Dell: Area 52

Credits & Description:

Category: Best use or integration of experiential events
Advertiser: DELL
Product/Service: ALIENWARE
Agency: MEDIACOM
Agency: BOFFSWANA
Creative Director: Gemma Newland (Mediacom)
Head Of Production: Alistair Ferrier (Mediacom)
Group Business Director: Geoff Clarke (Mediacom)
Account Manager: Dean Challis (Mediacom)
Strategy Director: Will Worsdell (Mediacom)
Digital Director: Alison Brewer (Mediacom)
Content Seeding Director: Alexa Hohenberg (Mediacom)
Production Assistant: Steven Farrer (Mediacom)
Photographer/Art Director: Shelby Craig (Mediacom)
Director/Lead Animator: Stephen Van Elst (Boffswana)
Executive Producer: Robert Stock (Boffswana)
Producer: Alex Mcneilly (Boffswana)
Animator: Simon Bronson (Boffswana)
Animator: Jonathan Poynter (Boffswana)
Animator: Drewe Clarke (Boffswana)
Animator: Damian Dunne (Boffswana)
Animator: Thomas Pullar (Boffswana)
Director Of Photography: Stuart Gosling (Boffswana)
Editor: Elahn Zetlin (Boffswana)
Sound/Music Producer: Holli Dee (Boffswana)
Media placement: Live Event - Event - 7th July 2011
Media placement: Video Content From Event - YouTube / Video Seeding - 15th July
Media placement: Out Of Home Digital - Bondi Junction Digital Spectacular - 31st August

Campaign Description
The online video landscape is highly popular in Australia with videos typically have short shelf lives, particular when the subject matter is combined with a live event.
The content needed to have a general classification while still providing enough action for the target audience who are used to graphic video games.

Effectiveness
Challenge:
To young hard-core gamers Alienware PCs are the Ferrari of the gaming world but with machines, costing over $2,000 few can afford them. We needed to widen the audience to an older, casual gamer with a higher disposable income. We had to show Alienware was for them too, for an 8% sales uplift and 10% increase in awareness.
Strategy:
We found this audience only plays for a relatively small amount of time each day but spoke of ‘escaping’ and generally losing themselves and their worries of the day. It wasn’t a social experience but an intense and indulgent individual one.
Thus, we formed our consumer insight:
Gamers are looking to be transported away from their everyday lives. They would happily pay a premium for a truly immersive experience.
Our strategic idea born from this was ‘Let Alienware Transport You’.
We created a filmed live experience that would be attended by few but shared with many. An event so special, so advanced so demonstrative of Alienware’s ability to transport you that it would earn media and inform our owned and bought.

Idea:
Alienware- Area 52. A world-first live experience.
Combining projection-mapping technologies with live action, stunts, actors, special effects, pyrotechnics and a theatrical storyline and narration, we created a visual demonstration of Alienware’s ability to transport you, powered by Alienware PCs.
For this live experience we created a back-story for Alienware – it’s technology that comes from another planet to take gamers on an immersive journey. Disguised as an airstream it lands in a remote spot and a battle with Special Forces ensues, they want to understand and control this thing that is having such as strange effect on all that surrounds it. However, Alienware is all-powerful and cannot be defeated.

Implementation
The content was filmed in front of a live audience of bloggers, journalists and gamers to start the organic seeding process. The event generated 47 PR articles driving viewers to the content. The content film was seeded across the web using a bespoke seeding product, and promoted through search, display and pre-rolls.

Outcome
The targets were smashed and the clients were delighted.

- “The Area 52 campaign has been a real game-changer for the Alienware brand. The insight that was uncovered allowed us to speak to our audience’s passions in a new and legitimate way, which in turn delivered significant and sustained sales increases”. - Cath Hodgson-Croker; Marketing Director, Consumer Sales Director, Dell ANZ

- Sales increased by a massive 24% over the campaign period (target was 8%) ($ figures excluded from entry due to client confidentiality).

- Across the first month of the campaign, the content was the third most viewed YouTube video across the whole of Australia with 628,000 unique views. The video achieved so many likes and comments that it trended on YouTube’s global homepage for 2 weeks.

- The activity achieved 47 PR articles, with an estimated gaming audience of 1,033,022. Top-Of-Mind awareness amongst gamers increased by 40% (target was 10%).

- This drove our brand metrics; ‘Powerful’ (+8%), ‘Is a brand for me’ (+10%) and ‘I’m willing to pay more for’ (+13%).

- There was no other marketing activity or changes to price and distribution, thus allowing us to attribute the success solely to our campaign.