CASE STUDY Need For Speed Unbound
CASE STUDY Need For Speed Unbound
The Challenge
To build new awareness for Need For Speed Unbound among gaming communities, we treated the campaign like a new release by driving excitement with new audiences and reigniting the passion in its burgeoning community.
The game had already been released with the potential to boost awareness and reach via a targeted campaign.
Market insights indicated that there may have been some initial trepidation in target audiences due to the open-world nature of the game as a reason to believe the previously winning formula was now unfamiliar.
Overview
Electronic Arts and Codemasters tasked us to support the DLC launch of this storied franchise by treating this key moment in the game’s lifecycle as a re-release of the game.
We launched a series of activations across YouTube, Twitch and TikTok to accomplish a renewed audience expectation that this is the moment to jump into the game, as if Day 1.
Our Approach
Establish a new Need for Speed community and refreshed player perspective by partnering with a diverse roster of content creators outside of the series’ core.
We focused on open-world action, party gaming, role-playing, and expressive players with a liking for in-game creativity in order to reframe Unbound beyond the traditional perceptions of its franchise and genre.
Relaunch and reposition Unbound through a connected series of creative gameplay activations that explore the playground of sandbox fun while setting expectations that this game is accessible for everyone.
Relate the game’s modern appeal and identity across multiple platforms to drive a mass-awareness narrative, and answer prospective player’s questions about the gameplay.
Paid
We used a sustained window of cross-community visibility by grouping creators to showcase the improved state of the online experience. The focus remained on Unbound’s breadth of features; highlighting the quality of player-driven in-game moments in an open sandbox environment.
Both the streamers and YouTube creators were then bolstered by a paid-ad TikTok campaign, boosting the reach of existing suitable content creators who could really bring the fun of the game to life through short form content; all the while highlighting that the new DLC features complete the game’s offering.
RESULTS
Campaign highlights include 22 pieces of dedicated content posted, 23m TikTok impressions, and over 200k engagements across all platforms.
The most successful platform of the campaign was YouTube, achieving a 12% rise in views over the goal, and 87% of the videos surpassing the engagement benchmark.
An emphasis on the social and nostalgic aspects of the brand contributed to its success as a pick-up-and-play title. TikTok's promotion saw an interaction rate of over double the expected views.
