CASE STUDY: Euro RSCG brings Medal of Honour to life for EA Singapore

Background
EA Games’ newest game, Medal of Honour, is a first-person shooter game that is set in World War II.

Aim
To drive buzz around the launch of the Medal Of Honor game in Singapore – particularly on the EA Singapore Facebook fan page – and to bring fans of the series into the war itself.

Strategy
The campaign began with a hijacking – an organisation calling itself the Authority for Responsible Gaming (ARG) hacked Electronic Arts Singapore Facebook page. The ARG claimed it wanted to protect the innocence of Singaporean youths, and announced Medal of Honor had been banned in Singapore.

Over several hours, the “hijiacking” sparked a flurry of reactions ranging from outrage to amusement, and the story was picked up by local media. But when the ARG linked to its own site, sharp-eyed fans noticed something strange about the site’s pictures. By piecing together a series of numbers in the photos, they uncovered an IP address, which directed fans to a registration page for Medal of Honor recruitment trials.

Execution
Following the sign-ups, eDMs were sent out to aspiring participants with initial clues that would provide them with information on how to prove that they were worthy of being bona fide recruits. But first, they had to unravel a series of intricate clues spread across eDM, Youtube, SMS, in-store videos, and finally Google Maps. The clues led to a secret time, place, and location – where those considered worthy would be transformed into living, breathing, instruments of war.

The 'Final Showdown' was a Round Robin paintball tournament where recruits were split into four groups to pit their warrior skills against one another. The event allowed fans to discuss the game and form strategic alliances with one another, share feedback about the event and the challenge, and mingle with EA Singapore representatives.

Winners of the Paintball received Medal of Honor replicas for their efforts.

Results
Over 200 fans signed up for the challenge, with 34 participating in the final event. Participants at the event managed to meet fellow fans when pitted together during paintball.

Facebook fans increased 20 per cent over the campaign period.

The event helped nurture an influential group of dedicated fans, driving significant growth for the Facebook page which has doubled in size to over 20,000 fans since the campaign period.

The campaign was picked up by local and international bloggers and game review sites