PC Gamers refresh their gaming PC more often than the average consumer to keep up with the latest games’ spec requirements. They want to have the most immersive experience with the highest resolution settings and need their computer to be extremely responsive to keep up with friends and foes.

Our key challenge was to overcome awareness and perception barriers and get PC Gamers to upgrade to the Intel Core i7. The perception with PC Gamers was that the graphics processing unit (GPU) was more important than the central processing unit (CPU) and that lower-end CPUs were “good enough” for their gaming needs.

Many gamers were unaware of key performance improvements the Intel Core i7 could deliver for resource-hungry gaming tasks, streaming, competing, and virtual reality.

Content started in August to coincide with the biggest gaming events and releases of the year. We launched at PAX and followed at Oculus Connect 3 leveraging a group of top gaming influencers to bring fans at home the best of these events via live streams on Twitch. The recaps showcased the new hardware and games during interviews with developers. Working with developers we got early access to the year’s most anticipated PC titles, and a series of Twitch live streams gave fans a first look at the games and the superior gameplay on the Core i7. With PC Gamer, we built a high-end gaming PC, powered by Intel Core i7 and demonstrated its advantage in performance with some of the most CPU intensive titles. The campaign culminated with the Trending Gamer Award at Game Awards sponsored by Intel which recognized the top video game streamers in the world.

During the five-month campaign, we launched 60 pieces of co-created content generating 13.8M views of Intel content.

Our strategy paid off via consistent content that was centralized on the Core i7 proof points and delivered 21% lift in preference for the Core i7 versus all over CPUs. The campaign also saw an 8% lift on our primary and most difficult KPI, the CPU is the absolute most important part of my gaming experience.

We created over 60 pieces of original content with influencers and publications that convinced PC gamers why they needed to upgrade their central processing unit (CPU). We saw significant lifts across all our major KPIs.

PC Gamers trust and respect the opinions of fellow gamers and those who live-stream, compete, and play at the highest level. We needed to showcase the advantages of the Intel Core i7 where it is most impactful with substantiated and tangible examples through existing conversations, trusted channels, and voices. We handpicked key influencers in every category from the esports champions to the Twitch streamers who talk daily to millions of fans, and VR evangelists who spread their passion and enthusiasm for this new era of entertainment. Together we crafted a series of content around the biggest gaming events of the year, all through the lens of Intel’s i7 performance.

For the majority of Americans, their computer was fast enough for their daily tasks. Without a perceived need to upgrade, PC sales have been declining for the past five years.

Through audience segmentation, we identified PC gamers as a key audience that relies on PC performance to stay on top of their game.

Intel’s main objectives were to improve awareness and preference for the Intel Core i7 processor with the gaming enthusiast. We needed to convince them that to have the ultimate gaming experience, they needed a PC powered by the Intel Core i7.