Mirvish conjures up smartposter campaign for Wizard of Oz

Originally posted by Media in Canada

With Dorothy, Toto and the gang back on stage at Toronto’s Ed Mirvish Theatre for the latest production of The Wizard of Oz, Mirvish Productions is supporting the musical with a broad campaign that includes Grassroots Advertising’s network of NFC and QR code-enabled smartposters.

When tapped or scanned with a smartphone, the posters bring consumers to a mobile website, which features a YouTube clip, showtime information and the ability to buy tickets.

Targeting women aged 35 to 55 as well as families with kids ages eight and older, the smartposters, which are located at convenience stores across the GTA, are part of a larger campaign that includes TV spots on CTV, CBC and City, radio ads on CHFI and Boom 97.3, and traditional billboards. The media buy was handled in-house by the Mirvish Productions team, which also designed the creative in tandem with Toronto-based Cosmic Design.

John Karastamatis, director of communications, Mirvish Productions, tells MiC that Mirvish has used QR codes in the past, but says that the use of Grassroots Advertising’s network of NFC-enabled smartposters allowed Mirvish to promote the play in unusual locations that it wouldn’t have before.

He adds that advertising the play at convenience stores offered an opportunity to reach out to and engage with a broader audience at street level.

Though the production of The Wizard of Oz runs into June, the smartposters will be in market until the middle of March.