Electronic Arts: BATTLEFIELD TAKES ON GAMING LEADER

Credits & Description:

Category: Best Use of Online Advertising

Advertiser: EA

Product/Service: BATTLEFIELD BAD COMPANY 2

Date of First Appearance: Mar 1 2010

Entrant Company: MEDIACOM, London, UNITED KINGDOM

Entry URL: http://www.youtube.com

Account Director: John Walsh (MediaCom)

Digital Director: Daniel Brown (MediaCom)

Account Manager: Michael Thomas (MediaCom)

Account Manager: Shane Roche (MediaCom)

Media placement: Promoted Digital Videos placements - YouTube - 1st March 2010



Insights, Strategy & the Idea



In the gaming shooter market there is Goliath and lots of Davids. Call of Duty (COD) dominates to such an extent that rivals steer clear.



EA wasn’t put off however: consumer research told us that EA’s new “Battlefield Bad Company 2” offered better game play, as well as innovative social tools.



Our insight was that when you face a powerful enemy you need to use their strength against them. We’d surprise COD with a full frontal assault.



We knew that COD was spending millions driving gamers to YouTube to see videos of its game play.



YouTube was the perfect platform to demonstrate our superior features.



Instead of investing in our own call to action, we took advantage of Call of Duty’s heavy traffic.



We siphoned off consumers with an aggressive message telling them that Battlefield was stronger, tougher and harder.



And once we got them we’d connect them directly to purchase.



Creative Execution

First, we created a YouTube destination for Battlefield, a base where we could host our amazing game play videos designed to wow our target audience.



Then we implemented our secret weapon: YouTube’s new key word tool, which allowed us to put our message right in front of COD fans. This was an underused tool in general but was never before used by the gaming sector until now - a gaming media first.



This meant that anyone searching for COD would also see Battlefield video results.



This strategy positioned Battlefield as of equal rank to COD, delivering massive awareness without the need to invest in call to action advertising.



We created doubt in the minds of potential COD purchasers, highlighting the fact that there was an alternative.



Placements around our videos drove consumers to instant pre-order.



And because we only paid when consumers clicked through, every budgetary bullet was wisely fired.



Results and Effectiveness



The results exceeded all expectations.



We delivered 75m impressions and drove 654,839 views of the channel at a cost per click of just £0.04.



The initial pre-order sales target of 25,000 was out-performed by more than 270%.



The total first four week sales target was over delivered by 10%.



Battlefield Bad Company 2 is still enjoying strong sales and the game is now firmly established as “one to watch” for gamers. Our strategy was described by YouTube as “best in class”, that most of the games industry now follow.