Special Olympics Maryland

This segment is a compilation of viral marketing campaign pieces promoting the Special Olympics Maryland’s annual MSP Polar Bear Plunge. The event raised more than $3.5 Million in one day. This bare bones production took us to the sub-artic circle to shoot 8 webisodes about four intrepid travelers who trekked to the “Polar Bear Capital of the World,” Churchill, Manitoba, to plunge into the Hudson Bay in the dead of winter. The pitch was, if they can plunge into Hudson Bay in winter anyone can do it in January in the Chesapeake Bay! We released the episodes one at a time for eight weeks leading up to the Plunge on YouTube, AOL Video, Comcast Spotlight, and on their newly redesigned www.plungemd.com web site.

Within the limited confines of the non-profit’s corporate sponsorship we only had a budget for the camera operator, field producer, and one 125 watt HMI light. All eight webisodes were shot in three days and, without the benefit of scouting the location in advance, many webisodes had to be improvised right on the spot.

The project was a huge success, with many other Special Olympic organizations looking to Take One to increase their revenues through innovative, non-traditional marketing. We are already in brainstorming discussions about what we can create for Special Olympics Maryland’s 2009 Plunge!