C.o.d Warzone 36-hour brief
The year was 2021 and I had yet to dip my toes in the pool of creative briefing. I heard of a competition where the goal was to create a brief in one weekend. Challenge accepted! Prompted with a mock-up client brief, it was our job to research, develop, and perfect a creative brief in just over 36 hours. The brand was Call of Duty Warzone, and they wanted to become "the most influential entertainment brand". Challenge accepted... again.
Objective
Expand awareness and start conversations across platforms
Problem
Development has become static
Insight
Variety is a driving force for this generation
Strategy
Embrace innovation through pop culture
Background on Call of Duty
Call of Duty is a first-person-shooting (FPS) game that paved the way for FPS games as a whole. COD had squad-style gaming which developed a sense of community and opportunity for making friends within the gaming world. Basically, small steps in the game itself led to giant leaps in the industry.
The objective
Expand awareness and start conversations across platforms
So what's standing in the way?
Outside of the gaming world COD is not as innovative as its competitors. Warzone is their attempt to break out, but it's been done. Their innovation is stuck in the gaming world, which has caused them to lose the younger audience. Let's take a further look at COD's competitors.
Take Netflix
They create original content that can only be seen on their platform. Their show Sex Education has 400 million regular viewers and over 5 billion results when googled!
They host virtual concerts that increase traction. Travis Scott's virtual concert grossed 12.3 million live viewers and 185 million views on YouTube after the fact. Ariana Grande's virtual concert not only appealed to a completely new audience but grossed 641 thousand viewers and 6.8 million views on YouTube!
Or Fortnite
This leads us to our problem
COD's development has become static
By conducting a series of interviews we came to a couple of conclusions that led to our insight and strategy.
"
I used to play COD but it got boring so I switched to story games, now I don't even play first person shooting games." - Jason (Game Stop Employee)
Gamers get bored easily
Media consumption is ever changing
"I used to play COD but now I watch variety streamers on Twitch because it's more entertaining."
- Kaz (mentor/gamer)
"I don't play video games anymore because now I like to watch Tiktok and Netflix."
- Ethan (past gamer)
Insight
Variety is a driving force younger generations
Strategy