2022 Winners & Shortlists

BATTLE OF THE GAMERS

BrandBMW
Product/ServiceBMW
EntrantZENITH Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategorySports: Film, Series & Audio
Idea Creation ZENITH Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Production GAMERS HUB, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Why is this work relevant for Entertainment?

When the world went on lockdown, simultaneously, simultaneously sparked as consumers of broad demographics sought out a joyous environment to pass time. In turn, this created a greater void for our brand to as we leveraged the lockdowns to unleash joy through passion activities while also encouraging people to stay at home which propelled our entry into the scene. The overall experience entertained core gamers with live-streamed tournaments, in addition to branded podcasts, and localized pieces of film covering prominent figures in the scene in collaboration with a leading publisher in the Middle East.

Background

BMW’s communication is highly dependent on global activity, and our goal is to find a way to resonate local audiences in different ways, including channel diversity. We wanted to take it one step further by creating a new pillar of communication through an exponentially growing scene, Esports. The global pandemic began to plague, changing the way people envisioned life, and impacting industries at scale. The main goal was to position the brand that has no affinity within the local MENA Esports community in the most genuine way possible, while achieving the following objectives to address the bottom line. • Drive mass participation to build an Esports CRM of 17,500 participants. • Become a leader in automotive Esports market share with a target KPI of 60%. • Maximize engagement rate & viewership across of 10% & 20 Million respectively. • Gather 6,000 participants who are in-market to buy a car.

Describe the creative idea

The overarching idea was for BMW Middle East to own digital gaming ecosystem over several seasons, each execution being a full-fledged eSports extravaganza. Considering the audience was a potential segment and living in a time of receptivity, it was the perfect time to create a platform by focusing on the 3 main desires of audiences within the gaming environment including an outlet to compete, a space to showcase the stories behind influential figures in the scene, and a platform to discuss the latest news. To prove our deep commitment, we envisioned a part of the activation to include a podcast led by influential figures in the scene to discuss the biggest topics in Esports in a long-form conversation. We also found an opportunity to bring to the stage the background of diverse influencers through a series of brand integrated short films covering their history & growth in the scene.

Describe the strategy

The strategy to achieve this goal consisted of a full-funnel approach, which all began with an immersive tournament through a live experience, in addition to supporting content including the podcasts & short films produced. The goal was to execute and capitalize on the growth of podcasting to provide gamers a space to listen to recognizable figures across the region discuss the latest hot topics & debate their thoughts to the wider audiences. The series of short films contributed to the overall strategy by building brand equity through genuine means, taking into consideration the stereotypes surrounding gamers, and showcasing to audiences the hard work & dedication it took to get where they are. These content pieces represented our commitment to the scene and allowed our brand to be top-of-mind for future consideration, and ultimately impacting the bottom-line of the business.

Describe the execution

#JoyOfCompeting consisted of two seasons, spanning over six months of consistent live streams, influencer activity, LVL Up Academy, GLHF podcast, content creation & more. The GLHF (Good Luck Have Fun) Podcast was a series of three episodes, a first in the region by any automobile company, where hosts & guests dived into more serious topics concerning eSports & where the industry is headed. The panel included a variety of experts including therapists, doctors, gamers, journalists, and org owners which made the conversation thrive.

Describe the outcome

The GLHF podcast was amplified across the major channels such as Facebook & YouTube. Between all three episodes of the GLHF podcast, we reached over 505K individuals, served 670K impressions, and drove over 16K engagements throughout the series. These activities supported the core tournament which drove 20,485 participants, which is a 17% increase compared to our KPI. We achieved our goal of becoming the dominant automotive Esports player, with an SOV of 63% post our activation, 5% greater than our KPI. We achieved an engagement rate of 13% & over 23 Million Views, far surpassing our KPIs by 30% & 15% respectively. Over the course of two seasons, we gather over 8,700 individuals who are interested in buying a car, surpassing our KPI by 45%.

Credits

Name Company Role
Sajid Ismail Publicis Media Strategy and creative idea
Hussein Alawyieh Publicis Media Case film + creatives
Jad Ismail Publicis Media strategy and execution
Mohamad Hachem Zenith media
Reem Fetyan Publicis Media Partnership manager
Rita Kteiche Zenith Account executive
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