Gaming
Case Study
ACTIVISION
@plantkween
PUTTING NOSTALGIA IN THE CROSSHAIRS
01
THE CHALLENGE
Activision's Call of Duty: Warzone was the most popular Battle Royale game in the world during the memorable lockdown years, 2020-21. Since then there’ve been competitive challenges that ate into market share, but also a big opportunity in the rising popularity of mobile gaming.
When it came time to release the latest iteration of the game for smaller screens, Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile, our orders were simple: drive mass awareness among gamers and send them to the app store to download it. But how? What part of Warzone did they want to relive most?
02
STRATEGIC SOLUTION
Our audience was the casual mobile gamer and Battle Royale lovers in the UK, France, and Germany. We knew that the best way to introduce Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile was by tapping into nostalgia and harnessing two specific insights.
One was that, since Warzone rose to fame during the pandemic, Gen Z and Millennials say they felt nostalgic for lockdown, where they could enjoy gaming as a source of escape, normalcy, and connection.
And the second was that the most iconic part of Call of Duty: Warzone… the Verdansk map. The sophisticated design and tactical challenge made it one of the most memorable parts for players to bond over, and a shared memory at that.
03
CREATIVE APPROACH
Our Idea: Return To Verdansk. If Verdansk was a ‘place’ that gamers sought refuge amidst the chaos of the times, then let’s make it the go-to destination for all gamers again now in 2024.
A return to a territory they were sentimental about meant we could ditch the usual gameplay showcase content.
So we asked creators known, not for gaming, but other passions like comedy to connect the Battle Royale loyalists and casual gamers and to playfully pitch Verdansk as a real-world destination or experience, eliciting nostalgia for the best of those crazy times via TikTok.
04
CREATOR EXECUTION
We recruited 21 creators (5 in the UK, 5 in France, 11 in Germany) to make gamers homesick for the experience and sense memory of Verdansk. They were given a license to thrill and find original ways to light-heartedly portray Verdansk as ‘the go-to destination’.
Creators like @samcornforth (UK) and @Heymoritz (DE) came up with wild ideas from VFX, vlog videos, rapping, and poking fun at the feelings that came up while playing in immersive, surprising journeys that made the content uniquely theirs.
We even made the most of TikTok with amplifying ad features like Gesture Ads and Pop-Out Showcases.
05
SOLUTION (RESULTS)
From 21 creators with almost 20 million combined followers, we delivered a multi-market campaign that combined the strength of ‘Battle Royale Loyalists’ and the creativity of ‘Casual Gamers’ to drive awareness and consideration for the game by playing on insights about the gamer community. It garnered over 47.1M video views, 9.5% increase in brand awareness, 10.3% increase in intent to purchase, and 586k engagements among others.
And the target? Well, they ate it up: “Every other advert on this planet needs to up their game”. “Gives me lockdown 2020 gaming with the boys chills” and ”You’ve convinced me, downloading now 💪💪💪”
