A number of well-known products and media have been promoted by means of an ARG (Alternate Reality Game). Some highly successful examples of these include: ‘Year Zero’ ARG for the Nine Inch Nails album of the same name, the ‘Lost Experience’ for the television series Lost, ‘The Beast’ for the film Artificial Intelligence, and ‘I love bees’ for Halo 2 to name but a few. There are numerous other examples and new ARGs are emerging frequently due to a rise in popularity.

You might be wondering what an ARG is? ARG stands for Alternate Reality Game and is an interactive narrative experience that takes place within the real world. A formal accepted definition is, however, not in existence yet.

Usually, players should initially not be sure if the experience is real or not. If they do find out that they are participating in a game, it requires a certain suspension of disbelief in order to remain immersed and engaged in the experience. They pretend that the narrative is real and happening within their own reality in order to remain immersed. An ARG often comprises of multiple media elements and contain puzzles and other game elements for ‘players’ to solve. The elements used to communicate the narrative and interact with ‘players’ include telephone, email, websites etc. The actions of participants shape and influence the outcome of the narrative. ARG creators are called the ‘Puppet Masters’ and design, run and manipulate the game and narrative. They represent the characters of the ARG and shape the player interaction and experience. Participant entry into an ARG is referred to as a ‘rabbit hole’ (a reference to Alice In Wonderland). These entry points are usually planned.

Some design principles of Alternate Reality Games include: [1]

• Storytelling as archaeology. Participants are required to find and piece together the story. Often not in order.
• Platformless narrative. The narrative is presented via various media
• Collaborative Storytelling.
• Designing for a hive mind.

ARGs can be created purely for the fun of it, or specifically designed alongside a product as a viral marketing campaign. A downside of an ARG is that it can cost a lot of money, time and resources to create. Therefore successful ARGs are usually run by large companies.

I encourage you to read up more about Alternate Reality Games, specifically the methods used in the highly successful ones. ARGs can be an excellent way to run a viral marketing campaign if you have the resources to pull it off.

References:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternate_reality_game