Microsites. You gotta love 'em. Freed from the shackles of the corporate megasite, they often give creatives the opportunity to be, well, creative.
Sadly, all too often microsites are used to cram in all the stuff the client would like in their ad copy but which wouldn't fit (ah the beauty of the scroll bar). The best ones, however, extend the message and bring the brand more alive.
In the last week I've come across three that (for me anyway) do just that.
First up Honda. Of course, everything Honda's agencies touch tends to turn into gold (or at least pencils) – something to do with them being very, very good I guess. And this combination of ad and microsite are no different, building beautifully on one another.
Second, HBO and their site for HBO Voyeur. I haven't seen the programme (sadly) but the trailer is below and the microsite is here.
And finally, Microsoft's microsite for Office 2008 for the Mac which uses some nice old-school animation mashed with some lovely interactive elements – the little movies seem a bit pointless but at least they're pretty. See it here.