What it had to solve
Unite Netflix and PlayStation, two entertainment brands, around a PS5 launch that works for streamers and their audiences rather than as a conventional ad.
The idea
Turn the PS5 unboxing, a staple of streamer culture, into the first unboxing film shot live, with a horror-film plot around plugging in the console.
How it works
Film director Jaume Balagueró, of 'REC' and 'While You Sleep', developed the plot and direction. The piece was shot live on Ibai Llanos' Twitch channel, with Ibai having an immersive experience as he connects the new console.
What it did
FCB&FiRe reports the short film gained more than 3.3 million views in its first 24 hours and was livestreamed to over 200,000 viewers (agency-reported).
Background
In March 2021 LBB reported that, for the launch of the PlayStation 5, agency FCB&FiRe teamed up with Netflix and PlayStation to produce what it called the first-ever unboxing film shot live. The short film was created by the agency with Spanish film director Jaume Balagueró, known for the horror film 'REC' and 'While You Sleep'.
The experience was shot live on streamer Ibai Llanos' Twitch channel and livestreamed to over 200,000 viewers. Balagueró developed the plot and direction, in which Ibai goes through an immersive experience as he connects the new PS5.
FCB&FiRe CCO Alba Vence said the aim was to create new kinds of content, associated with entertainment leaders Netflix and PlayStation, while respecting the language codes of streamers. Content director Hernán Zamora described the challenge as uniting two entertainment brands and exploring a paradigm shift in advertising and in live-streaming.
The agency reported 3.3 million views of the film in less than 24 hours, and said the organic impact showed no audience is impenetrable with the right idea.
Why it lands
Unboxing is a ritual streamers already do, so the PS5 launch plugs into content people choose to watch.
A known horror director gave a live broadcast a scripted structure rather than a plain product demo.
Pairing Netflix and PlayStation made the stunt about entertainment, so both brands could share the audience.
What you can take
Meet a platform's native format, here the streamer unboxing, and add scripted craft to it, instead of importing a TV ad.
Since then
The source reports only the first-day figures: over 3.3 million views in 24 hours and a live audience above 200,000, both agency-reported.
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