Current TV and Sony Playstation - VCAMs:


What is Current TV

Current TV is the world's first and only Emmy award winning peer-to-peer news and information network dedicated to young adults (18-34s). Available in over 12m households via Sky (183) and Virgin (155), plus current.com, Current empowers viewers to create, influence and determine the content they want to see.

Current TV was founded by Joel Hyatt and Al Gore and delivers a radically different concept in television. Current delivers a playlist of quick, informative and entertaining pieces called Pods; one-third of these are viewer-created, while the others are produced in-house. Current covers topics from environmental issues to the arts, from fashion to politics and is fast, informative and always fresh.

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The Advertising Opportunity

Current offers advertisers a myriad of opportunities, from traditional and isolated spots to long-form content (of up to 3 minutes), sponsorship of Pods and the unique ad partner opportunity VCAMs - Viewer Created Ad Message.

VCAMS are an innovation that offers advertisers a unique opportunity to engage with consumers. VCAMs inspire viewers to make their own ads. Current, with the advertiser's participation can create a compelling brief which fosters participation and defines creative parameters to guide production. Viewers can then create ads that are on-brand with fresh, engaging, and relevant points of view. In fact, 92% of Current viewers prefer VCAMs to traditional ads, as they find them more authentic, entertaining and believable. Brands such as T-Mobile, Sony, EA and L'Oreal have enjoyed huge success in the U.S. running VCAMs. The UK's first campaign was for the PlayStation 3 game, Resistance 2.

PlayStation Mini Case Study

Sony PlayStation's Resistance 2 was the hugely anticipated follow-up to 2007's critically acclaimed Resistance: Fall of Man. To be released in the build up to Christmas 2008, Sony needed to achieve stand-out awareness during this peak game purchase period. Sony and their media agency, Manning Gottlieb OMD, were looking for a unique way to generate excitement during this crowded period. Wanting to engage with their audience and finding the profile of Current TV a perfect fit, we launched the UK's first VCAM.


Objectives

  • Build on the success of Resistance: Fall of Man
  • Generate pre-Christmas awareness amongst the key demographic
  • Encourage game and brand interaction
  • Target gaming and tech enthusiasts 

 

The Campaign

Current TV is a two screen experience - TV and online; this was the perfect environment to promote Resistance 2 within a genuinely engaged community who are gaming and tech enthusiasts. The gaming community has been creating its own trailers & adverts and posting them online for some time. Through PlayStation's partnership with Current, they could empower the creative and gaming communities to actually get paid for doing what they love. Launching the first VCAM campaign in the UK gave Sony a truly unique campaign, putting them closer and engaging with the end users of their products.

An online ‘assignment' page was created on the Current website; providing a creative brief and the inclusion of logos and pack shots that could be incorporated in the VCAM. Those entering could earn £1,000 if selected for broadcast and even more if Sony wanted to buy the rights for further usage. The gauntlet was thrown down to the creative and gaming community.

For 8 weeks, Current TV presenters prompted viewers to check out the online assignment. Current TV's outreach division also worked closely with PlayStation's PR promoting the VCAM activity across PlayStation's network of sites, social media, chat rooms, blogging and gaming sites and the Current newsletter. The outreach scheme also opens doors to a budding creative community through promotion in over 103 universities and organisations, such as the Young Creatives Network which has over 40,000 members.

Meeting the Objectives

As a UK first, the Resistance 2 VCAM campaign has reinforced PlayStation's pole position as a leader in innovation. The game's unique features were brought to life through fresh, authentic ads - created by the very audience PlayStation were targeting. The campaign is being entered for numerous awards including the Association for International Broadcasting.

Over 50 VCAMs were submitted, generating hundreds of online votes plus lots of buzz and comments within the community. The quality and creativity was outstanding. Four entries were finally selected to run on Current TV until February 2009 and a multi-platform buy-out has been negotiated for PlayStation to run them elsewhere.

Resistance 2 performed extremely well in terms of sales, charting at number 2 during a very crowded launch period.

"The VCAM activity enabled us to achieve cut-through with a very media-savvy and difficult to reach  audience"

 Phil Lynch, Software Product Manager, Sony Computer Entertainment UK Limited (PlayStation)

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