One of our favourite campaigns in the last couple of years was Visit Sun Valley’s internet driven, remote controlled lake pebble skimmer. We loved how it transported people from their desks to the holiday location, ‘phygitally’ connecting the user to the destination almost enough to touch.
Now, in a similar effort to immerse users into a remote environment, drinks brand San Pelllegrino has set about deploying four ‘robots’ in Sicily, the home of the fruits used in their drinks. By liking San Pellegrino’s Facebook page, users queued to drive a robot for 3 minutes, giving them full video and audio interaction with locals (translation included). If that was all too personal, users could opt to control a Skybot with views across the island and Mediterranean. The campaign is a slightly weird but fun adaptation, and well worth a watch.
Each robot has a guide with it to help ‘drive local engagement’. And while campaigns that allow us to take control of things remotely aren’t particularly rare, we can’t help but feel there’s something unique about having a very real and physical impact on something thousands of miles away, right before your eyes.
