The Nikolai Organisation (The N.O.) is an

experiential marketing Engagement marketing, sometimes called "experiential marketing", "event marketing", "on-ground marketing", "live marketing", "participation marketing", "Loyalty Marketing", or "special events", is a marketing strategy that directly engages consumer ...

campaign and alternate reality gaming platform created by Hadleigh Averill (The Agent-C) in partnership with Running With Scissors.Hadleigh Averill talking about himself
/ref> Activated in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 2007 for

vodka Vodka ( pl, wódka , russian: водка , sv, vodka ) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impuritie ...

brand

Smirnoff Smirnoff (; ) is a brand of vodka owned and produced by the British company Diageo. The Smirnoff brand began with a vodka distillery founded in Moscow by Pyotr Arsenievich Smirnov (1831–1898). It is distributed in 130 countries. Smirnoff produ ...

the underground campaign presents itself as headed by the mysterious "Nikolai", a Russian man that no one has either seen or met. Nikolai, determined to rally sub cultures for the purpose of effecting positive change, invites participants to sign up as Agents and embark on real world missions around the country. The experiential framework for missions was intended to create the feeling of subversion and disruption. Accordingly, The N.O. facilitated a space for members to effect positive change in an manner that felt subversive but was in fact completely legal. In the process, each Agent developed an alter ego they played out in the real world and with this, a double life occurred. Some Agents were known to each other only by their Agent name without ever knowing each other's civilian names - despite having attended missions and social events with each other. Positive change manifested in a variety of forms. Personalised missions helped individuals achieve their wishes and desires. Over the 3-year period a personal dialogue was maintained by Nikolai and his Agents. In this way the campaign grew with the wishes and desires of its members. Positive social change included planting 24,000 trees on an island in only a few hours, to bringing hot dinners to the sick and homeless to holding underground poker tournaments in car park basements (where all winnings went to charities). The N.O. started in 2007 and reached 15,000 agents by May 2009, although due to a change to

privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...

requirements, all agents had to rejoin in November 2009. Since November 2009, another 3,000 agents signed up, with almost 50% actively partaking in missions or recruiting other members. Agents prepare and film their own missions, as well as taking part in missions organised by The N.O. Since November 2009 agents have uploaded missions that they have executed themselves, in line with the

briefs Briefs (or a brief) are a type of short, form-fitting Undergarment, underwear and swimsuit, swimwear, as opposed to styles where material extends down the thighs. Briefs have various different styles, usually with a waistband attached to fabric ...

given which range from

publicity stunt In marketing, a publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized, or set up by amateurs. Such events are frequently utilize ...

s to

good deeds ''Good Deeds'' is a 2012 American romantic drama film written, co-produced, directed by and starring Tyler Perry with the rest of the cast consisting of Thandiwe Newton, Brian White, Rebecca Romijn, Jamie Kennedy, Phylicia Rashad, and Gabrielle ...

. Agents are known for often wearing white

boiler suit A boilersuit (or boiler suit), also known as coveralls, is a loose fitting garment covering the whole body except for the head, hands and feet. Terminology The term ''boilersuit'' is most common in the UK, where the 1989 edition of the ''Oxfo ...

s and drawing a lot of attention to themselves. The N.O. has a social aspect through Pop-up Bars and Safe Houses where agents meet for various

social events Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...

Missions

"Missions" executed by the NO include: * Mission Samoa - 9 Agents went to

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

to help clean up after the

2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami The 2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami took place on 29 September 2009 in the southern Pacific Ocean adjacent to the Kermadec-Tonga subduction zone. The submarine earthquake occurred in an extensional environment and had a moment magnitude of 8.1 ...

. * Planting 22,400 native trees on

Motuihe Island Motuihe Island (official name: Motuihe Island / Te Motu-a-Ihenga) lies between Motutapu and Waiheke islands in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand, near Auckland. The island measures , of which around are remnants of coastal forest. The island is a ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand.Voxy Online News
story entitled 'Secret Agents' Storm New Eco-Record And Plant A 22,400-tree Forest In A Day On Motuihe Island *

Pass the parcel Pass the parcel is a classic British party game in which a parcel is passed from one person to another. In preparation for the game, a prize (or " gift") is wrapped in a large number of layers of wrapping paper or reusable fabric bags of differen ...

- where Agents played a game of

pass the parcel Pass the parcel is a classic British party game in which a parcel is passed from one person to another. In preparation for the game, a prize (or " gift") is wrapped in a large number of layers of wrapping paper or reusable fabric bags of differen ...

on the main street in

at an intersection, with the aim of bringing a sense of fun to those around them. *

Pillow fight A pillow fight is a common game mostly played by young children (but also by teens and adults) in which they engage in mock physical conflict, using pillows as weapons. Pillow fights often occur during children's sleepovers. Since pillows a ...

- in an alley off

Queen Street, Auckland Queen Street is the major commercial thoroughfare in the Auckland CBD, Auckland, New Zealand's main population centre. The northern end is at Queens Wharf on the Auckland waterfront, adjacent to the Britomart Transport Centre and the Downtown F ...

again with the aim of showed that you do not have to be a child to have fun.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nikolai Organisation Promotional alternate reality games Diageo brands