Studio Exploration: Avenue A/Razor Fish

Avenue A/Razor Fish is a marketing firm that specializes in creating interactive consumer experiences for its clients. Avenue A/Razor Fish works to create a way for companies to reach their customer base in all aspects of the digital world they life in today. They were founded in 1995 and are headquartered in Seattle; although, they have over 2000 employees and offices around the world in Australia, China, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom. They are a well known firm whose clients include Audi, Mercedes AMG and Honda F1 in the automotive sector alone. They have won numerous awards ranging from the work they have done on advertising campaigns to the work environment itself at Avenue A/Razor Fish.

Two of my favorite examples of their work are the work they did for Mercedes AMG and the work they did for Audi. Both are highly interactive and allow the user to experience the brand in a whole new way.

Audio Global Drives

For Audi, Avenue A/Razor Fish created the Audi Global Drives site. Global Drives was a campaign by Audi where users could submit different routes from around the world to drive. Users could then vote on these routes and 5 winners were given a chance to drive their route in a new Audi A4. Along for the drive was a camera team so that “the world could ride shotgun” What really fascinated me about the work they did was how interactive it was and how subversively the Audi brand was marketed. Though there were logos and advertisements for Audi the site never gave you a feeling of pushing the product but as a place to share driving fantasies that could come true thanks to Audi.

Mercedes AMG

For Mercedes AMG, Avenue A/Razor Fish created an interactive gallery/display room/brand awareness center on the internet. What they did on the internet reminded me very much of how BMW built the BMW motor world and the BMW Museum in Munich. You are capable of creating your own Mercedes from scratch, adding all the different features you want to your personalized AMG. Not only does the site include current news and information but it also acts as a sort of Museum for the brand, detailing its history.