Building a Campaign Narrative
Execution
After the franchise took a two year hiatus for the first time in decades, I spent time diving into audience profiling, focussing on the needs and motivations for engagement and purchase. Understanding who came in at what point in a campaign, and what most excited them about NFS. In 2015, a campaign narrative supported and delivered core messaging to the fans by a series of key video drops.
Tease
Target: Core NFS fans and advocates (header video)
News: customisation; cops; night racing; variety of cars; graphics
E3
Target: Core gamers
News: gameplay; customisation; graphics; tease narrative
E3 Gameplay Demo
Target: Core gamers
News: gameplay; customisation; graphics; showcase narrative and real world blending tech
Gamescom
Target: Mass market gamers
News: showcase narrative; talent; graphics; gameplay
Icons
Target: Mass market gamers; car fanatics
News: introduce the icons; narrative; graphics; gameplay
Five Ways to Play
Target: Mass market gamers
News: gameplay; graphics; features; narrative
Cars & Customisation
Target: All
News: deep customisation details
Launch
Target: All
News: out now; gameplay; graphics; talent; narrative
Accolades
Target: All
News: out now; 3rd party endorsements
Results
The video series generated 28M organic views and 7.6M lifetime views (1,400% up from NFS Rivals) across Need for Speed videos, with 40K shares and 87% average view retention. The whole campaign delivered launch sales of 300% above target.
Credits
Brand Marketing: Edd Newby-Robson; Will Graham; Arjun Shah; Daniel Mortsell
Community & Content: Ben Walke; Jon Cole
Marketing Art & Video: James Ricker