How do you reignite the community of a five-year-old mobile game that's been losing players, and introduce an origin story without alienating existing fans? Here's what we did:
For Brawl Stars' 5th anniversary, we launched Starr Park CCTV, a six-week story scavenger hunt that took players back to the game's setting in 1995 through a security room simulation. For the in-game event, we brought Starr Park to life in Unreal Engine, streaming "live" across 54 cameras. Over six weeks, players sifted through 55 hours of animation and used hidden time codes from social media to unlock major story drops, while exploring security logs and voicemails in the room. The campaign attracted 89 million visits and inspired over 8,500 fan videos on YouTube and TikTok, amassing 130 million views without any media spend, boosting player numbers to a three-year high.
Story development and creative direction of world building cinematic animations for the Brawl Stars mobile game. The animated shorts were developed mostly for the huge player base of Brawl Stars as mini stories that expand the game’s cinematic universe, while attracting new fans with entertaining content.
Brawl Stars is a multiplayer online battle arena mobile game with a massive global player community. It is created by the Helsinki based gaming company Supercell that also created Clash of Clans, Clash Royale along with other top grossing mobile games.
THE ASK
Generate buzz and relevance for Brawl Stars mobile game among the TikTok community with a hashtag challenge that utilizes elements from the game.
IDEA
Every character in Brawl Stars has a unique “super” ability that the players can access by using the “super button”. So we wanted to create a hashtag challenge that enables all TikTok users to show off their own super powers - everything from balancing a spoon on their nose to vertical pushups to burping the alphabet- by using the “super button” from the Brawl Stars game play.
METHODOLOGY
Design a branded effect that provides a powerful transformation while keeping it close to the behavior of the super button in the game. Find and edit the right music to fit with the choreography required for the challenge. Find the right set of creators to kick off the challenge.
RESULTS
The most viral hashtag challenge in TikTok history with 65 Billion views up to date. (Yes billion) This is a result of 7 Million videos generated by the TikTok community to join our hashtag challenge.
For the launch of the new Nike React running shoes, we hacked in-store trialling and wired up a game played by running. ‘Reactland’ is an immersive experience installed in stores around China where shoppers would run on a treadmill and become the heroes of a game. Players would control an avatar of themselves running through a fantastical land that represented the attributes of the shoe (soft, light and bouncy). Players would leave the experience with a 10 second video of themselves running through ‘Reactland’ to share on social media.
The experience has successfully converted 48% of players to purchase the shoes which is more than double Nike’s usual conversion rate.
The project created huge buzz on social media with thousands of people sharing their customized video. The story was picked up by Washington Post, BBC News, Creativity, Adage along with 80 media publications globally.
Reactland boldly reimagined retail by blurring the line between gaming and shoe trialing. It created a new way to do product showcase and education that perfectly combined entertainment and social sharing. And is already being adapted by Nike Germany and Taiwan.
PRESS
To communicate Nike global message ‘Running makes the world go round’, we hijacked the spherical metro city globe building in Shanghai and turned it into an interactive spinning globe that made runners literally feel on top of the world. On top of the building we installed a 5 meter invisible screen. Across the road runners could run on a treadmill and magically appear on top of the building. The quicker you ran, the quicker you made the world go round. Runners’ names were also projected onto the globe such as “Su Bing Tian makes the world go round” to deliver a strong message in China about the power of running, and encourage everyone across the nation to get out there and run.
In less than 2 hours over 2 million people watched the livestream. Over a 2 day period the total online & offline impressions stood at 104 million.
PRESS:
What would it feel like to have an amazing zoom camera phone that goes the distance that no other phone has gone before?
As sporty as BMW cars are, the brand also wants to appeal to parents who need more than just “driving pleasure”. So for the launch of new X3, we made a short film that targets those young parents and announced it on Father’s Day.
We wanted to make something that can resonate with our target audience on an emotional level and recognize their struggle of balancing both professional and family responsibilities through the imaginative eyes of a kid. We dedicated the film “to those, whose superpower is to always be there for us”.
The short version of the trailer served as a launch TV spot for the new BMW X3, as the longer format was shown at the launch event and was broadcast on all online channels in China.
During the launch of Nike Reacts in China, we made a series of videos where local athletes and celebrities explain what it feels like to be running with the softest, lightest and the most bouncy shoe of all time: Nike React. Celebrities shared their own animated stories with their social followers to spread the word. Fun stuff.
When asked to launch Mattress Firm's most technologically advanced line of mattresses, we put all the tropes of a high profile tech launch in good use. Hired people who make Apple commercials, brought Steve Wozniak to launch it, also leaked the intel to Wired right before the launch. And signed off appropriately. #TechnologyToPowerOff
And got noted here in Fast Company.
The brief was to make a brand film that illustrates Android's tagline "Be together. Not the same." For this film, we took the hand gestures from the game of rock, paper, scissors where they constantly beat each other and turned them into the characters of a narrative where they learn to be together despite their differences.
Set to John Parr's 1985 number one hit "St. Elmo's Fire", the spot received some pretty epic response when it aired during the Oscars. It was a lot of fun working on this as a former cartoonist.
ADWEEK
Ad of the Day: Oscar Viewers Fall in Love With Android's Game of Rock, Paper, Scissors
AGENCY OF THE YEAR
10 of the Best Ads That Highlighted Droga5's Craftsmanship and Creativity in 2016
TIME
Google uses Rock Paper Scissors to attack Apple for being boring
THE VERGE
Android’s latest commercial has Rock Paper and Scissors becoming BFF’s.
