RISE AS ONE : THE GAME

TitleRISE AS ONE : THE GAME
BrandBUDWEISER
Product / ServiceRISE AS ONE : THE GAME
CategoryA04. Messaging for Mobile
EntrantAKQA Shanghai, CHINA
Entrant Company AKQA Shanghai, CHINA
Advertising Agency AKQA Shanghai, CHINA
Media Agency STARCOM MEDIAVEST GROUP Shanghai, CHINA

Credits

Name Company Position
Johan Vakidis AKQA Executive Creative Director
Asterio Gutierrez AKQA Creative Director / Copywriter
Carlos Bernal AKQA Senior Account Director
Jason Cheah AKQA Associate Art Director / Uxdesigner
Mee Yee Fong AKQA Art Director
Qian Shen AKQA Associate Designer
Joshua Lim AKQA Art Director
Jianwei Wong AKQA Designer
Elisa Wang AKQA Creative Assistant
Monique Shen AKQA Intern
Ying Chang AKQA Associate Creative Director
Jason Zhao AKQA Copywriter
Kate Lu AKQA Associate Account Director
Jack Gao AKQA Account Manager
Enko Vonarnim AKQA Client Partner 
Frank Jiang AKQA User Experience Designer
Alejandro Wang AKQA Senior Project Manager
Joel Godfrey AKQA Director Of Delivery
Alan Stafford (akqa)+ N/Ways AKQA Group Technology Director
Kim Jerbo AKQA Associate Motion Graphics Director

Creative Execution

We created Rise as One: The Game. A game-changing betting game that changed betting in China. Our first task: reinvent the outdated experience for the now mobile-centric Chinese. So we created it for WeChat—an IM service that had become China’s top social platform. Turning SMS conversations into the new interface to bet. But this wasn’t enough. It needed to be as beautiful and magical as it was usable. So we took WeChat further than ever. Via ambitious integration between SMS and HTML, we built in the best parts of console gaming: killer graphics, cut-scenes, and a breakthrough two-player mode.

From the game to the campaign, everything just worked. We advertised it as an actual console game, with a trailer and even a physical box. It was one of most engaging campaigns in WeChat history, with 1,600% more engagement than the industry standard, and hundreds of thousands of bets placed in the three weeks of the World Cup. And it’s only just begun, as we kick off BudGames—a Bud-owned gaming franchise that will let users bet on every big sporting event, carry over points, and more.

In China, big sports events are inseparable from one of China’s cultural cornerstones: Betting. However, it was a category ripe for disruption. Websites were complicated and badly designed. The only thing more tiresome was going offline, to bookies and betting shops. So with Budweiser reinforcing its sports heritage through its World Cup sponsorship, there was an historic chance to change the betting game in China—and in the process, Chinese culture.

Links

Mobile URL