AUSTRALIA'S TOUGHEST JOB INTERVIEW

TitleAUSTRALIA'S TOUGHEST JOB INTERVIEW
BrandSTUDIOCANAL
Product / ServiceJOHN WICK 2
CategoryC04. Competitions & Promotional Games
EntrantHAVAS MEDIA AUSTRALIA Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Idea Creation HAVAS MEDIA AUSTRALIA Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Media Placement HAVAS MEDIA AUSTRALIA Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Production HAVAS MEDIA AUSTRALIA Sydney, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Mark Campbell Havas Media Australia Head of Content and Creative Partnerships

The Campaign

We needed to immerse our audience in the world of the movie and create enough cultural buzz to encourage them to want to pay to see it at the cinema. And due to John Wick’s retirement, there was a vacancy for an assassin tough enough to handle the chaos of organised crime. The idea was to create Australia’s toughest job interview, with a skill based application criteria followed by rigorous training missions inspired by the movie, in order to make it through selection. We devised an alternate reality game that would pitch potential candidates against each other in a race against time. The winning candidate would be greeted by their new boss, the Head Assassin, to be crowned the successful applicant at the official movie premier in Sydney. Elements from the movie were recreated with impeccable attention to detail, including locations characters and props, and even a dog-a-like!

Creative Execution

THE RECRUITMENT We advertised for an ‘Extermination Specialist’ (a term used for the best gamers) using Australia’s largest gaming network IGN, street posters, interactive digital video and university placements. We asked candidates to submit their best ‘kill streaks’ to be judged by a panel of experts for the opportunity to be one of three finalists in the interview process. THE LIVE ACTIVATION Our final candidates were thrust into the world of the movie through an alternate reality game which played out over a day in Sydney. Just like in the movie, the trials began in a secret destination where they were met by Mustangs. They were briefed individually and sent clues via text message directing them to find characters and items from the movie whilst avoiding camera detection. The finalist would walk into the official movie premier screening to be offered the job and collect their prize.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

We reached over 76% of all gamers, and had the fastest trending video across IGN’s network along with 109,000 completed YouTube views in just one week. The recruitment drive received over 628 qualified entries to the job application, exceeding the industry participation benchmark by over 59%. We created cultural buzz amongst Australia’s gaming community, fuelling an influential group of ambassadors to share their experiences, with endorsements like “this is a movie that can’t be missed by any real gamer” (phase 2 participant). Earned media generated an additional $100,000 worth of value ($70,000 via IGN and $30,000 via additional gaming sites) and Facebook likes increased by 41% over the campaign period. But most importantly, the film smashed box office targets, not only achieving over $4.5m in revenue and ranking number two, but bucking the trend and exceeding the first John Wick. For every $1 invested, we delivered $5 of incremental revenue.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

With unprecedented home entertainment options now available in Australia and persistent illegal downloading activity, we needed to persuade people to see the movie John Wick: Chapter 2 in cinemas, six months after its international release. By zoning in on a key target audience of gamers, we were able to use research to identify that they would be the group most responsive to a campaign that immersed them in the action. Using an engaging alternate reality game, we were able to pull our target into the world of the film, creating hype within the community and ultimately exceeding box office expectations.

Historical data from the first John Wick and social listening revealed a key target: gamers. They were passionate fans of the movie because of the stunning fights scenes, relentless action and competitive nature of the characters. We identified that if we could reach just 8% of the 2.6 million gamers in Australia and convince them to watch the movie in cinemas, we could achieve our KPI. However, research showed they were also the most likely to illegally download the movie. Further research into the motivations of gamers revealed that action, long term thinking and discovery would be key for us to get their attention. Our approach was to bring the movie narrative to life and offer the gaming community the chance to compete to be part of the action. We created an alternate reality game starting in the virtual world of gaming and finishing in the real world of cinema.