Background

2018 saw the launch of Ace of Space, a task-based reality show by MTV that saw contestants battling it out to survive space crunch. While the show received good launch ratings, MTV India wanted every fan to ‘feel’ the pinch of surviving diminishing spaces. Eat, read or stream – they are at the mercy of their smartphones. Industry reports suggest that about 65% of content consumed online, in India, is done through smartphones. Moreover, with the country’s mobile gaming community rising to 190mn, logging in a daily average of 42 minutes on gaming platforms on their smartphones, it comes as no surprise that India is not merely a ‘digital-first’ market, but one that has evolved heavily into mobile gaming, thus, making it a prime targeting avenue for marketers.

Describe the creative idea

To capture the interest of the tech-obsessed audiences aroused about Ace of Space, it was decided to create an interesting mobile game where the challenge was to help the in-game avatars survive shrinking spaces. A mobile browser-based game was created where 3 avatars were shown as being stuck inside the mobile screen. To win, the user would have to blow into their mics and keep the walls apart. User had to enable mobile mic access, which activated the voice-detecting AR technology embedded into the microsite. To keep them focused into the game, avatars, with their pre-fed contextual expressions, would interact with the user throughout their journey.

Describe the strategy

MTV India has always been known to feel the pulse of its predominantly youth-based fanbase. Its shows and activities are targeted at an audience that range from the ages of 15 to 24, emerging from the small towns as well as the big cities of India, and who seem to show a keen interest in reality shows, music, gaming, adventure, social media content consumption, celebrity news and influencer-led content. A strategy was formulated to target the technology-obsessed audiences with an interesting mobile game microsite where the challenge was to help the in-game avatars survive shrinking spaces.

Describe the execution

To boost the mobile browser-based game, we identified relevant audience clusters who spent an increasingly long amount of time on their smartphones, browsing content on gaming, news, food and sports platforms, to cite a few. Our strategy further delved into targeting audiences who frequently visited apps, websites and communities related to mobile gaming, intercepting their paths with contextual banners and social media posts.

List the results

In a matter of 4 weeks: - 23 min+ reached - 4, 39,000+ microsite visits recorded - 38,000+ game plays logged - 3000+ minutes played - 12+ minutes was the average time user spent on the microsite. - 1.41% aggregate rating score received by MTV Ace of Space upon its launch The campaign turned out be a success, getting people hooked onto the show, in its first season itself!