Branded content is exploding and it is increasingly difficult to break through. In the video game category, creating a branded long-form trailer meant to entertain gamers is nothing new. However they tend to be heavy on celebrity cameos and blockbuster music tracks, and light on entertaining storytelling. To break through, we would create content that relied on Halo’s strengths of a compelling story and beloved characters. We wouldn’t just release the expected long-form trailer that would run on YouTube. We would release a wave of content that would be featured across a variety a channels. A wave of content that would engage gamers while building up expectations for how a game like Halo would be announced. The campaign would go beyond a :60 second spot and utilize the full spectrum of sight, sound and motion to entertain gamers.

Getting gamers to question everything requires you hide the answers. We released an online teaser video that transformed traditional pre-roll and social channels into an interactive experience. At first glance, the video shook Halo’s very foundation by showing a possible outcome that had never been possible before. But then scrubbing the video playbar back and forth (on desktop and mobile) revealed hidden messages that made it possible by calling into question Halo’s hero. Our video was a literally a shot across the bow designed to get gamers to hunt out the truth as the announcement campaign rolled out.

Faced with growing fatigue as a franchise, Halo 5: Guardians needed to drop a bomb that would excite fans and non-fans alike. We needed to create an announcement period that established Halo 5 as one of the most highly anticipated blockbuster games in 2015. Therefore success was measured by fans reactions and boy did they react. With 168 million combined video views between TV and digital we went well beyond the core Halo fan base. The campaign generated 56MM social media impressions. Was the #2 most talked about ad campaign on the internet and trended on both Facebook and Twitter. Conversation volume reached nearly 40x the median conversation volume across Xbox ads. The campaign conversation lasted 2x the median longevity of all Xbox ads measured. People weren’t just talking about Halo 5; they were talking about our campaign. The campaign hashtag, #HUNTtheTRUTH, was mentioned in 92% of all conversations. We created an integrated campaign that put Halo 5: Guardians back on the map. Getting gamers to question everything they would expect from an already storied franchise.