Tim Kring and Nokia push boundaries of mobile entertainment with Conspiracy For Good

Heroes creator Tim Kring and the Ovi by Nokia-powered new social benefit entertainment pilot, Conspiracy For Good(TM) (CFG, http://www.conspiracyforgood.com/), concluded successfully this past weekend with more than half a million downloads of CFG casual games and apps from Nokia’s Ovi Store, over 4,000 dedicated members joining the global movement online, enthusiastic attendance at the four live events in London, and huge support recorded from partner charities.

“The Conspiracy For Good has been two years in the making with Nokia,” said Tim Kring, 2010 International Digital Emmy® Pioneer Award winner for transmedia storytelling. “We had a team of more than 130 experts working behind the scenes in five countries across three continents making sure that this was the best entertainment experience possible and to ensure the charity causes were the true heroes of this immersive story.”

Partnerships with charities for CFG were uniquely interwoven into the narrative, taking actual roles within the story and creating a new way to reach potential supporters of their respective causes. The new approach created unprecedented interaction with the CFG communities and will result in 50 scholarships being provided for young women in Africa as well as the establishment of five children’s libraries in Zambia in association with Room to Read. These libraries will be stocked with more than 10,000 donated books in association with the Pearson Foundation. These highlights join many other worthy causes that were supported by the CFG movement.

The first of its kind, this project used the extensive reach of Nokia’s Ovi platform with online and physical participants joining CFG from more than 165 countries and enjoying a variety of Ovi content, apps and services.

“This is the most comprehensive Ovi offering to date integrating almost every service to help advance the story,” said Tero Ojanpera, executive vice president, Nokia. “A specially developed app using Nokia’s Point & Find, called Conspiracy For Good: DeadDrop, created a new dimension for augmented reality and opens the door for content owners anywhere to use participatory entertainment powered by Ovi to extend their brands.”

CFG is at the forefront of a new transmedia entertainment movement in which the storyline played itself out across multiple platforms. Participants became part of the story and found tools and clues to move the narrative forward both in the online and real worlds by using music, apps, mobile games, alternate reality gaming (ARG), live events, and interactive theatre that was produced in association with International Digital Emmy® award-winning production company, The company P.

The Conspiracy For Good pilot titled “Read the Signs” focused on literacy as the social cause. The fictional narrative followed the actions of a schoolteacher, Nadirah X, CFG spokesperson Ann Marie Calhoun, and the underground resistance movement, Spira. The movement, which dates to the 2nd century, recruited members of the public to help Nadirah X and Ann Marie in their task to bring down evil corporation Blackwell Briggs before it could install an oil pipeline and destroy a Zambian school and library. Online and real-world game play also raised awareness and generated donations for partner charities including Kids Company, Doctors of the World, READ International, Room to Read and the Pearson Foundation who partnered with Nokia to provide resources to schoolgirls in Chataika village in Zambia.

CFG participants, fans, charities and doers of good deeds around the globe are invited to stay tuned for clues about the next episode.

Source: Nokia Press Release