Dodge’s Journey search campaign and contest has rekindled my long love for treasure hunts. I’ve participated in many over the years: armchair, online and physical. It has all the right elements: clues to solve, an opportunity to explore, a sense of adventure and a treasure to be found. It hasn’t been perfect but there’s a lot to like.

The tagline “Search Engine for the Real World” and phrase they coined “exploring the World Wide World” were, in my opinion, brilliant.

The general or introductory commercial (below) was used to launch the campaign, create awareness, generate interest, and direct individuals to Dodge’s YouTube page for more.

The commercial itself, was a compilation of sequences, clues to locations, direction and route for each regional Journey search. Therein lied the primary problem. You could identify locations, direction, and route, up to a point within 20 miles (maximum), of the final location. And this creates an understandable conflict between armchair (“at home”) and physical (“on location”) participants.

On the day of the search, additional (radius) clues are launched, that for the most part, follow an already known route and direction. Only the 5-mile radius clue for the West search, contributed essential information on the path and proximity to find the Journey.

With that said, consider the following revisions for a future campaign and contest:

1) Launch an introductory commercial that leads to locations as a starting point only

• Rather than give a way most of the (physical search) route and general location of the final destination (within 20 miles or less), before the search even begins, compile sequences, that identify locations, direction and route, to one or more starting points in a region for the physical search.
• Use optional registration (with screen names) at the campaign site, e.g. Dodge’s YouTube page, to let participants identify locations, build the route, and record the final start point.
• The campaign site should include a leader board and forum for structured and moderated discussion. This encourages maximum participation from all types: “at home” and “on location” treasure hunters.
• Option: within one region search, there could be conflicting routes, multiple “starting points” (within 25-35 miles of each other) to spread the field out on the day of the search.

The physical search should continue to be held on the weekend and during the end of summer break for maximum participation. This treasure hunt should be as much an adventure, a mini-vacation, an opportunity to explore and create memories, as it is an opportunity to find a prize. After all, there can only be one winner.

2) Launch the larger (radius) clue, several days before the physical search begins

• Several days before individuals begin to arrive at the starting location(s), launch the larger radius clue (200-300 mile), that reuses video segments from the introductory commercial, but for the specific regional search, adding clarity for some clues, most of which will be used to confirm predictions.
• Add one or more new clues to the larger radius clue, to either further extend the route (by up to 20 miles or so) and/or confirm one of the starting locations.
• This will create an immediate need and opportunity to re-engage, a race to solve, as the physical hunt quickly approaches.
• The interactive Google map-based method of recording solutions can still be used but should be tied to the leader board, again encouraging “at home” participation as well as “on location” participation.

3) Physical search go live

• When the (physical) search goes live, launch the next (radius) clue, again, giving all participants an opportunity to solve as well as creating a race to solve. For at home participants, the immediate reward is position on the leader board, i.e. who solved it first, second and so on.
• Option: During registration, or at any time by updating their profile, let individuals identify themselves as an “at home” participant or (representing) “on location” participant. Tied to the leader board, everyone could monitor, “on location” participant progress.
• Option: Rather than immediately unlocking the next clue, consider unlocking after a percentage of participants have correctly solved the prior clue. That way, a majority of participants, start at the same time to solve the next clue. This also creates an opportunity to control the pace of the search. The required percentage could even be progressive as the radius is gradually narrowed.
• Each video clue will lead the “on location” participants to new locations, along an extended route, ultimately towards the final destination.

4) Final (radius) search clue

• The final (radius) video clue, ranging 5-25 miles, would transition the “on location” search to a physical hunt governed by instinct and luck.
• After solving the final clue, “at home” participants could drop a pin on their prediction for the precise location of the Dodge Journey.

5) At home participation prize

• To provide an incentive for increased  “at home” participation, use either the final position on the leader board or closest to the actual location of the Dodge Journey, to award a participant up to $5,000.

Cheers!

From the two introductory commercials, there are a number of clues to help shape the route and ultimate destination.

1. Golden Gate Bridge (view from south)

In the video, the Dodge Journey is traveling north.

2. Hangtown Motel, Placerville, CA

In the video, the Dodge Journey is traveling east on Highway 50 (the motel is on the south side of the highway).

Notes: A quick search in google reveals the location of the Hangtown Motel and google street view can be used to determine location relative to the highway.

3. Kyburz Garage & Mini-Mart, Kyburz, CA

In the video, the Dodge Journey is traveling east on Highway 50 (the min-mart is on the south side of the highway), approaching Eldorado National Forest, and possible Lake Tahoe.

Notes: This was a particularly challenging location to identify. The general terrain and landscape suggests a mountainous area, especially with the chains off sign. As a long time east coast and beach resident, I resorted to google, only to find a number of references to the Tahoe area. A number of google image and map searches for general stores and convenience stores, switching to street view for visual examination, produce no joy. The breakthrough occurred while studying a higher resolution of the screen capture. Below the Open sign, the phrase “Mini-Mart” can be  made out. Turning to google maps in the general Tahoe area, the location was pinpointed.

With the release of the 300-mile clue video on YouTube, more clues are added:

4. Angelo’s Wine Country Deli, Sonoma, CA

In the video, the Dodge Journey is traveling north on Highway 121 (the deli is on the right).

Notes: A quick search in google reveals the location of the deli and google street view can be used to determine location relative to the highway.

5. Vineyard, Sonoma or Napa Valley region, CA

Notes: there really isn’t much to go on other than the obvious. Vineyards are scattered throughout the region with hills and mountains as a backdrop. A number of locations along potential connecting routes were examined (google maps: street view and satellite)

6. Map – Placerville, CA and Highway 50

Notes: This video sequence presents the obvious given that Hangtown Motel is located in Placerville (shown on the map) and we already know that they will travel east, passing Kyburz, heading into Eldorado National Forest.

7. Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe, CA

In the video, the Dodge Journey is traveling south on Highway 89, along Lake Tahoe.

Notes: For those familiar with the Tahoe area, this was probably easily identifiable. As I was not and assuming that it was the Tahoe area, google maps, satellite view, then street view, was used to pinpoint the location.

This confirmed the general destination of the Dodge Journey (West) route, albeit a bit of a ruse. If you have reviewed the subsequent video clues and final location of the Dodge Journey, they apparently traveled north along Highway 89 (perhaps, for the view), then headed back south.

Also, here’s a close up of the GPS shot:

Notes: Check out the elevation: 6703 ft.

Google Map of possible Dodge Journey (West) route through 300-mile video clue.

Recently, Dodge launched an innovative marketing campaign for the Journey, “the Search Engine for the Real World.” Quite simply, they have or will hide three Dodge Journeys in the United States (one in each of three regions: West, Midwest and East).

Initially, they introduced two general videos, one, found on their YouTube channel:

And another variation, found in Adweek:

From these two videos alone, you can determine solid segments of their route for each region.

Clues in videos launched the day of hunt, will help you narrow a search radius (300-mile, 75-mile, 50-mile, 25-mile, and 5-mile).

They do need to tweak some of the campaign dialog (below) but the tag line “the Search Engine for the Real World” is brilliant.

People don’t make a list of websites they want to see before they die.

They don’t fill photo albums with pictures from an online search.

Like being there is not like being there.

It’s okay, the internet will be just fine without you.

That’s why we built the first search engine for the real world, the Dodge Journey.

And then, we left three, somewhere out here.

If you can find one, you can have one.

You won’t find any of them online but it might help you figure out where they might be.

Obviously, use of the internet has been essential in identifying the route, and location within 20-miles, from the introductory commercial alone.

For more information, including How to Play, visit their YouTube channel.