World of Warcraft: Classic
Client:
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Blizzard Entertainment, known for creating the massively multiplayer online role-playing game "World of Warcraft" released in 2004
My Role:
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This campaign was completed in September 2019 as a solo personal project.
The Brief:
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Blizzard Entertainment is releasing “World of Warcraft: Classic” on the 27th August 2019, a re-creation of the original iteration of the World of Warcraft MMO which was active during the time period of 2004 – 2006.
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The current 2019 version of World of Warcraft, due to being an online service, has been significantly altered by from this original state by 15 years of updates, and therefore this new product presents players with an opportunity to re-visit the original World of Warcraft experience.
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The goal of this campaign is to create awareness of the product within the target audience, as well as to communicate to current, past and prospective players the unique experience provided by World of Warcraft: Classic of re-living an iconic cultural experience from the 2004-2006 era.
Target Market:
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Men & Women aged 20-35
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Members of this target audience are likely developing within their professional lives, allowing for less time to engage with video game products and valuing the ability to re-visit quality experiences they are familiar with.
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Members of this target audience have commonly engaged with video game products as a hobby for a significant portion of their lives, and the original World of Warcraft was released during the formative time period of their childhood/adolescence.
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Many members of this target audience have likely played World of Warcraft in the past due to its popularity from 2004 - 2010, however many have also likely since quit the game due to increased life responsibilities and the game's declining popularity.
Insights:
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1. The customer base of World of Warcraft has been significantly declining since 2011 and is currently at its lowest point since 2007.
World of Warcraft: Classic presents an opportunity to re-capture a significant portion of this lost audience.
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2. World of Warcraft has a long history within popular culture, and references to memorable events would allow for audiences to re-call their own past experiences with the game while positioning the product as an iconic cultural moment of the 2004-2006 era.
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3. The outdated graphical style of World of Warcraft: Classic would allow for advertising to contrast with the sleek design of the modern gaming industry, while evoking nostalgia within the target market for their childhood/adolescent gaming experiences.
The Idea:
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This campaign will leverage associations unique to the World of Warcraft: Classic experience and the 2004-2006 time period, to remind the target audience of why they valued the original World of Warcraft product during its initial popularity while also eliciting nostalgia for the cultural products their childhood/adolescence period.
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By utilizing the outdated 2004 graphical style of World of Warcraft: Classic, this campaign will instantly differentiate this product from the modern gaming industry and evoke nostalgia within the target audience for their childhood/adolescent gaming experiences.
Executions:
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Instagram:
This is an advertising execution for the platform Instagram, where outdated computer graphics and sounds are combined with references to memorable events from the 2004 - 2006 era for the purposes of evoking nostalgia within the target audience while making the advert stand out in comparison to modern design of Instagram ads.
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This advertising format was designed to be easily re-usable, where the cultural references featured can be swapped for others based upon the segment of the target audience being targeted by a particular advert.
Print Advert:
This is an advertising execution for print media, where retro computer hardware and software are used to capture the attention of readers due to it's familiar, yet outdated, design.
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This imagery was also used in an attempt to remind the target audience of the 2004 - 2006 time period, and memories of themselves using similar computer equipment to play video games.
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The background imagery was intentionally placed behind the computer screen, in an attempt to depict the computer as a portal to access the vast online world available in World of Warcraft.
Billboard Advert:
This is an execution for digital billboard advertising placement, where a loading bar design is used to portray messages relevant to the value of World of Warcraft: Classic and remind viewers of relevant cultural events involving the game.
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The loading bar design also serves to attract the attention of viewers by using an outdated graphical style and an unusual design which contrasts with that of surrounding digital billboard adverts.