Title | SPACE BONUS |
Brand | WORLD OF TANKS |
Product/Service | WORLD OF TANKS, VIDEO GAME |
Category |
A07. Excellence in Brand Integration & Sponsorships / Partnerships for Branded Content |
Entrant
|
WARGAMING Nicosia, CYPRUS
|
Idea Creation
|
WARGAMING Nicosia, CYPRUS
|
Media Placement
|
WARGAMING Nicosia, CYPRUS
|
PR
|
WARGAMING Nicosia, CYPRUS
|
Production
|
WARGAMING Nicosia, CYPRUS
|
Credits
Darya Khysh |
Wargmaing Group Limited |
Special Projects Manager |
Alexander Bobko |
Wargmaing Group Limited |
Special Projects Manager |
Sandro Gelashvili |
Wargmaing Group Limited |
Head of Creative Agency |
Vladimir Mogilevets |
Wargmaing Group Limited |
Creative Director |
Anna Tishkevich |
Wargmaing Group Limited |
Creative Copywriter |
Kirill Nechaev |
Wargmaing Group Limited |
Art Director |
Andrei Andrushevich |
Wargmaing Group Limited |
Designer |
Aleksandr Lupashko |
Wargmaing Group Limited |
Designer |
Dzmitry Hrubin |
Wargmaing Group Limited |
Designer |
Vyacheslav Stasenko |
Wargmaing Group Limited |
Designer |
Alexey Kalosha |
Wargmaing Group Limited |
Artist |
Nadezhda Pertsova |
Wargmaing Group Limited |
Copywriter |
Denis Shlykov |
Wargmaing Group Limited |
Copywriter |
Vitaly Narkevich |
Wargmaing Group Limited |
Editor |
Yuriy Ocheretyanyy |
Wargmaing Group Limited |
Sound Designer |
Pavel Rapinchuk |
Wargmaing Group Limited |
Sound Designer |
Vitalia Mironenko |
Wargmaing Group Limited |
Project Manager |
Ekaterina Glinskaya |
Wargmaing Group Limited |
Producer |
Why is this work relevant for Entertainment?
Video games are one of the biggest growing entertainment media and, in certain countries, are bigger than the film and music industries combined. The idea was to create something which was an amalgamation of both real-world and in-game events.
Background
20th July 1969. “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” The day the Space Race effectively ended. Ever since, space has been gradually losing its appeal in Eastern Europe, whereas in the Western world, it’s still booming thanks to great advancements and breakthroughs in astronautics.
The overall idea was to reignite Eastern European players’ interest in space, while also creating an event which was relevant for a global audience.
Describe the creative idea
World of Tanks celebrates and commemorates Cosmonautics Day (12th April) every year as players share a keen interest in history and the cosmos. The game is part and parcel of Russian and Eastern European life, meaning by launching such an event, space would become part of everyday conversation once again.
Describe the strategy
Our players in Russia and Eastern Europe are proud of their history, and space exploration is one of the pinnacles. Yuri Gagarin, Laika, Valentina Tereshkova: each one a national hero in the former Soviet countries. We decided to further this pride and passion for the past and give our players an opportunity to engage with cosmonauts currently stationed on the ISS. We wanted to reinforce the connection between space and World of Tanks, all while getting them closer to their heroes.
Describe the execution
Partnering up with Roscosmos (the corporation for the Russian Federation’s cosmonautics programs), a three-day event was designed with a large-scale phygital concept which revolved around the International Space Station. Anytime the ISS was in a player’s Earthly time zone, they could earn in-game Space Bonus rewards, which included special tank skins and unique crew skins.
To support the event, a live Q&A stream with astronauts currently aboard the ISS was held, where viewers could put their questions directly to those people out of this world.
Describe the outcome
Over a three-day period, average in-game session length grew by 14% and more than 1,580,000 players were able to get closer to space than ever before. Of those, 760,000 tankers earned in-game Space Bonus rewards.
Outside the game, multiple news articles were created in relation to the Space Bonus event. Headlines included: “New Space Crews Are Here in World of Tanks”, “World of Tanks Fans Will Receive Tasks from Out of This World” and “Wargaming Establishes a Connection with Space”. Comments on social media went even further, Wargaming was even asked “when will a tank be sent into space?”.