Clemenger BBDO

Client: Frucor
Product: V Energy Drink
Title: Wasteland with a V
Media: Video game hack
Country: Australia
Date Of Campaign: 01/02/18

Background: V Energy Drink is Australia's largest selling energy drink. We are unlike other energy drinks in that we don't promise you super human strength. Instead, we drinking our drink will make you a bit better at stuff. Not a lot, just a bit. It is the embodiment of our brand platform 'the massive hit that improves you... a bit'

Idea: A V branded video game mod for Fallout 4 that made the entire game a bit better. We wanted to enter the world of gaming, but we didn't want to follow convention and sponsor the crowded eSports market.Instead, we targeted the community of Fallout 4 gamers, one of the biggest games in history. We covertly went on Reddit and asked them how they would improve the game "a bit".We then used those requests to create Bit Better Fallout: It all started with a V Vending Machine that suddenly appeared in the game. Drinking the can of V unlocked epic content that made the entire game a 'bit' better.We kept gamers entertained with over 3 hours of new gameplay. When they found our vending machine in the game they unlocked an entire world with over 7 new characters, new levels, armour, weapons, 100s of new lines of dialogue and story lines even an in game radio station. We also added V Energy into the game. When players drank the drink, all of their stats were improved a bit. These were placed around the world in vending machines labeled "Property of Shameless Product Placement Inc" continually spawning indefinitely even after the three hours of content was completed.

Results: Literally thousands of gamers watched the 4 hour stream of V-branded content effectively reconnecting us with our audience. Yes we reached over 2,000,000 people, but they were also the right people, skewed heavily to 18-24s and served by influential personalities in a medium where they paid attention.Advertisers will tell you that Facebook killed organic advertising, but it’s still alive and well, if you find the right communities outside of Facebook to amplify your brand story. For us, it was gaming sites like Nexus Mods, Sub- Reddits, Creation Club and in the game itself.Other Energy Drinks have played in gaming, but always as corporate entities buying naming rights. Our branded content wasn’t a long-form video that nobody watches, it can be a way to involve a brand with a community.In one month there were over 30,000 downloads and 100,000+ hours of gameplay plus. It was translated into French.