The Brands Leaning into Gaming
Brands are often trying to find new ways to connect to younger generations. One effective way to connect with millennials and generations Z and alpha is through the world of gaming. Gaming is a connector across various demographics and cultures — and can bring families together through activities. For brands, this approach is also an opportunity to create experiential moments and personalized content in ways that are fun and exciting.
The 2023 REGGIE Awards showcase and highlight campaigns that do just this. Below are some award-winning campaigns that leveraged gaming effectively.
Sony Interactive Entertainment
To connect with parents across diverse groups and promote its games, Sony decided to create a campaign that spoke to parents in a funny way. To do so, it created a campaign focused on the successful God of War Ragnarök game, portraying its protagonist Kratos as a mentor for parents. As the ANA case study reported, "Why not frame Kratos as a father who wants to share his way of parenting with others?" Thanks in part to the humorous campaign, the game exceeded 11 million sales after three months.
Kellogg's and Minecraft
Kellogg's sought to connect parents and kids together through their shared love of gaming. The company's campaign also drew guidance from the insight that "73 percent of its shoppers' kids wished they could spend more quality time bonding with their families, but everyday distractions made it easy for families to limit simple sharing moments," according to the ANA case study.
The brand partnered with Minecraft to create a family video game experience that promoted good by offering 350 Minecoins to play a game that also helped a real community in need.
Walmart and Roblox
Walmart partnered with Roblox to connect with people between the ages of 17 and 24 through Walmart Land. According to the case study, this metaworld provided the opportunity for people to explore passions; from "learning to DJ, exploring fashion trends, meditating, or finding their new binge-worthy show on Netflix, Walmart made all their favorite things accessible — and supplied a healthy dose of rewards — all without it costing them a dime. The brand even tapped into generation Z's passion for music and gave them free front-row seats to a groundbreaking music festival, Electric Fest, featuring the hottest artists performing live on a virtual stage."
Walmart Land was promoted through influencers, exclusive merchandise, mini-games, videos, access, and accessories.
OPI and Xbox
OPI and Xbox partnered to merge two worlds: nail art and gaming. Together, the brands created an Xbox-inspired nail polish palette for spring of 2022, which was released in 33 countries. This campaign aimed to serve the entire gaming community, especially women and girls.
StateFarm
State Farm created a five-episode event called "The State Farm Gamerhood Challenge," in which diverse players built a "gaming neighborhood of eight homes in a cul-de-sac that became the focus of streaming, online, mobile, and yard games. This 50,000-square-foot 'Gamerhood' was the largest-ever physical build for a gaming environment. Showcasing a 1990s sitcom vibe, complete with its own jingle, the Gamerhood Challenge featured three gaming segments in every episode — trivia (with audience participation), popular video/mobile games, and traditional yard games," per the ANA case study.
The winners earned a trophy, along with the opportunity to give Children's Miracle Network with a $100,000 check in their name.
Check out more REGGIE awards here.
The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the contributor and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the ANA or imply endorsement from the ANA.
Joanna Fragopoulos is a director of editorial and content development at ANA.