Zeno Group Malaysia and FOX launch the riding dead for 7 season premiere of The Walking Dead
Malaysians recently had the opportunity to experience a VR ride in conjunction with the season premiere of globally popular horror TV series, The Walking Dead Season 7.
Organised by leading entertainment channel FOX and working in partnership with Samsung and Grab Car, the campaign was themed The Riding Dead and passengers riding to their destinations in a special Grab Car were placed at the front and center of a walker* breakout via a 360 virtual reality (VR) video shot in the streets of Klang Valley, simulating scenes from The Walking Dead.
Penny Tan, Marketing Director for Fox Sports Sdn Bhd (‘Fox’), said that the campaign was specially conceptualized to create hype and excitement particularly amongst The Walking Dead fans. “The VR video was shot entirely in Malaysia using 360 video technology. This was the first such campaign for us in Malaysia and we believe that this helped to engage and heighten anticipation amongst The Walking Dead fans
to tune in to the series’ Season 7 debut which was on 24 October. In fact, during the video shooting, some of the casts who are fans of the series themselves mentioned that their dream have come true to be a part of The Walking Dead!” said Tan.
The campaign is the brainchild of Zeno Group Malaysia and commissioned by FOX. In bringing The Riding Dead to life, Zeno partnered with production house We Are Kix to shoot the video and technology app designer, Cake Experiential to translate it into a 360 virtual-reality experience. This life-like video transports passengers to experience life in The Walking Dead – as they try to escape and stay alive.
Suffian Rahman, Creative Director, Zeno Group Malaysia said of the campaign: “It is not often that you get an opportunity to execute such an exciting campaign – especially as a first project for a new client, but that is exactly what happened. High-five to our brave client for trusting us and our partners We Are Kix and Cake Experiential to deliver an immersive in-car VR experience for such a beloved horror franchise, a huge first for all of us involved, and hopefully, a taste of better things to come.”
David Lian, Managing Director at Zeno Group Malaysia, said that the agency was ecstatic to partner with FOX, Fox is an internationally recognised brand and we look forward to working with the network again to develop ideas that are not only unique, but also effective and contributes to the company’s overall objectives. The Riding Dead is a shining example of just what we hope to achieve – out of the box thinking combined with a solid and end-to-end communications plan.”
Prior to the campaign launch, a passengers’ reaction video was produced and shared on YouTube. The video has since gone viral and to date, has achieved more than 1 million views, shared 15,000 times and garnered almost 4,000 comments. Passengers and fans were also invited to hashtag their experience at #TheRidingDead, #TWDonFox and #TheWalkingDead. The campaign was also replicated across Indonesia and Philippines.
Those who missed catching The Riding Dead Grab Car can check out the actual 360 VR video which has also achieved more than 1 million views and 26,000 reactions to date!
*Walkers: Zombies, mostly referred to in-universe as walkers, roamers, lurkers, biters and infected, are an antagonistic force that serve as the primary catalyst for the events within The Walking Dead universe.