What it had to solve
A three-minute online film aimed at the gaming community, fronted by creators its audience already watches.
The idea
Stage the traffic-dodging game Crossy Road in real life, with two YouTube stars taking turns while each sabotages the other's run.
How it works
JWT's experiential division built the live version of the app game; YouTube stars Miniminter and Tbjzl fronted the film, running on YouTube via TrueView and the vloggers' own pages plus Facebook, with QR codes on the new packaging driving viewers to the content.
What it did
No view or sales figures reported in the coverage; the film doubled as the destination for the QR codes on KitKat's new packs.
Background
In May 2016 KitKat ran a campaign that physically rebuilt the mobile game Crossy Road. J. Walter Thompson London's experiential division staged a live-action version of the traffic-dodging hit, fronted by YouTube stars Miniminter and Tbjzl, who take turns trying to complete the real-world game while the other does his best to hamper his friend's progress.
The three-minute online film was built for the gaming community and distributed where that community already lived: YouTube, through both TrueView and the vloggers' own pages, plus Facebook. The campaign also served the product — KitKat's new packaging carried QR codes that took users straight to the YouTube content, making the snack pack the entry point to the film.
The credits ran deep for an online film: executive creative director Russell Ramsey, creatives Fernando Barbella and Barry Christie, media by Zenith Optimedia, director Connor Pearce, and an event manager on the live build — a full experiential production dressed up as influencer content.
Why it lands
Crossy Road's endless-traffic premise translates naturally into a physical challenge an audience can score and share.
Miniminter and Tbjzl brought the gaming community's own voices, so the film reads as content first and advertising second.
The duel format manufactures comedy — sabotage is funnier than cooperation — and rewatchability.
QR-coded packaging tied a mass-market product directly to a niche online audience without spending on reach.
What you can take
Meet a gaming audience through its own creators and its own games — then let the pack itself be the media that delivers the film.
Since then
The film ran through 2016 on YouTube and Facebook with pack QR codes pointing to it; Campaign's report carried no view counts or sales results.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The sources
- KitKat 'crossy road' by J Walter Thompson qa.campaignlive.co.uk