Winners & Shortlists

PLAYSTATION SHOCKS

TitlePLAYSTATION SHOCKS
BrandSONY PLAYSTATION BENELUX
Product/ServiceGAMES
Category A04. AMBIENT MEDIA: LARGE SCALE
Entrant Company TBWA\BELGIUM Brussels, BELGIUM
Advertising Agency TBWA\BELGIUM Brussels, BELGIUM
Media Agency OMD Brussels, BELGIUM
Production Company SAKE Elsene, BELGIUM
Credits
Name Company Position
Gert Pauwels TBWA Belgium Creative Director
Jochen De Greef TBWA Belgium Client Service Director
Joachim Francois TBWA Belgium Account Manager
Jeroen Bostoen TBWA Belgium Art Director
Pol Sierens TBWA Belgium Copywriter
Rindert Dalstra TBWA Belgium Strategic Planner
Sarah Bornauw SAKE Producer
Jan Pollet SAKE Sound Engineer
Xavier Pouleur SAKE Motion Graphics
Dan DAN Brussels Digital Coordination/Tech Lab

The Brief

March 2014. PlayStation launches Infamous Second Son, a sequel game for PS4 with not much new to tell, except small improvements like better graphics and AI. Research on the prequels showed one important USP of the main game character: electricity, an important feature in the game where the main hero has to reload his electrical powers and use this to defend himself. What if we could make people actually discover how that feels, online and offline? Both were equally important, since PlayStation stands for being an experience brand in the real world, but also in the online (gaming) world.

Creative Execution

The launch took place - in real time - in stations and cinema theaters to invite commuters and cinema goers to shock themselves. As the main character of the game does also. That created social UGC content for Infamous and acted as base to make our viral video. Since PlayStation had a vast database of opt-ins, we also send a newsletter to all users and specific game fans, we targeted them via e-CRM to launch all creative material.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

What if we could make people actually discover how electricity feels? We built a machine that created electricity that functioned the way an electric fence does: small amperage, high voltage. A shock was intense enough to get a great facial reaction. Visually we made it exactly like a giant power socket: since you're a child you're taught not to put your fingers in the socket. And that's exactly what we asked people to do. People who dared to put their fingers in the sockets could win games and goodies. The goal of this stage was to capture the face someone made when subjected to electricity, and post that video on his or her Facebook page.

Results

Our booths reached over 10.000 people in train stations and movie theaters. Thrilled participants could share their personal clips, reaching countless more. The final compilation film reached over 170.000 views on YouTube. Our PlayStation newsletters with 'electric' videos generated another 250.000 views on our own PS network. In Belgium we noticed 5% increase in sales (towards the three prequels).