THE MIRROR
Androids Rock Paper Scissors anti-bullying ad is the real winner at the oscars
ABC NEWS
Google's New Android Commercial Is an Oscars Hit
MASHABLE
Android charms everyone with Rock Paper, Scissors anit-bullying message during the oscars.
AD AGE
Rock, Paper and Scissors Make Friends in Android's Oscar's Spot
CNET
Google tackles bullying in Oscars Ad
GLOBAL NEWS
The real winner of the Oscars? Androids Rock Paper Scissors Commercial.
PC MAGAZINE
'Rock, Paper, Scissors' Android Ad Puts Cute Spin on Fragmentation
TECH TIMES
New Rock Paper Scissors Ad scores against Anti-Bullying
CARTOON BREW
Rock paper scissors was another big animation winner of the oscars
PHONE ARENA
Rock Paper Scissors are together but not the same in Googles new Android ad.
My first film in Android’s brand campaign "Be together. Not the same." For this film we wanted to give our prime smartphone navigating tool—our fingers—a small armless society of their own where everyone is as unique as their fingerprints but come together in fun and unexpected ways. We partnered with the Oscar nominated director PES to bring the idea to life.
As Americans we are sleeping less now than ever before. And bad sleep leads to dumb decisions. Says science.
As the proud sponsor of well-slept on decisions (with T&N’s 100 day return policy) we collaborated with comedian Neal Brennan to create the first lie-down comedy show where he roasts the most questionable decisions of 2019 that we should have slept on—all from the comfort of his Tuft & Needle mattress.
“Sleep on it, America” kicked off a greater social campaign inviting people to submit their most questionable decisions for a chance to win a free Tuft & Needle mattress.
PRESS
With 6000 experts in 133 countries, IBM monitors more than 20 billion security events every day to keep your data safe. That's a lot of work. Yet the only time we hear about data security is when there is a breach. How about we change that?
IBM tracks every piece of match data at the US Open. To bring it to life, we turned the data into 15-second animations on Instagram that went live less than a minute after each set ended. Each told the story of that set through its data – so fans knew immediately why a player was winning, or losing. To create the custom animations in real time, an algorithm helped us choose combinations of animations and colors for every single set. Each video was shared to the IBM Sports and US Open Instagram feeds. Awards & Recognition: D&AD Yellow Pencil, One Show Gold, Cannes Silver Lion, Google Creative Sandbox, The FWA Mobile of the Day
This year, IBM celebrated 100 years of "THINK". To commemorate that, we created a series of narrative TV spots that each delve into a different area that IBM is making smarter through technology. These spots aired during the Masters Golf Tournament.
For the Smarter Questions campaign we asked 18 provocative questions to business leaders and turned them into custom-built installations. All made on camera and in the shape of IBM's smarter planet icon. I was heavily involved in designing each set.
BRIEF
Come up with a digital platform idea for the launch of Tiffany's new watches collection. Strengthen the brand’s connection with timepieces, in a way that is unique to
New York.
IDEA
Turn Manhattan's unique grid system into a functioning clock filled with unique New York minutes in the form of video, photography, sound and writing. Define and own the
New York minute.
I/O is the biggest Google event on the planet held in San Francisco. As the agency of the record for Android we were tasked to show the power of code in the context of a mobile device. For the event we created two Android based projects: Paint Party and Paper Planes. See case studies below.
Here are some other Google projects I worked on when I was at Droga5:
Pixel launch campaign, 2016.
Android Pay film, 2015.
Everybody knows their business needs better internet. Except this guy.
TV + Pre-roll
Mornings are hard. But when you have the IKEA bedroom customized for your needs, you can get the perfect lift off and launch into your day. W+K Shanghai
E*Trade wanted say goodbye to its longtime spokes baby in this 30 second spot which I had the good fortune to write with my partner.
Every year IBM earns more patents than any other company. While the innovations and achievement are spectacular, the patent documents themselves are aesthetically underwhelming. To honor IBM’s 20-year winning streak we showcased the record in a manner worthy of the achievement—translating intellectual property into works of art. Awards: Cannes Bronze Lion, Silver Clio, 3 One Show Merits, LIA Bronze.
Key visual and poster design for TEDx New York event: Grand, Central. Winner of 2016 Graphis Poster Annual.
This animated short explains how IBM's cloud technology is used in the making of bone transplants in Italy.
Lessons From the Far Edge of business. This single-panel comic series on Gizmodo showcases some of the less-then-ideal alternatives to using IBM tech in the workplace.
Print ad for bose lifestyle 35 sound system. Printed in Epica Book 18 (Europe's Best Advertising)
I wrote and directed this short promo for the Brooklyn Film Festival’s decoy edition. It was animated with the help of my friend for zero dollars back in 2012. So it looks more like a sketch of what I wanted to do but I still like it.
A flock of wild letters get lured by the presence of two decoy letter O’s on the lake and land near them; just to be hunted down and bleed beautifully to form the logo of Brooklyn Film Festival.
The exhibition took place at the 57th cannes lions advertising festival 2009. It was basically designed to showcase the work of Heflinreps illustrators to the advertising and design professionals. Conceptualized, designed and directed by Okan Usta.
