Ice Pilots NWT Gets Interactive

By Etan Vlessing for StrategyOnline.ca

History Television’s Ice Pilots NWT reality series is sending viewers on an online scavenger hunt to beef up its third-season website.

The digital extension comes courtesy of design studio Switch United, social games producer Pug Pharm Productions and FanTrust.

Using Pug Pharm’s proprietary technology, Vancouver-based Switch United turned the Ice Pilots NWT website into the homepage for Air Hunt, where fans for the TV series are invited to collect hidden cargo by flying around dodging birds, bad weather and other aircraft.

The flight-related mini-game is targeted at the show’s core audience, which consists mainly of men aged 35 to 45. It allows players to collect and manage their virtual cargo and connect with other fans of the History Television show through an in-game email communication system.

Fans also have the opportunity to win weekly prizes and a grand prize trip to Yellowknife to see the stars of the show, says Brian Krenzer, associate creative director, Switch United.

Three weeks into the latest Ice Pilots NWT TV cycle, online fan engagement on Icepilots.com is up, with website page views up 17% and pages per visit up 34%,  Switch United reports.

“We’re delighted that Air Hunt is increasing online engagement, and that fans keep coming back to Icepilots.com to play between episodes,” said Gabriela Schonbach, vice president of Omni Film, and executive producer of Ice Pilots NWT.

Backed by funding from the Bell Fund and the Canadian Media Fund, Switch United developed and launched earlier interactive online extensions for Ice Pilots NWT for the first and second seasons.

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