5: THE NIGHTJAR

Credits & Description:

Type of entry: Use of Promo & Activation

Category: Best Use of Games

Advertiser: WRIGLEYS

Product/Service: 5 GUM

Agency: ABBOTT MEAD VICKERS BBDO London, UNITED KINGDOM

Advertiser WRIGLEYS

Product 5 GUM

Entrant ABBOTT MEAD VICKERS BBDO London, UNITED KINGDOM

Type of Entry: Use of Promo & Activation

Category: Best Use of Games

Title: THE NIGHTJAR

Advertiser/Client: WRIGLEYS

Product/Service: 5 GUM

Entrant Company: ABBOTT MEAD VICKERS BBDO London, UNITED KINGDOM

DM/Advertising Agency: ABBOTT MEAD VICKERS BBDO London, UNITED KINGDOM



Papa Engine: Daniel Jones ()

Site Production: (Studio Rehab)

(AMV BBDO)

Executive Creative Director: Paul Brazier (AMV BBDO)

Creative Directors: Mark Fairbanks/Thiago De Moraes (AMV BBDO)

Creative Team: Mark Fairbanks/Thiago De Moraes (AMV BBDO)

Producers: Esther Cunliffe/Louise Tanner (AMV BBDO)

Designers: James Townsend/Thiago De Moraes (AMV BBDO)

Interface Design/Animation: Neal Coghlan/Harry Osborne/Paul Grizzell (AMV BBDO)

Game Production: (Somethin' Else)

Exec Producer/Director: Paul Bennun (Somethin' Else)

Writer: Neil Bennun ()

Director Of Sound And Music: Nick Ryan ()

Technical Architect: Adam Hoyle ()

Game Wrangler/Voice Director: Tassos Stevens ()

Technical Architect: Jean Phillipe Altier ()

Producer: David O'donnell ()

Developers: Trevor Klein ()

Game Design Consultant: Pete Law ()



Describe the brief from the client

Our task was creating a brand awareness campaign for Wrigley’s 5 Gum to an audience of 18-24 year-olds - using the proposition ‘Stimulate your senses’.



We understood the audience had no interest in most traditional advertising, and that gum wasn’t a very cool product anymore. Our solution was to create an experience that stimulated people’s senses in a very real way.



We identified mobile gaming as the most relevant platform for the audience, and created a unique experience for it: a ‘video game with no video’.









Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.







The Nightjar is a chilling sci-fi horror game where users have to escape an alien infested spaceship using their hearing alone. The game uses groundbreaking 3D binaural sound technology and utilises the mobile platform in an exciting way.



It features state of the art writing, game and sound design. The main character is played by Benedict Cumberbatch (from ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’ and ‘Warhorse’). The launch strategy used elements of game marketing, with exclusive previews, limited edition posters and audio advertising leading people to the iTunes app store. Characters from the game tweeted the plot for months before the launch.









Describe the results in as much detail as possible.







The game was a success with audiences and within the gaming industry, breaking free from the stigma branded games sometimes carry.



It was played over 275,000 times in the first 3 months of the campaign, and 5Gum’s Facebook page went from 0 to 35,000 fans in a few days without any direct incentive. It has had more than 500 reviews in the app store, with an average 4 star rating.



It received acclaim in the gaming press: from PocketGamer to the Guardian newspaper. It got hundreds of brilliant user reviews like ‘f-ing amazing!’ and ‘Good app, poo-ed myself, tho!!!’.