Google, a sponsor of The Game Awards, took over the Las Vegas Sphere with mobile game characters to promote its new foldable phone.
Google and Samsung partnered to generate mobile gaming excitement for Google's latest foldable device. With dual-screens, more precise controls, and the ability to simultaneously run different apps, Samsung Foldables opened new ways for gamers to experience their passions. In partnership with game-developer Supercell, Google Play optimized titles such as Clash of Clans, Clash Royale, and Brawl Stars for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 to unlock a new level of immersion for gamers.
With 75 percent of gamers looking for a new phone, the timing was perfect. Google's goal was to showcase how Samsung Foldables with Google Play empower gamers to do more of what they love.
Despite the gaming industry's boom, mobile players felt excluded from the mainstream conversation and credibility dominated by PC and console enthusiasts who often disparage mobile gaming. The campaign addressed a growing cultural divide within the gaming landscape head on. Google Play's response was a redefinition of the term "real gamer," fostering a more inclusive mobile gaming culture.
Anticipating the challenge of foldable competition, Google and Samsung aimed to reach a new generation of mobile gamers. Samsung's expansive foldable screens offered the ideal platform for immersive mobile gaming, while Google Play provided the essential library of titles.
Mobile gaming makes up half of the market share, and 74 percent of PC gamers play mobile games. Yet mobile gamers aren't taken seriously and aren't seen as "real gamers."
One of the reasons mobile gaming is considered less than is due to its small screen.
Undertaken in partnership with EsseneceMediacom, Google's approach was "fame-ification." This tack gave mobile gaming the fame it deserved by moving it from tiny screens to the biggest screens and stages and the most talked about integration.
Utilizing a famous game IP, Google Play collaborated with Clash of Clans, a game specifically optimized for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5, to show gamers that they could play more of what they loved with Google.
Google's "fame-ification" creative strategy was three-fold:
As a platinum sponsor at The Game Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada, Google Play debuted a monumental Sphere stunt live in broadcast and amplified it across an integrated campaign. Timed down to the minute, Google's larger-than-life 3D anamorphic Clash of Clans battle creative "broke out" of the Sphere by way of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 via the Google Play icon, driving home immersive device gameplay. That evening, fictional OOH videos dropped showcasing how Clash of Clans characters "escaped" the Sphere into Las Vegas with the device and Google Play as their portal to immersive experiences.
Pioneering one of the first 3D anamorphic creatives on the Sphere was an opportunity to craft a unique experience, making Google stand out in the crowded Sphere landscape. Capturing Sphere footage for The Game Awards integration required meeting a tight deadline, but Google was the only sponsor to leverage the Sphere's potential at the show.
Mobile gamers took the stage across social, beating the record for Twitch's audience chat interaction by 483 percent. Google challenged the stigma of what a gamer is and appealed for "More Room to Play," which resonated with gamers, who racked up 4.7 million hours of streamer content watch-time, 47 percent beyond Twitch's benchmark.
Google amplified The Game Awards Sphere creative and fictional OOH videos on TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram, and across a YouTube masthead takeover, scaling impressions to over 363 million across gamers. Its social-first creative resonated with gamers; indeed, the TikTok view-through rate exceeded benchmarks by 33 percent, and Instagram click-through-rate exceeded benchmarks by 52 percent.
