The film industry has finally caught on that there is more to promoting their content properties than launching a branded widget or throwing up a MySpace community. If you want to create a real fan, involve them in storyline and blur the line between the story and their reality.
This is exactly what Hollywood has begun doing. Lets start with the site for the film 2012. A faux group called the Institute for Human Continuity is focused on ensuring the existence of human life after Earth is decimated by a series of events foretold by the Mayans. The Institute has several possible disaster scenarios outlined and links to survival guidebooks -- including one detailing how to survive a tsunami.
Visitors to the Institute can sign up for the IHC Lottery, which offers people across the globe an equal chance at living through the year 2012. I love this approach because it is what Hollywood does best. Ahhh!!!! (sign of relief) The message and the medium sharing an idea and space in a viewer's life.
Visit the site at http://www.instituteforhumancontinuity.org
