Our goal was to launch three PlayStation titles – Jak II, Time Crisis 3 and Ratchet & Clank 2 – into quarter 4 of 2003…the busiest gaming retail quarter. The challenge was to give each game its own identity whilst creating a communications strategy that integrated PlayStation’s new creative positioning of ‘Fun Anyone?’

Jak II achieved a rollover rate of 22.5% with 5% of unique completing the interaction. Time Crisis 3 achieved a 19.2% rollover rate and a stunning completion rate of 17% of which 60% played again. Ratchet & Clank 2 delivered over 5,000 downloads from an email seed list of 170,000. We spread the fun for 558,237 unique users. Sample the fun yourself at http://nma.hotbunny.co.uk.

To create a positive live-action experience it was essential that the user, not the advertiser, control the interaction. Too many advertisers are obstructive or demand consumers to ‘click here’. We wanted consumers to play on their own terms. Therefore we created user-initiated expandable banners, morphing skyscrapers and downloadable desktop destroyers, each tailored specifically to the content of the three games. It was all about taking a gaming experience to our audience and getting them to sample the fun.

Research showed that gaming sites were the most effective for reaching gamers. Historical data pinpointed the best sites (Games Domain, Computer & Video Games and Total Games). To reach beyond hard-core gamers we supplemented the campaign with lifestyle sites that matched the genre of each game.For Time Crisis 3’s older market we used Max Power, whilst for Jak II’s younger audience we used Nickelodeon. Ratchet and Clank 2 was emailed to PlayStation’s own database.

In 2003 PlayStation’s creative positioning evolved from ‘The Third Place’, a cool, dark, exclusive place un-lockable through gaming, to ‘Fun Anyone?’, a more inclusive and accessible positioning that reflected PS2’s increasing mainstream penetration of 5m units. TRBI research identified the Internet as the consumer’s primary knowledge channel for the release of new games. It is accessible, interactive and ultimately makes the brand ‘playable’. So to seed interest in the games and engage the gaming audience we pushed Internet technology to its limits and turned AdSpace into PlaySpace… the perfect media strategy to amplify ‘Fun Anyone?’