Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

The original concept came from a video game “Sword Art Online Alicization Liquorice”. We successfully brought people in the midst of Corona pandemic, the experience of the unique world of the game, where everyone is AI except for yourself, to virtually experience a social network where whatever you post, you are always kindly responded to by AI.

Background

"Is it a utopia for human beings or an over-managed dystopia?" It was taken as a ridicule to the reality in today’s social media and caused a stir bringing people to discuss the way we deal with social media and AI today. As a result, the article was reprinted in several media outlets and received over 100 million yen in advertising revenue.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

We have created a virtual Social Network, "Underworld", which stands for a world where everyone is an AI except the user. It is a peaceful world in which one posts a comment and receives the most appropriate comment, posted by an AI. There is no slander. Here, users are able to simulate and understand what the world of everyone but themselves being an AI feels like and have fun with it.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

This futuristic RPG, set in a virtual world in which "everyone but you is an AI," had run into a problem of not being able to convey the appeal of the game's story because of its innovative setting. Therefore, we shifted the focus on the insight of "social networking service fatigue" that people felt in the wake of the Corona pandemic, and created a "friendly social networking service for everyone except you" that would help users to experience "a world where everyone is an AI except you".

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

It is designed to allow users to easily experience a unique social networking service, having "everyone but you being an AI". The name of the social networking service is "Underworld" - a reference to the world in the game, as well as implication to Twitter’s “backdoor”, since the social platform provides the users with an ability to easily connect their regular Twitter accounts to the site.

List the results (30% of vote)

In just one month, the number of users on the social networking site "Underworld" exceeded 60,000 and the number of tweets posted reached over 300,000. Focused on the "social network fatigue" insights of the Corona pandemic, the social platform achieved a high PR value, with more than 170 media outlets picking up on the initiative and a total PR revenue of nearly 100 million yen.