IMPROBABLE

Improbable provides better ways to make multiplayer games, and help multiplayer developers meet any challenge.

Company Goal:

Drive awareness among those looking to create the immersive games of the future

Clarity's Challenge:

Convey the benefits of Improbable’s SpatialOS platform to a difficult-to-reach target audience.

About

How do you reach people with a God-complex? Games developers have to create new universes that appeal to millions of people, from the hot plains of the wild west in Red Dead Redemption to the zero gravity atmospheres in Mass Effect. Behind the scenes this is a complex development issue needing top B2B partners. That’s where our tech client Improbable steps in.

Improbable has developed a number of solutions including SpatialOS – a revolutionary cloud-based platform that enables the creation of multiplayer games. Founded by Cambridge University computer-science graduates in 2012, the company wanted, and needed, developers to use SpatialOS to develop games in order for it to grow.

Improbable had never previously executed digital campaigns to drive business-led objectives like product sign-ups. As such, Dynamo provided top-to-bottom digital consultancy, from strategic planning for marketing channels to maximise ROI, to the management of campaigns and reporting of results.

The overall objectives for the campaign included educating developers on what SpatialOS is; driving awareness of the platform without any proof the platform works – a high-risk, low-reward strategy until the games are proven; and communicating the benefits it could bring for a developer looking to make games for the future.

With a strategy built around educating target audiences in order to allay concerns over developing on an “unproven” platform, the team cultivated relationships with some of the most influential titles/journalists in gaming. Additionally, knowing developers were heavy users of social media and online groups, the team took an integrated approach, supplementing the media and influencer outreach with a digital campaign.

By leveraging the voices of the well-known partners using Improbable’s games development kits (GDKs) and emphasizing the strong gaming backgrounds of the Improbable team, Clarity was able to generate instant credibility and provide the “proof point” that developing on SpatialOS was the right choice.

The campaign successfully educated developers about SpatialOS through quality press coverage that conveyed why it’s a game-changing platform. The integrated digital campaign ensured that views and shares were targeted at the right audience and that the messaging resonated with the developer community.

Results

• Secured coverage in Financial Times, TechCrunch, MCV, Gamasutra, PCGamesInsider, GameDev.net and more

• Reached on online readership topped 111 million, with nearly 400,000 views and 700 social shares

• Delivered over 19,000 targeted sign-ups via PPC and Paid Social campaigns including Google Search and Google Display networks

• Exceeded the cost-per-acquisition (CPA) target by 18 percent, with some leads delivered at rates 50 percent less than the target