To level up its ambassador game after Vo Lam Truyen Ky 1 Mobile's use of 3D Tran Thanh character, VLTKMAX decided to go international. At the same time, it looked out for a representative who could not only connect and inspire the "high-end" fan of martial arts, but also deliver its core positioning as "best of both (classic and modern) worlds."
Objective
VNGGames had the following goals:
Context
This is the first time Vo Lam Truyen Ky MAX (VLTKMAX) is introduced in the Vietnam market. As such, VLTKMAX chose to revive Bruce Lee, the deceased global martial arts idol to illustrate the immense possibility of its technology.
Creative and Media Strategy
VLTKMAX targets both male and female gamers and game enthusiasts in between the ages of 18 to 35 that are from a more premium, more mature user niche. They can afford higher-end devices with higher specs to play the new game version, which has much higher-resolution graphics and more serious performance compared to other MMORPGs.
The core target audience includes hardcore, premium gamers, especially fans of wuxia titles (VLTK and others), as well as mid-core and mass gamers.
As creatives are already rich in substance with Bruce Lee's martial arts, VLTKMAX focused on elaborating them with more characters and angles, then distributing across channels with appropriate placements and audience settings.
While the long-form TVC worked as thematic materials, through short-form videos and KOL marketing were where it penetrated people's lives. As its audience spends most of their time on their phones, various bite-sized, mobile-first storytelling was adapted to best engage them.
The core idea of bringing Bruce Lee back to life was conducted 100 percent in-house within VLTKMAX's studio. The main TVC, which features both CG-Lee and real people, took more than 4,368 working hours and more than $400,000 to finish.
CG-Lee model was perfected in three steps:
VNG maximized the impact of CG-Lee with additional usage of local sub-ambassadors MisThy and Van Hau, as well as extra influencers/KOCs and a full-funnel media campaign across all platforms, highlighting the key message, "LIVE MAX: MAX Experience — MAX Role-playing" to all target audiences, especially affluent gamers.
Per the focus on digital and mobile-first, 72 percent of the overall budget was dedicated to digital campaigns, focusing on delivering personalized, real-time messages tailored to individual player needs and converting them to deliver higher return on investment.
The use of studio-born CG-Lee as the main ambassador gave the team unprecedented freedom and control over asset production, as CG-Lee could be easily re-featured in various branding and performance-driven ads through 3D animation with limitless actions and storytelling.
Apart from CG-Lee, two sub-ambassadors were also added to the mix to further improve relevance and better explain the product offers: MisThy (influential female streamer) and Van Hau (national football team's star).
Utilizing their appearance, a hero set of thematic materials were produced: one TVC and one KV/poster series featuring all ambassadors, one TVC featuring MisThy and Van Hau only, as well as one short clip featuring CG-Lee only. They were then heavily remixed and repurposed to power an extensive 360-degree media plan that covers owned platforms (website, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok) as well as paid and earned media (PR, digital ad networks, social media, OOH).
Next, multiple macro- and nano-KOCs joined hands to create bite-sized social contents that delivered a brand message of "MAX Experience, MAX Role-playing" to different groups of followers of different demographics and interests. They were also down-to-earth reviewers that could deep-dive into VLTKMAX's distinct features such as gameplay, playing and socializing mode or character design to educate and excite."
With around 54.6 million gamers and $507 million generated revenue in 2023, Vietnam's gaming industry seems like a lucrative industry. However, it is a crowded marketplace.
As new game titles are released locally and globally every week, it becomes more and more difficult for players to tell differences from one game to another. VLTKMAX was not only pressured to surpass its external rivals, but also its own predecessor, VLTK1 Mobile, who was already a giant in the game market."
The launching campaign of VLTKMAX simply went beyond expectation and surpassed all KPIs and emerged as the frontrunner in the Vietnam's role-playing game genre:
With the digital resurrection of Bruce Lee that was done 100 percent in-house, VTLKMAX simply went beyond the expectations of not even the market but also its fans. It was a rare time when a Vietnamese brand was represented by a global celebrity, not to mention a global icon of all time that is no longer alive.
With this campaign, VLTKMAX proved that its technological and creative capacity could ensure the "MAX experience, MAX role-playing" motto for its gamers, while inspiring the industry to think big and break out of their comfort zone.
VLTKMAX not just impressively overcame the huge shadow of VLTK1 Mobile, but also secured its position of the most successful new game launching of 2022 in Vietnam.
