HP OMEN CHALLENGER SERIES

TitleHP OMEN CHALLENGER SERIES
BrandHP
Product / ServiceOMEN GAMING
CategoryF01. Integrated Campaign led by Brand Experience & Activation
EntrantHP ASIA PACIFIC Singapore , SINGAPORE
Idea Creation THE GAMING CO Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Siew Ting Foo HP CMO

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation ?

HP shares our fans’ love for gaming. We know they’re driven by a key passion point – the desire to keep improving and to up their game. The OMEN Challenger Series was all about engaging the gaming community, enabling them to improve, and in doing so, support the growth of esports. To do that, we held several PUBG activities around the campaign including online and on-ground tournaments, partnered with brands and influencers, leveraged customer and staff activations, and engaged with gamers on social and owned channels. The gamers, they’re the stars – and we gave them the platform to shine.

Background

A 4-year-old brand, HP’s OMEN and Pavilion gaming PC range are the “new kids on the block”, with roughly 13% market share across the APAC countries. The goal was to bring our OMEN and Pavilion gaming portfolio to life in a highly diverse and fragmented market like Asia, and challenge more established gaming brands. The brief was to break through the noise of the cluttered competitive landscape with a campaign that resonated with our target audience. The objective was primarily to build brand awareness over a sustained period and secondarily to drive purchase consideration. Objectives: Lead the gaming category by marketing boldly as a gaming lifestyle brand with community at the heart of the engagement model Differentiate OMEN as a gaming lifestyle brand with key tools, empowering gamers to progress Drive the end to end customer journey from brand awareness to purchase consideration and purchase, and nurture customers

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

Partner with Intel and game developer, PUBG Corporation, to create one of the biggest eSports events in the Asia Pacific and Japan region. The inaugural OMEN by HP Challenger Series focused on driving fan interactions, by engaging gamers and fans throughout the journey leading up to the Grand Final in COMMART. Tapping on the insight that these Asian gamers strive to constantly be better, we gave them the tools to get better – from educational materials on the campaign site to online communities they can learn from. We also gave them the platform to become the best, by giving them an opportunity to represent their countries and compete against their idols and other teams from the region. Outside of the competition, gamers and viewers could also participate in many other ways, from online contests to interacting with gaming influencers to watching the live stream of the competition.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Our aim was to engage the gaming community, and associate OMEN by HP as their partner of choice to progress to the next level and dominate the game. Our strategy was informed by key insights of Asian gamers: • Passion to keep improving • Gaming as an extension of their social network • Loyal to esports, ACG Culture and gaming idols We brought together deep insights and a relevant brand narrative and brought it to life through an end-to-end experience by: • Giving them an opportunity to be the best and compete with the best • Creating platforms for gamers engage with one another • Partnering influencers and pro gaming teams

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

Starting August 16 for 12 weeks, we drove brand communications online and offline. All channels were adapted in local languages. Website – Hosted informative articles, engaged the community through contests, and allowed participants to view their results in real-time. Social – Used Facebook, Twitch, YouTube and Huya to drive tournament live-stream. Ran 2 social campaigns to engage fans and viewers, and partnered with 20 influencers to recruit fans to play. Online qualifier – 11 online qualifiers were held across a 10-week period, 1 for each country – it was livestreamed in local languages to drive local support and viewership. Tournament – held at COMMART (a major IT show held in Bangkok garnering over 600,000+ attendees). Demand generation – Customers could win a trip to watch the Grand Finals and were entitled to a game bundle. PR - Localized press releases to drive each stage of the tournament.

List the results (30% of vote)

Business impact: • 450 gaming units sold at COMMART (during Grand Finals Only) • Average purchase: USD 1,200 • OMEN was one of the top 6 best-selling brands at COMMART • 490,000 event website visits Engagement with gamers • 80 players from the qualifying rounds and 21 influencers joined the Grand Finals • 120 players in the Grand Finals • 2552 participants in the open qualifiers • 6850 site registrations Engagement with gamers > 9 million total stream reach 2.8 million total stream viewership 195,000 comments, likes and video views on influencers’ Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter 490,000 page views on campaign website 338 designs from 11 countries submitted for uniform design contest 127 pieces of coverage, including in top-tier tech and gaming media The OMEN Challenger Series Grand Finals was also visited by the Princess of the royal family of Thailand in conjunction with the launch of COMMART.

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