While major blockbuster movies have dominated the Branded Entertainment category for decades, branded video game content has evolved to become a formidable rival, both in terms of popularity and revenue. Beyond trailers, video game marketing branches into viral films, interactive experiences and mobile applications. The Entertainment Software Rating Board, or ESRB, assesses in-game content and provides it a rating. In our case, Call of Duty: Black Ops II is rated Mature, which means stricter guidelines for marketing, particularly around violent content. As a result, every step of the marketing process requires us to be mindful of these restrictions.

The media team focused on strategic mobile banners that drove consumers towards the app download page, minimizing the barrier to entry.

To support the app’s release, we partnered with YouTube celebrity and Call of Duty gamer, iJustine, to host a demo video on the set of the launch trailer. She explained how the app works, previewed all the Call of Duty effects and showed her audience how to unlock the last two effects. We leveraged her established fan base to extend our communication to users not as familiar with the app.

The following materials and channels pointed towards the app download page:

Callofduty.com (desktop page)

Callofduty.com (mobile page)

Call of Duty Facebook

Call of Duty Twitter

iJustine Demo Video (Call of Duty and iJustine Gaming YouTube Channels)

iJustine Facebook

iJustine Twitter

iJustine Instagram

iJustine Blog

Mobile Paid Media Banners

For users to get the most out of their Call of Duty app update, we required them to engage with the brand on a deeper level. To unlock additional Call of Duty content, they had to scan the key art, share the app on their social channels and view the launch trailer through the app. The launch trailer gained more than 35 million views and Call of Duty: Black Ops II was itself the biggest entertainment launch of 2013, selling a record 1 billion dollars in 15 days.