In order to give gamers the chance to BE a champion we needed to drive awareness. There was no ‘traditional’ media support. So we bombarded them online. Through their consoles, the games they played, the sites they visited and through email; no digital stone was left unturned when it came to getting the message out.Visitors to Maxim.com, EASPORTS.com and IGN.com were targeted with strategically placed online ads. A viral YouTube spot pushed viewers to Gillette.com to upload their photos to create 3D avatars and host a virtual press conference or be featured on 40-foot tall digital billboard in Times Square. Gamers helped spread the word by posting all of it to Facebook and blogs.In their games, on their consoles, through their monitors … wherever gamers were, so too was the message they could BE the Gillette Champion of Gaming.

The success of the campaign was unbelievable. More than 350,000 players from around the world registered for the tournament. That’s 150% better than expected. It’s also 350,000 gamers who indicated they wanted to hear more from Gillette. These gamers also blogged and boasted about their results on countless sites throughout the tournament.In the end 13 finalists went head-to-head in a live event against Champions like Tiger Woods and Derek Jeter in front of over capacity crowds in Orlando. The finals also garnered media coverage from CNN, Spike TV and Jimmy Kimmel Live.