Title | GAME OF TORRENTS |
Brand | MEDIA MARKT |
Product/Service | VIDEO |
Category |
B08. Use of Digital Platforms |
Entrant
|
WUNDERMAN Antwerp, BELGIUM
|
Idea Creation
|
WUNDERMAN Antwerp, BELGIUM
|
Additional Company
|
MEDIA MARKT Zellik, BELGIUM
|
Credits
Manuel Ostyn |
Wunderman Antwerp |
Creative Director |
Pieter Staes |
Wunderman Antwerp |
Creative Director |
Kasper Janssens |
Wunderman Antwerp |
Copywriter |
Arjen Tarras |
Wunderman Antwerp |
Art Director |
Seppe Dogge |
Wunderman Antwerp |
Account Manager |
Menno Van Riet |
Wunderman Antwerp |
Sound Engineer |
Julie Bogaerts |
Wunderman Antwerp |
Strategic Planner |
Margot Bracke |
Wunderman Antwerp |
Social Media Strategist |
Tim Ruts |
Freelance |
Editor |
Pieter Neirynck |
Freelance |
Director of Photography |
Giele Cools |
Wunderman Antwerp |
Digital Expert |
Why is this work relevant for Media?
The Game of Torrents campaign targeted illegal downloaders through a medium that they need to watch their favourite TV shows: subtitles. We uploaded alternative versions of subtitles on various subtitle platforms were they do part of their illegal downloading. A unique and refreshing way of using this medium to confront these internet pirates with their behaviour.
Background
On December 12th 2017 Game of Thrones season 7 launched worldwide on DVD and Blu-ray. In anticipation to the release, MediaMarkt, the biggest electronics retailer in Belgium,
asked us to promote their best deals on TV series.
Sadly, the Game of Thrones saga happens to be the most illegally downloaded TV show ever. Season 7 was already pirated more than one billion times and broke all illegal download records. Time to consider these illegal downloaders as a new target group.
Describe the creative idea/insights
In Belgium movies and series are never dubbed but sub-titled instead. When people illegally download a film or series through torrent websites like the Pirate Bay, they need a matching .srt file for subtitles. So on the biggest download platforms for subtitles we uploaded alternative versions. When internet pirates downloaded our files and watched their favourite shows they didn’t just read the translation. Out of the blue the subtitles confronted them with their illegal download behaviour. We even dropped some spoilers to really get their attention. Eventually we offered the poor souls a legal alternative: the best deals on series at criminally low prices.
Next to Game of Thrones we also altered subtitles from The Walking Dead, Vikings, Suits, Arrow, The Flash and The Big Bang Theory.
Describe the strategy
Game of Thrones is the most illegally downloaded TV show ever. The new season’s launch on DVD was the perfect moment to also target illegal downloaders for a change and consider them as a new target audience. To reach these illegal downloaders, we decided to use the platforms that they already use: websites where you can download sub-titles.
Describe the execution
We carefully selected during which scenes we wanted our sub-titles to suddenly change into an anti-piracy message and wrote them to fit the situation. The adapted subtitles were uploaded on 3 major subtitle platforms. In total, 198 files were available to download on subscene.com, tvsubs.net and tvsubtitles.net. We also created multiple accounts to upload all the files to make sure we stayed under the radar of the platforms administrators. Uploading started on November 16 2017 and all subtitles are still online today. The adapted files were written in Dutch and in French to target all illegal downloaders in Belgium.
List the results
The adapted subtitles were downloaded over 26.000 times and counting.
Sales of DVD’s during our clever promo campaign increased by 17% in comparison to the same period last year.