To promote the special features of its Disney Infinity console game, Disney created an interactive mobile and tablet ad unit. The video ad was targeted at parents and Disney enthusiasts and featured an interactive end card that mimicked features of the console gameplay. The ad exceeded industry benchmarks, particularly for tablet engagement.
Objective and Context:
The Disney Infinity console game is unique in integrating collectible physical toy figurines of popular characters into its gameplay. A Disney Infinity base connects to the gaming console, and players place their character figurines onto the base to unlock content in the game. The challenge for the Disney Infinity marketing team was to effectively communicate and educate consumers about the game’s unique interactive features, such as limitless gameplay, the freedom to create stories, and gameplay experiences featuring favorite Disney and Pixar characters.
Disney wanted to create an interactive advertising experience to drive home its unique product offering. Showcasing the game console product through sight, sound, and motion would be key to driving purchase intent. The campaign’s success would be measured by brand impact and engagement metrics, including hours of ad videos watched, taps to engage on social, and tablet engagement rates.
Target Audience:
The campaign had a broad global target audience of Disney and gaming enthusiasts. This audience was both male and female, encompassing parents with buying power and consumers who enjoyed console games, mobile games, and the Disney brand.
Creative Strategy:
Disney focused on mobile and tablet as the only media types that allowed for experiential ads via a tactile, interactive touch screen. The campaign goal was to deliver a tailored experience to consumers both on-the-go and at home. The company decided its marketing should leverage custom creative and interactive technology to build out a unique engagement experience and educate customers on the game’s features.
Overall Campaign Execution:
This execution was a component of a larger-scale marketing campaign.
Mobile Execution:
The mobile campaign integrated the following elements:
Mobile video: Fun, engaging video creative was used to showcase the Disney Infinity characters and educate consumers about the unique gameplay. Video content was delivered in full-screen HD across smartphone and tablet devices.
Interactivity features: Campaign creative included tactile, experiential interactivity designed to mimic the feel of gameplay. A custom video end card invited users to touch and drag their favorite Disney Infinity figure onto a digital base; this content experience engaged consumers after they viewed the initial video ad, turning the ad into a full-screen image of the character with the option to watch a character trailer video.
Targeting: The campaign was specifically focused on reaching consumers via the most popular apps across iOS and Android. By working with mobile technology partner AdColony, Disney targeted the highest-indexing apps for parents and Disney enthusiasts.
The campaign’s high volume of mobile video views and benchmark-shattering engagement rates on smartphone and tablet proved the effectiveness of the communication strategy.
Brand impact results:
Engagement results:
As of January 2014, Disney Interactive reported sales of three million game starter packs. Disney has also been able to analyze this campaign for consumer insights by evaluating which characters consumers chose to engage with the most in the ad. The consumer insights provided by the one-to-one consumer-to-brand interactivity will shape future messaging decisions.
