I Love a Luger case study
Site: www.ilovealuger.com
Business Overview:
What started as a conversation at a dinner party, resulted in an experiment in Film, Web & Social Media, that pulled in as many victims we could find — including the Canadian Olympic Luge Team. The business goal is to simply produce a compelling story and create a rich and interactive online experience. This is privately funded, and is aiming for sponsorship money to float the series for a year, leading up to the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver/Whistler.
Project Overview:
“Obsessed with a foreign luge athlete, Nikki is convinced she’ll marry at Vancouver-Whistler 2010. She will stop at nothing when it comes to love and luge – from learning about the twists and turns of an elite luger’s life, to sabotaging the Olympic Luge Teams. Check out her video blogs and games. Leave a comment – Nikki will be happy to chat with you about luge!”
A major goal of the experiment was to merge the worlds of film and web together to create something unique. This would not be retrofitted TV crammed into web pages. It is written, directed, filmed, produced and distributed on the web. We did things differently, and questioned everything, during every step.
The site is more than just the site. It’s been built inside various social media networks, including; Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, iTunes. Because we’re not totally relying on display ads, rather sponsorship or product placement, it frees us in our distribution options. Youtube doesn’t compete. Uploading videos to Facebook actually help the cause, rather than hurt the pocketbook. A different business model allows for every aspect of the site to be different. If you rely on site traffic, you think twice about publishing your full posts in your RSS feed. If your revenue is not totally tied to on-site display ads, then a better (full post in rss) user experience can be allowed to happen.
Technologies / Components:
Key aspects of the site include:
- WordPress Blog and custom Theme (yes, the whole site is a blog. Doesn’t look like a typical blog, does it?)
- Youtube channel and custom design
- Facebook Profile & Page
- Twitter account and custom design
- iTunes Podcast
- Custom Video integration into WordPress (building upon the wordTube plugin)
- Display advertising (Google adsense / Google admanager)
- Analytics (Google analytics)
- E-Commerce — an innovative way to donate to the Team.
- Custom Analytics integration to track goals and sales
- Video delivered via Amazon S3 Cloud CDN
- Flash games and interactivity
- Boat loads of fun and laughs
Verdict?
TBD. Stay tuned.
