Animal Crossing in the media mix
How brands are showing up in the ad world's newest media darling
Hello,
Animal Crossing is still on top of the world since its release in March. Nintendo just reported that the game has been bought over 20 million times meaning that one in three Nintendo Switch owners own the game. Brands have started to take notice.
That’s great because it makes gaming look more like a legitimate communication channel. AKA the entire reason I created this newsletter. Below are some thoughts on some of the broad categories of activations I’ve been seeing.
Engaging the player community outside of the game
Doing a video game activation doesn’t mean that it has to be explicitly in the game itself, it can also be about the new behaviors a game creates. A good example of a game adjacent activation is WealthSimple’s editorial about the similarities of the Animal Crossing “Stalk Market” and our real-life stock market.
The article shows they’re paying attention to the community at large, understand a part of it, and found a way to add value in a way only their brand could. The one thing I would have done differently is also buy one of the stalk market predictor sites and slap my financial brand on it.
Celebrity Animal Crossing visits
People like Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Elijah Wood, and Chrissy Tiegen are visiting their fans’ islands. I wonder if we’ll ever see brand mascots like Flo from Progressive stopping by some people’s islands.
Branded outfits for players to wear
Animal Crossing has a robust pattern system that players can use to create their own designs and share them with friends. The patterns can be applied to Animal Crossing’s in-game furniture and clothing. Brands have started making their own patterns as well.
Some great examples include the brand, 100 Thieves, where they have recreated its entire apparel line in the game. Also, Gillette translated its mission of making every person feel comfortable in their body to the game by creating over 250 body-positive outfits.
The only obstacle I see is the willingness of people to use these branded creations. Players only get a limited amount of design slots, and convincing them to take one of those precious slots up with a branded design seems like a stretch to me.
Branded islands for players to visit
Since we’ve all been unable to go to many establishments due to COVID-19, brands have started to make their own islands that users can experience in Animal Crossing. It looks great for the press, but it’s not that practical for Animal Crossing players.
Islands only can hold 8 people at a time and each time someone comes everyone must stop what they’re doing on the island and watch a 12-second cutscene. When you watch seven of them in a five-minute span it really messes with the flow of the game.
Not to say that all of these branded islands are bad. There has clearly been a lot of care put into some of these activations. The recreated version of Singapore’s Sentosa island took 22 designers 12 days to make. It’s just a shame that Animal Crossing’s archaic online features make it difficult for a large number of players to enjoy it.
What to take away:
It’s encouraging that more and more brands are starting to see the value in treating gaming as a comms channel. These activations aren’t perfect, but they do point to a brighter future in the space.
Gaming News:
Sound Works Collection: Check out this video to see the ingenuity that goes into creating realistic sounds in video games.
The Verge: Apple is not allowing cloud gaming services like Google Stadia and Microsoft Xcloud onto their devices. This could be a big blow to Google and Microsoft’s gaming ambitions.
PC Gamer: The government’s crackdown on Tik Tok could be a warning sign for the video game industry. The Chinese company, Tencent, owns significant amounts of shares in a number of the world’s most popular game developers.
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