THE SACRED STEP

TitleTHE SACRED STEP
BrandTENCENT
Product / ServiceMONUMENT VALLEY 2
CategoryA08. Leisure
EntrantTENCENT Shenzhen, CHINA
Idea Creation TENCENT Shenzhen, CHINA
Production TENCENT Shenzhen, CHINA

Credits

Name Company Position
Jie Yun Tencent Senior Brand Manager
Beibei Zhang Tencent Brand Manager
Yuying Zhou Tencent Brand Manager
Shu Yao Tencent Senior Designer
Wei Gao Tencent Senior Designer
Zhihai Xia Tencent Senior Designer
Kai Mao Tencent Senior Designer
Xixi Qiu Chocky Planning
Jiacheng Lin Chocky Planning
Jingyi Pang Chocky Planning
Yuxi Ouyang Chocky Planning

The Campaign

Most marketers try to indulge players in the game, whereas we encouraged players to explore real-life architecture and guided them to take the sacred step to a journey of imagination. Players would establish a deeper understanding of the game by participating in consecutive campaigns from online to offline, an understanding that makes the game experience more meaningful.

The Brief

Our total budget is RMB 5 million. We spent RMB 2 million on campaigns of the outdoor billboard. Three interactive walking routes were designed and an AR game on site was developed with a cost of RMB 80 thousand. 1.2 million was used for the extensive exposure of the billboard as well as the AR games on social media. Another RMB 2 million was spent on the Monument Valley themed interactive space with 5 areas. We spent RMB 1.35 million on constructing the interactive space at the core business district in Shenzhen. Then we spent 0.65 million cooperating with the local media and KOLs to promote the event. And the rest RMB 1 million was spent on the UGC campaign on zcool.com.cn, huaban.com, and Weibo.com. Various forms of advertisements were used to appeal to our target audience, including banners, buttons, full-screen ads and hashtags on those platforms.

Creative Execution

First, we found a residential building in Spain, La Muralla Roja, which resembles architecture in the game. Then we designed three interactive walking routes to transform it into the “Monument Valley in reality.” Through AR game on site, more people have visited and interacted with the building. Second, we brought Monument Valley to your side. By using 3D projection, we created a Monument Valley themed interactive space, which consisted of five areas. Third, we launched a social media campaign called “Create the Monument Valley in Imagination.” It invited players to capture the intriguing architecture around them with cameras and paintbrushes. With players’ rich imagination, every building could become Monument Valley.

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

1. Over 5 million people have played the AR game and nearly 100 thousand people have visited the interactive space. 2. More than 15 million people have joined discussions or contributed content about monument valley on social media. 3. 20 million downloads of the game. 4. Through steps of brand experience, the younger generation acquired overall comprehension of the game as well as the spirits of it. Thus they would be more interested in exploring the beautiful architecture in the real world.

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

Monument Valley 2 is an illusory adventure game of impossible architecture. We expected to ignite players’ imagination and curiosity about architecture by facilitating their understanding of the game. Finding the monument valley in reality and the spreading online exploration of it would establish in players’ mind an association between the virtual game and the real construction. Meanwhile, the offline interactive space enabled them to experience abstract art in person. With the increase of players’ awareness of beauty, players are given chances to create their own monument valley and to start a new adventure in the game.

Research shows that two-fifths of our target audience are not hard-core gamers and more than half of them are females. Meanwhile, most of them dabble in architecture, design, photography, etc., and are active on social media. They are fond of delicate design and latest fashion trend as well as sharing artistic things on social media. As a result, we decided to provide a well-rounded immersive experience to players by using various media and platforms to inspire their imagination, including a lifelong creative billboard, AR games, offline interactive space with 3D projection, and solicitation of their own ideas.