Happy Finish created a 360 Virtual Reality (VR) experience for Subway and their creative agency McCann to promote the new Beef Pastrami Melt sandwich.
The 360 VR video complemented their broadcast efforts to promote the brand’s latest sandwich, inspired by New York City. On top of sharing the experience on YouTube, Subway also wanted to create an immersive event that brought the essence of New York to London in a fun, engaging way.
Passers-by at London's popular Southbank were invited to taste the sandwich while taking a seat in one of two iconic yellow cabs, where they put on a Samsung Gear VR headset. This immersive experience took them stateside to New York City where they experienced being driven around the city, with all the sights and sounds, while eating their freshly prepared sandwich.
Subway's memorable experience cemented the association between NYC and their new Beef Pastrami Melt sandwich. With the creative and technical input from Happy Finish, it enabled the brand to take viewers on this 360 VR tour of New York City where they enjoyed iconic sights and strategically positioned adverts.
Bringing the essence of New York to the people of London, was important for Subway, the reactions were superb and it is another indication of what virtual reality can do for brands in this ever-crowded market where engaging with customers is becoming more and more difficult.
"McCann wanted us to take Subway’s customers to NYC and so we did. Our initial concept was to film the 360 video in one location. However, once in New York we realised that a tour around the city from a yellow cab would be a much more powerful VR experience. Our team attached 360 cameras on top of a taxi and drove around the city, filming iconic sights including Brooklyn Bridge and other city landmarks. We also used binaural audio to create a 3D stereo sound sensation that helps deliver an even more immersive experience. Back in London, we stitched the footage, edited the visual effects (VFX) and graded it to align it with the TV campaign. From start to completion, it took us four weeks to deliver this project", said Jamie Mossahebi, 360 DOP at Happy Finish.
“From the creative context to the shoot itself and the post production, this is another great VR project the team here at Happy Finish are more than pleased to put their name to”, stated Julian Anderson, Senior Interactive Producer at Happy Finish.
