more collaborative reveal of plot and characters and harnessing the speculative nature of the show. Launched in May 2006 there were five key stages to the Experience:
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