Case Study: SAPPHIRE rozGRYwka

Challenge

The main target group for graphics card producers are gamers. This group is changing dynamically. Younger generations of gamers are getting less and less interested in technical details of the hardware they use. Their basic requirement becomes simple – right upon start up, the hardware should work efficiently with a specific game.

Along with the changes in the target group, the media that have been the main communication channel for graphics card producers are also changing. Specialized technology media are losing their reach and significance. Also the number of journalists who deal with niche technology topics is decreasing.

In addition, products of different graphics card brands don’t differ too much between one another. Recognition and emotional attitude towards a brand are becoming crucial when reaching new customers.

SAROTA PR agency faced the challenge of extending and enhancing brand awareness of SAPPHIRE, taking the changes undergoing in the PC hardware industry into account. In order to adapt to this situation, the agency needed to find an alternative form of communication that would effectively reach gamers and create a bond and positive connotations between them and the SAPPHIRE's brand.

Solution

The SAROTA PR team decided to take advantage of a popular trend among gamers that consists in watching and creating gameplays, i.e. videos featuring PC game scenarios with commentary.

We invited gamers to have fun with creating their own gameplays. The videos were to be submitted in a special app in the SAPPHIRE Technology Polska's fanpage on Facebook. Patryk "Rojo" Rojewski – a gamer and one of the most popular Polish YouTube vloggers – became the campaign’s ambassador and a judge in the contest.

The participants uploaded their videos to YouTube. Each video started with a special board including information on the campaign, prizes and the SAPPHIRE brand. Thanks to that, every video entry submitted in the contest contributed to the overall promotional effect.

Simultaneous use of Facebook and YouTube was aimed at bringing synergy to our efforts.

SAPPHIRE rozGRYwka was provided with a media sponsorship of two Poland’s leading PC gaming and hardware websites – gram.pl and benchmark.pl.

A press release about the contest was distributed among selected media.

Effects

The SAPPHIRE Technology Polska’s fanpage tripled the number of its fans from 7 to 23 thousand, thus becoming the Facebook leader among graphics card producers in the Polish market.

Gamers submitted 960 video entries which received 91% of positive feedback from viewers. During the campaign, videos were viewed over 530,000 times… and still counting.

The campaign-related content was commented over 7,000 times, and its impressions totaled 1,383,000.

Since the campaign’s conclusion, the SAPPHIRE Technology Polska’s fanpage has been regularly rated in Sotrender rankings, which demonstrates the lasting effect of the SAPPHIRE rozGRYwka campaign. In April 2013, the fanpage gained the highest percentage of engaged fans in the category of IT/Electronics, outstripping pages of such brands as Samsung, Nokia or Intel. In September 2013 report, the page was ranked third in the ranking of interactivity, and fifth in the ranking of fan engagement.

The campaign was awarded with Golden Clip 2013 in Social Media category - the most prominent PR industry award in Poland.

      

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