Bing | SunMatrix Ramble

In a market dominated by Google, Bing wants to feel like a modern choice, and a younger audience is the fastest route to relevance. So it partners with JAY-Z for the launch of his book Decoded.

A book launch that shows up in the real world first

Instead of revealing the book in one place, pages are unveiled in locations referenced on those pages: a Gucci jacket, a restaurant, a hotel pool, a pool table, a car, a bus stop, and a subway. The stunt turns reading into a hunt, and turns “promotion” into something you can physically stumble into.

How the decode game works

Bing ties the physical reveals to an integrated game where fans assemble the book digitally using Bing Search and Bing Maps. Clues to page locations are released daily across Facebook, Twitter, and radio, pushing fans back into search behavior and map-based navigation as part of the entertainment.

In consumer search platforms, discovery mechanics that bridge real-world locations and digital navigation can turn a launch into participation.

Why it lands with a younger audience

The mechanics reward curiosity, speed, collaboration, and social proof. Finding a page is a story you can post. Decoding a clue is a micro-win. Watching the book come together feels like progress you helped create, not content that was simply handed to you. That works because each clue forces a Search and Maps action, so the product becomes the route to the reward.

Extractable takeaway: If you want a younger audience to adopt a utility product, tie progress to repeatable micro-wins that are easy to share.

The business intent hiding in plain sight

For Bing, the goal is not only buzz around Decoded. It is repeated usage of Search and Maps in a context where using the tools feels like play, not a utility task. The partnership borrows cultural gravity from JAY-Z, then converts it into product interaction.

The real question is whether your launch can force repeat product actions, not just cultural attention.

This is stronger than a celebrity endorsement, because it makes Search and Maps the game board instead of the backdrop.

Steal the decode launch mechanics

Make the “content” unlockable. People value what they have to discover, not what they are merely shown.
Anchor digital behavior to a physical trigger. Real locations make clues feel concrete and worth chasing.
Ship a daily cadence. Drip-fed clues keep attention warm without demanding long sessions.
Design for sharing as proof-of-work. Proof-of-work here means a visible signal that you did the effort, not just consumed the content.

A few fast answers before you act

What is “Decode JAY-Z” in one line?

A scavenger-hunt book launch where pages appear in real places, and fans use Bing Search and Bing Maps to find and assemble the book digitally.

What are the key mechanics?

Location-based page reveals, daily clues distributed through social and radio, and a digital assembly experience built around search and maps.

Why does this work better than a standard launch?

It converts passive awareness into repeat actions, and each action produces a shareable win that keeps the loop going.

What is the transferable takeaway for product marketing?

If your product is a tool (search, maps, utility apps), embed it inside a game where using the tool is the fun, not the homework.

What should you measure to know it worked?

Track repeat usage of the specific features you embedded in the game (search queries, map actions, and return visits), not only reach or mentions.

Last year, to launch the all new Magnum Temptation Hazelnut ice-cream, Swedish agencies Lowe Brindfors and B-Reel created an advergame, a branded game built to promote a product, called “Magnum Pleasure Hunt Across The Internet”. In the game, players are taken across 20 well known websites as they collect Bon Bons, the special ingredient of the Magnum Temptation Hazelnut ice-cream.

Since the game did exceedingly well, Magnum and team came up with round 2, enhanced with 3D graphics. This time players were taken on a run in New York, made to fly over Paris, and surf the waves in Rio De Janeiro, using a map and street-view style interface as the playground.

What changes from round 1 to round 2

The first game is a browser-bending sprint that treats the wider internet as a set of levels. The sequel shifts the same chase mechanic into city environments, with more depth, more spectacle, and clearer “set pieces” you can remember after one play.

In global FMCG brand launches, advergames like this work when they turn “a product promise” into a simple, replayable challenge people can explain in one sentence.

The real question is whether your sequel escalates the world without changing the one rule people already learned.

Round 1: web-hopping levels and Bon Bons as the core collectible.
Round 2: city-based runs plus a stronger 3D feel for movement, obstacles, and momentum.

Why it lands: it feels like discovery, not advertising

This is not a microsite you click once and forget. It is designed as a time-and-score loop. You play again to improve your route, your timing, and your collection count, and that repeat play is where the brand association gets built. It also matches Magnum’s “pleasure seeking” positioning with a mechanic that is literally a hunt. Because the loop rewards replay with visible improvement, the hunt association gets reinforced without asking the player to read a product pitch.

Extractable takeaway: When the brand promise is an action verb, make that verb the gameplay loop, and make replay the fastest way to feel the promise again.

The smart brand logic behind the Bon Bons

Bon Bons are a neat choice because they let the product story travel inside the gameplay. You are not only collecting points. You are collecting the “ingredient” that makes the new variant feel specific, even if you never read a product description.

I think it is a great follow up to the first version. Magnum Pleasure Hunt 2 could be experienced at www.pleasurehunt2.mymagnum.com.

Sequel campaign rules worth copying

Keep the core rule the same. Sequel energy comes from familiarity, then escalation.
Upgrade the world, not the instructions. New environments create novelty without re-teaching the game.
Build signature moments. New York, Paris, and Rio act like memorable chapters, not just backgrounds.
Make it easy to share a result. If the outcome is a score or time, people instantly understand what “good” looks like.

A few fast answers before you act

What is Magnum Pleasure Hunt?

It is a branded advergame where players chase and collect Magnum Bon Bons, originally by racing across well known websites as game levels.

What is different about Magnum Pleasure Hunt 2?

The sequel moves the action into city environments, adds a more cinematic 3D feel, and turns New York, Paris, and Rio into distinct stages of the chase.

Why does the “hunt” mechanic fit the Magnum brand?

Because it translates the idea of “pleasure seeking” into a simple action loop. Keep moving, keep collecting, keep chasing the next reward.

What makes an advergame replayable enough to matter?

Clear scoring, short rounds, and visible improvement. If players can beat their own time or score, they come back.

What is one practical takeaway for marketers?

If you plan a sequel, keep the rules familiar and escalate the world. That is how you get “new” without losing the audience you already earned.