THE FINALISTS 2010 YOUR TEAM • YOUR GAMES • YOUR AWARDS AWARD CRITERIA: Effective communication of product or brand messages • Creativity and execution • Influence on sales performance • Impact versus budget available • Media strategy
PR & MARKETING GAME CAMPAIGN
MODERN WARFARE 2 (ACTIVISION)
ASSASSIN’S CREED II (UBISOFT)
The results speak for themselves, as Modern Warfare 2 sold three million units in its first eight weeks, and was bought by an incredible five per cent of British households in its first week alone. The campaign itself covered all bases – anticipation, quality, rumours, controversy and ultimately achieved the biggest entertainment launch of all time. The launch programme culminated in the first ever Leicester Square premiere for a video game, attended by the Black Eyed Peas, Goldie, Jessie Metcalfe and Dizzee Rascal. The UK team achieved the highest global attach rates for MW2 on both Xbox 360 and PS3 platforms and even managed to deliver £250,000 to the War Child charity.
A killer announcement strategy marked the start of Ubisoft’s campaign for ACII. The firm identified a ‘transmitter’ audience and targeted these early adopters via PR and online teasers. Specialist and mainstream media followed, generating five covers in the gaming press. ACII was then officially unveiled at Sony’s press conference during E3 and Ubisoft supported the press coverage with heavyweight advertising spots on TV (during The Gadget Show and The Da Vinci Code) and online (The Sun and Gamespot). As the release date approached, Ubi stepped up the promotions, securing exclusive reviews in OPM and OXM, whilst rolling out its biggest TV campaign to date.
WWW.MCVUK.COM
THE SIMS 3 (EA) EA encouraged an early awareness campaign for The Sims 3 via PR and community days, giving hands-on experience to Sims fans and delivering one of EA’s highest ever pre-order numbers. A digital media and TV teaser campaign then reached some 4.3 million 16 to 24-year-olds, whilst partnering with Play.com saw EA roll out the first UK airing of The Sims TV commercial. The heavyweight TV campaign reached 9.3 million 16 to 24-year-olds, with EA supporting this strategy with high visibility online takeovers across gaming and mainstream media, outdoor posters, radio promotion on XFM and Galaxy Networks, a countdown clock on Metro and PR activity with Pixie Lott. And the results speak for themselves: the game beat expectations by 20 per cent and exceeded The Sims 2 sell-through by over 20,000 units.
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