PUMA ALONZO'S VIRTUAL MUSIC TOUR ON GTA
THE CASE
OBJECTIVES
In the context of the pandemic, PUMA wanted to carry out an action that brought the best real life events (canceled due to the situation) closer to the French, in an innovative way and, of course, in an environment that was safe of the coronavirus.
INSIGHT
Beginning of March, French President Macron announced that the country would be under a very strict lockdown to fight against COVID virus. It was a very difficult moment for music fans since all live music shows were cancelled.
Over the years, PUMA, a German multinational corporation that designs and manufactures athletic and casual footwear, apparel, and accessories, has created strong relationships with many artists. As an entertainment enabler, the brand had to play a key role to bring fans closer to their favorite artists.
During the lockdown, Alonzo, a famous French rapper and PUMA brand ambassador released a special EP “Pack de 6” and he wanted to bring this music piece of content to his fans in a proper way. To respect its claim #StrongerTogether especially created during the crisis, PUMA had to do something for Alonzo and his fans!
There was a city that was COVID free without any lockdown, City of Los Santos in GTA V. Even if GTA V was released in 2013, this video game is still bought massively and on Twitch the game is regularly classified among Top 5 streamed games. Could this be the perfect ‘’virtual’’ location for Alonzo’s concert? Hip hop music being part of the GTA DNA, the idea was not that crazy…
IDEA & STRATEGY
We decided to make the city of Los Santos in GTA V our virtual location to create a live music show. It would be a live performance by a real artist (Alonzo) in the virtual city of GTA V.
To make sure everyone knew about the event, we would announce the live a few days before on Twitch, Twitter and Instagram.
Media strategy was 100% focus on PR. Core hip hop medias and influencers have been targeted to amplify the live experience and drive traffic the night of the show.
EXECUTION
To be able to host this concert we had to enter in the game, so we had to digitalize all the assets that compose the live event.
So, with his help we designed a virtual Alonzo, from his haircut to his face until his sunglasses. With Puma, we integrated official clothes and RSX3 shoes in the game to dress Alonzo’s character.
We picked the famous Vinewood Bowl as the live stage and with Camak’s Team and Alonzo, we worked on the scenography to connect the track list with visual effects.
To attend the show you had 2 options, in-game through the point of view of your game character or through a Twitch channel.
Once we had the artist, the stage, and the broadcast, we could start the show.
For the live, Alonzo was behind his microphone to perform a set of songs including hits from “Pack de 6”, in the game, Camak took the control of Alonzo character to let the artist focus on his art. All the moves done by the character were developed and validated for the show.
At the end of the show, real Alonzo surprised his fans appearing in the livestream. Camak and him had a kind talk and the artist asked several questions coming from the Twitch chat.
RESULTS
The campaign was a huge success. It was the first time something like that was done in France, we managed to engage the gaming and music community on this event.
-
1.4 million estimated impressions of #PumaMusicTour from Twitch, Twitter and Instagram.
-
The campaign generated more PR than any PUMA French campaigns.
-
Trending Topic, 13, on Twitter in France the day of the event (04/24).
-
10K peak Live viewers on Twitch during the event.
-
A total of 60K viewers throughout the event.
-
1M comments on Twitch.
-
The event raised more than 2K€ from the Twitch community for the Foundation of Marseille. That is particularly good as it's on average 16€/pax and from a community on Twitch more used to micro-donations it's a good insight.
-
11,3M estimated impressions by press release (in France and Europe) with press coverage of more than 100 media (France Info / Ouest France / Le Parisien / MTV / La Provence / AFP / Mouv / Booska P / Le Monde / Le Figaro…), for a 10K€ activation budget.
