Purpose

The intention of this project was to dive into a joint venture between Client and an independent Software Vendor [(ISV) ActiVision] as well as numerous peripheral Partners (MSI, Asus, Dell, Lenovo, HP, CyberpowerPC, Razer, NVIDIA, Corsair, Samsung). Initiative efforts were focused on numerous co-marketing campaigns, that consisted of four independent sweepstakes, three influencer activations, and also included both merchandise and prizing fulfilments. The target market was consumer gamers, aged 18-35. Our primary focus was to promote the PC version of the Gaming Title by designing graphic campaigns that showcased amazing gaming capabilities and experiences on PC, coupled with the Clients proprietary computing processor chipset. Our objective was to develop enthusiasm for the Gaming Title among broader PC user/gamer segments and drive gamer engagement, purchase intent, sales, and breadth of PC SKUs (both mainstream and gaming segments).

Outline/Workflow

One of the most vital portions of the project was establishing an outline and building in milestone check-ins with our Client, ISV, and Partners. The endeavor was envisioned to last approximately six months and encompassed a variety of individually-focused projects. Sweepstakes landing pages and influencer engagement programs were prioritized to launch first so priority was paid to their completion. Email nurture campaigns and full-scale paid social media ad campaigns were ongoing throughout the project timeline, as a supplement to the Sweepstakes and Influencer programs. Streamer Community challenges were of lower priority in the ranking of this project, but still a factor in the grand scheme of the project. Active- and Post-campaign metric presentations were on-going throughout the project duration, with merchandise prizing fulfillment coupled with custom packaging would round out the collective campaign completion.Our team, lead by our Project Director, also consisted of a Copywriter and a Developer, with myself as the sole Designer undertaking every design-related instance. Our team created and executed marketing plans, guidance, and playbooks supporting each promotion, along with supporting weekly metrics.

Challenges

While this project was an exciting and motivating project to work on, it was not without its challenges. A project of this level required a meticulous plan that consisted of frequent milestone check-ins, all of which needed to be completed within tight guidelines. A project of this size was typically afforded a team of two to three designers, but I was entrusted by my Creative Director to tackle this project independently, with support being available, if needed. Within this timeline, coordination between Client and ISV for approval/sign-off on designed creatives needed to take place. In a busy company, in which involved parties have stacked schedules that need to be considered, as well as time zone considerations, finding available times that work for everyone can be an art form. A superimposed challenge to designing marketing imagery was having to understand and abide by the Client’s policy on weapons for a project that had a central theme of weapon use. This meant the avoidance of showcasing any form of weaponry or focused weaponry towards in-game characters in design content, for any public-facing channels. How do you design attractive marketing for a weapon-focused game without a trace of weapons? Finally, simultaneously juggling assets for numerous initiatives posed a challenge in ensuring the appropriate assets for this particular project were being used to market the product.

Solutions

The challenges above allowed me to think outside of the box, expanded my education and knowledge of the brand I was working with, and gaming as a whole, and provided me with the opportunity to grow and enrich my skills as a designer and collaborative team member. To start, time was spent combing over brand and visual guidelines of both Client and ISV,  to ensure my work aligned with the brand ideals and policies of both entities. (Insert specific information learned from webinars here– not everything, but I’d choose 1 or 2 things that really stuck out and elaborate on them). Additionally, I worked to research current and previous gaming titles of similar themes to identify successful trends in marketing design as to provide the best opportunities for my creatives to be successful for the Client and the campaign itself. Taking the information learned from these guidelines, coupled with my individual research, allowed me to generate an innovative visual campaign for the product. This was something that expanded my reach as a designer as it was not something with which I had extensive experience prior to this project. These informative and educational endeavors not only honed my experience in this area, but proved successful for the campaign and resulted in praise from the Client, resounding approval from Partners, and fostered their continued relationship with the organization. My collaboration skills were enriched through this project as well; morning stand-ups and daily project forecasts led to increased overall interaction with the team. Because of the challenges in coordinating the schedules, I made myself available during the work day, prioritizing the client’s needs, and also provided weekend and after-hours coverage for time-sensitive situations. For example, one Saturday afternoon, my Project Director reached out about a time-sensitive individualized sweepstakes landing page that had just gotten approval and was supposed to launch on the following Monday. Understanding project and Client priority, my weekend plans were restructured to accommodate the request, resulting in a successful Monday launch.

Conclusion

The outcomes of the project were greater than expected for Client, ISV, Partners, and our organization. The success of this major endeavor forged a stronger partnership with our Client and resulted in similar gaming campaigns for the next seven years, averaging 10-12 major AAA gaming titles per annum.  It also gave birth to an off-chute program that shared similar marketing tactics, but with a focus more inclined for Creative and Creators of digital arts, to which I also played a key role in similar fashions of the aforementioned. The project helped solidify my creativity and business acumen within my organization, and further endorsed my talents and reliability as a Designer and client-focused marketer. Because of this my Creative Director entrusted me to take lead on subsequent, similar-sized projects, independently. Using industry insights, and the experience from a project of this magnitude, allowed me to craft custom persona journeys to salient ROI-driven tactics, and execute successful campaign launches and reporting. Reflecting back on this program has left an indelible mark on my career and given merit to my talents as a Designer; capable of working both in a team unit and independently, and juggling multiple large-scale projects while working at a fast clip, all without sacrificing quality or customer satisfaction.