POKÉMON
X&Y LAUNCH
BRIEF
(in a modern tweet)
Build excitement (and pre-orders) of Pokémon X&Y by engaging the older (and younger) generation of Pokémon fans.
APPROACH
It’s not often when you get to market to yourself. As a huge fan of Pokémon all we had to do was tap into our inner nerds and ask ourselves, “As original fans of this franchise and their games, what would get us excited?” The answer was obvious: Create a scavenger hunt across the internet to collect ‘em all and unlock chances at prizes, free downloads, and behind-the-scene access to the upcoming releases. Pikachu! I choose you!
ROLE
Concept, Art Direction, UX, and Design
ACD: Craig Pelz
Senior Copywriter: Andrea Gomez
Development: PrizeLogic (site), Bully Entertainment (AR)
THE TEASE
To kick this whole internet wide hunt off, we partnered with YouTube musical genius POGO to remix the original theme song and hide the first game clue in the video. Can you find it?
THE MICROSITE
Once fans found the secret code they were directed to a microsite where all 24 Pokéballs were available to be unlocked. Hints sent fans across the internet. We partnered with a range of media vendors, video game blogs, and even Nintendo's own site to hide codes and create a more robust hunt. Every unlocked ball gave fans collectable downloads and another entry to win prizes or the new games.
THE RESULTS (SPOILER ALERT)
Let's just say getting a bunch of nerds excited to engage with your brand opens their wallets too. And I even have a copy of the game to prove it, ha!
THE INNOVATION
Sometimes just making a campaign isn't enough to scratch that creative itch. So for the launch of Pokémon X&Y we also presented and new innovation to clients and help them bridge the gap from kids who collect/play the card game to kids/teens/adults who play the video games. We partnered with Bully Entertainment to create an AR prototype with fully functional gameplay. While the app was never produced, we're still waiting to see it pop up in the future.
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THE OPPORTUNITY
A promotional marketing game that uses existing X&Y cards to bring the battle to life for New Recruits. Through this simplified gaming experience, players have fun discovering the core gameplay of Pokémon (without needing to know all the rules).
Quote from client:
We've been trying to bring our cards to life. How did you guys figure this out? This is amazing!
THE BATTLEFIELD
With power of AR and markers we we're able to create a standard battlefield that could be distributed as inserts or directly printed on packaging allowing us to turn virtually anything into an opportunity to battle.
All Pokémon characters were attached to their corresponding collectible cards that already existed, thus turning any card previously printed or soon to be printed into AR markers (cutting the cost of having to print anything new or unique).
