the 2013 sponsored content - event marketer · sparks, featured conference rooms on the second...
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68 EVENT MARKETER AUGUST 2013 www.eventmarketer.com
SPONSORED CONTENT
CASE STUDIES OF EXCELLENCE
THE 2013
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G ame publisher Tecmo Koei snagged an awesome location for this year’s E3 conference in Los Angeles. The booth was right inside a hall that contained the “big three”—Sony,
Microsoft and Nintendo, two of whom were launching new gaming consoles. The location earned Tecmo Koei a ton of press, but it did present a bit of a challenge because the booth itself was narrow, approximately 100-feet by 30-feet, and there were gaming stations, gaming titles and other experiences that needed to be arranged appropriately within it.
Sparks’ solution for Tecmo Koei’s exhibit was to go up, to burst through the sensory clutter and literally stand taller than its not-so-subtle neighbor Sony. Sparks’ creative team worked closely with the client to develop a design solution that incorporated an “umbrella” effect, which began 25-feet in the air with a red archway featuring the Tecmo name spanning the length of the booth. This resulted in a near visual blockage of Sony as attendees came through the door, and it helped Tecmo earn company name equity and credibility in a show where, often, game titles are more recognized by attendees than the game publishers themselves.
“The first thought attendees were faced with as they entered the show room was ‘Where did Sony go?’ Then, they were drawn to the presence of Tecmo Koei and the personality—the game titles, the stations, the graphics—down below,” says David Fekete, vp-strategic accounts at Sparks. “It was a tall, high-impact, here-we-are, this-is-what-we’re-doing, come-play-with-us, effect.”
The double-deck rental hybrid exhibit, designed and built by Sparks, featured conference rooms on the second floor. Sixteen
PlayStation 3 stations and 16 Xbox 360 stations were in use throughout each day for demos. In addition, DJ’s performing in the booth daily and two photo opp backdrops, representing Tecmo titles Dynasty Warriors and Dead or Alive 5, made the booth a hot attendee hangout. One of the world’s top female gamers also made a surprise appearance, defeating 75 attendees in the booth.
Sparks leaned heavily on technology to create a larger-than-life persona for the brand, and also strategically arranged experiences to take advantage of the booth’s challenging shape. Gaming stations with extra-large screens were placed along the length of space on the edge of the main aisle in the convention hall, solving traffic flow issues. As a serendipitous bonus, the day following the evening launch of Sony’s new PlayStation 4, Sony’s exhibit experienced massive traffic jams. Attendees spilled down the aisle and into the Tecmo exhibit, right along the row of gaming stations and titles the brand wanted to promote.
“We wanted gameplay and the event aspects on the main aisle and we pushed the business to the other side,” Fekete said. “Through this two-story structure, the conference rooms became
this corporate building contained within this Tecmo gaming world and it created this full brand experience.”
Together, Sparks and Tecmo Koei were able to garner press, accommodate attendee foot traffic and nudge out the big boys in a game very well played.
JANE [email protected]
CAMPAIGN: TECMO KOEI AT E3CLIENT: TECMO KOEIAGENCY: SPARKS