Powering Japan's Gaming Industry with IBM

Boosting Agency Relations, Revamping Digital Marketing, and Producing a Highly Relevant Campaign for the Japanese Market

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Introduction:

Putting my creative director hat on during my second international assignment in Japan, I was entrusted with the responsibilities of enhancing agency relations, transforming our digital marketing strategy, and crafting a campaign to resonate with the Japanese market. The result was a high-impact collaboration with Mixi, the creators of the wildly popular mobile game Monster Strike, showcasing IBM's role in powering the game with exceptional performance and low latency.

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Taking Inspiration from Behind the Code:

Drawing inspiration from my work on the Behind the Code campaign, I went straight to the heart of game development for Mixi. My vision was to create a spot that felt uniquely Japanese, incorporating visual sound effects and a sense of fun, all of which were outlined in the creative brief.

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Collaboration with Mixi:

Working closely with Mixi, I focused on conveying their story in an engaging and digestible manner while retaining its technical essence. Recognizing that a 30-second spot wouldn't fully capture the technical details, I decided to produce an in-depth asset that the spot would drive viewers to, serving as the landing page content.

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The Interview Process:

To create the story structure, I conducted an interview with a Mixi representative using a translator. I then oversaw the subtitling of the interviewee's answers, ensuring that our message would resonate with a global audience. As a fun challenge, I invite you to search for a hidden typo within the subtitles.

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Conclusion:

Our campaign effectively showcased IBM's capabilities in powering Japan's gaming industry, highlighting the benefits of low latency and exceptional performance. Through close collaboration with Mixi and by creating culturally relevant content, we successfully enhanced agency relations and revamped our digital marketing strategy, resulting in increased relevance in the Japanese market.

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