There is virtually no global Branded Entertainment in any category because regulatory restrictions, product availability/name variation, cultural sensitivities and, trickiest of all, language differences. So this global initiative is all the more remarkable because it’s available in 9 languages with a combined global reach of 2.75bn people, almost half the world’s population. It uses English as its principal language because currently this has the widest universal appeal.

To make the Branded Entertainment even more engaging and “sticky” it was decided also to make this film interactive. Once again language barriers posed almost insurmountable obstacles so the choices within the interactivity had to be non-verbal. Where previously brands like Mercedes had offered viewers very basic left/right, yes/no choices, this film aspired to a great deal more. Taking video games as inspiration we wanted to create the perception of an almost infinite number of choices. As soon as a viewer had finished watching the film we wanted them to feel they could watch it again and get an entirely different movie.

While entertainment is at the very heart of the film, at the same time it has to be informative, highlighting the features of the Subaru Foresters in an unobtrusive way.

There was a global over-arching strategy and then each country developed their own “guerrilla” strategies with a distinctly local flavour.

The main film was seeded throughout the world with a launch film for motor shows which was adapted for use in dealerships around the world. QR codes linked to the site and language-specific trailers played YouTube and special interest motoring sites around the globe.

A staggered roll out around the world means that the film has only been released for a few weeks. Initial reaction has been superb across the board and around the globe. A unique Dashboard was tailor-made for the project so that the Client could monitor a number of different parameters in real time. Official numbers are confidential but we can confirm the following figures:

• Overall User Engagement (how many people click on all the interactive options) is over 80%.

• Average time spent on the film proves people are playing it more than once.

• More than 28 countries have viewed the film including many where the film was not in their own language.

Client response has been excellent with quantifiable, qualitative, real-time feedback across a range of parameters around the globe. Here, we can demonstrate that consumers are seeking out this entertainment, watching it more than once in their own time and interacting with the brand for 18 times longer than a 30 second commercial.

Target audience response has been phenomenal. With 98,304 available permutations of the film, it would be technically possible to play the film for 1.68 years continuously without ever seeing the same version twice.