Gamers love to play online and interact with other gamers. The problem? When they do, they cannot pause the game. Not for a second. So we asked ourselves: what if gamers could keep playing and also order their favorite burgers directly through their videogames? And what if this happened while playing with some of Spain’s best pro-gamers?

That’s how we came up with Burger Clan, a clan of 9 pro-gamers ready to play side by side with you and take your order while you play.

We integrated gamers’ PlayStation Plus profiles with their Burger King delivery accounts and had them add our pro-gamers as friends. This way, each time they played online they had the chance to do so with their videogame heroes who not only helped them win a match or kill an enemy, but who also took their orders for a Whopper, fries, or whatever else they wanted.

The execution was all about integration. The action took place between April 28th and May 21th 2017 and became alive in both digital and physical channels at its execution through a video demo, press releases, posts on social media, and a real game center at a Burger King restaurant in the heart of Madrid where anyone could visit and watch our pro-gamers in action. At the center of it all was a website where players could get to know the pro-gamers involved and register themselves to take part in the action, whether that be through creating a new registration or connecting their PlayStation Plus accounts to their Burger King En Casa accounts.

We went live from our game center in a Burger King restaurant in the heart of Madrid for a total of 4 weekends. And these are just the amazing results of the first 48 hours.

-We achieved more than 200 million media impressions.

-The idea spread fast throughout the world, generating buzz in more than 25 countries.

-25 million persons were reached on social media converting the activation into a Trending Topic in Spain on the day of its launch.

- We gained more than 550.000€ in earned media and increased 300% on registrations at Burger King En Casa in comparison to the same period of the last year. And increased a 21% on home delivery sales at weekends.

-More than that, we made thousands of new friends whom we had a great time with. Together, we spent more than 360 hours playing together. Not bad for a fast food brand.

Because it values and embraces the entire gamer community while simultaneously offering each individual player a memorable, one-to-one experience. The activation touches both gamers’ logic and hearts through an exclusive home delivery deal and the opportunity to be challenged by playing with some of the best pro-gamers around. Finally, the idea is relevant for Direct Lions because of its execution, which uses tech platforms, database integration, social and digital channels to provide an unusual yet meaningful brand connection.

Gamers are a young, passionate, and very demanding community. They seek more visibility, services, and benefits exclusively made for them. Despite being open with brands, becoming a part of their group isn’t an easy task. We needed to be associated with the best, be present wherever they were, and offer them a great deal.

To do this, we partnered with PlayStation Plus (the #1 gaming platform in Spain), 9 pro-gamers, and 6 influencers of the most popular gaming genres (shooting, soccer, and action). We then set our action time to be aligned with peak gaming and hunger times: weekends.

Once we had the necessary momentum and support, we spread the idea on social media and took gamers to action. To make sure nothing would be missed, we gave gamers a deal they couldn’t refuse: a minimum order price of only 9.99€, a 34% discount on the regular price.

Fast food (QSRs) is a highly competitive category. Players battle for differentiation and bet on new channels in order to drive growth. In 2015, Burger King took advantage of a huge opportunity by becoming the first chain in Spain to offer a delivery service by phone, web and APP through the Burger King En Casa platform. Our direct competitors recognized its success and jumped on board, challenging us to innovate once again.

It was in gaming that we found the perfect opportunity and occasion to activate the service, drive preference, and change the rules.

In Spain there are more than 14 million active gamers, 70% of them under 30 who play for 6 hours a week on average. That’s a huge community of gamers who spend a significant amount of time at home focused only on playing videogames. Precious time during which nothing should interrupt them. Nothing. Not even hunger.