Case Study: Saint’s Row

Introduction:

From jumping out of planes to hacking the UK singles charts (and achieving a top 30 hit along the way!), our campaign to build hype and awareness around the re-release of video game, Saints Row, was one of our most ambitious yet.

The challenge:

Deep Silver’s brief was simple; get people excited. Instil nostalgia in millennials who would have played the game as teenagers, and create intrigue in Gen Zers (the most active gamer generation ever).

The solution:

We decided early on in the process to concentrate on quality over quantity influencers, partnering with creators that would truly deliver on our creative vision and bring to life this incredible game.

Phase 1 (pre-launch): With a message of ‘Be your own boss’, six YouTube creators produced content as varied as ‘generating an in-game car then bringing it to life’ to ‘hacking the UK singles charts with a Saints Row themed song’. This culminated in two meet and greet live events (London and LA) where fans could play the game alongside the creators themselves.

Phase 2 (launch): 21 influencers across the three territories created their own gameplay content across Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and TikTok to drive even more awareness of the launch. To ensure the content stayed fresh, we developed different creative strategies amongst each influencer, from co-op gameplay and walk-throughs, to best bits and in-game challenges!

The result:

The creativity and success of this campaign has been recognised at the 2023 Drum Awards for Marketing (Americas) under Best Social Media! See some of the results below to find out why.