We developed the concept 'Games Week: video games take over Milan' to help AESVI (Entertainment Software Publishers Association) highlight the key role of video games in daily life: They're not only for entertainment, but are also cultural and social tools that involve citizens of all ages. To involve all Milan's citizens we created a disruptive event in the city to stress the great value of video games within the community and, to support the event in the months before, developed a series of innovative PR initiatives and a wide range of activities around the city - artistic installations, guerrilla activities and local events: all inspired by video game imagery. The overall campaign, including the tradeshow, the collateral initiatives and the communication activities enhanced the visibility of AESVI and fostered growth in the industry by positioning video games as key elements with a cultural, social and economic impact within the community. Results included: more than 400 articles, reaching an audience of more than 10m readers/viewers/listeners; 350 journalists and bloggers and more than 32,000 visitors attending the event; 100,000 visitors to the dedicated website; and 10,000 fans to Games Week Fan Page.

Before the tradeshow we developed experiential activities in Milan: Tetris-shaped LEDs along the channels; bright Pac-Man characters all over the city; giant balloons of 'Space Invaders' in the skies of the main squares.During the tradeshow, families, teenagers, adults, developers and professionals could experience the best of the gaming ecosystem with 30 exhibitors and 120 showcased products by leading players. We coordinated the overall entertainment offerings of all the exhibitors and developed thematic paths to address different targets, spanning from geeks to trendy girls, including meeting with developers and VIPs, gaming tournaments, and cosplayers’ parades. To raise interest in the project before, during and after the tradeshow, we developed a flow of communication, including a survey focusing on Italians’ most loved video games, press angles to pitch different media targets, interviews with the main Italian dailies and radios, 15 press releases and a conference to announce the final plan.

We were able to create the first event completely dedicated to the video game world in Italy and turned Milan into the capital of video games. The overall campaign, including the tradeshow, the collateral events, initiatives and the communication activities enhanced the visibility of AESVI and fostered growth in the industry by positioning video games as key elements with a cultural, social and economic impact within the comunity.

Other results included:- More than 400 articles including 30 TV and Web TV broadcasts, 25 radio broadcasts, 46 dedicated articles on the main Italian newspapers and 40 interviews: reaching an audience of more than 10m readers/viewers/listeners; - About 350 journalists and bloggers attended the event; - More than 32,000 visitors attended the event; - 100,000 users visited the website, www.gamesweek.it, and 10,000 fans 'liked' the Games Week Facebook Fan Page.