AxiCom was invited to assist Disney Interactive Studios with the Spanish launch of its new videogame, ‘Split/Second: Velocity’, a title that moved Disney into a completely new entertainment arena. Saying  goodbye to princes, princesses and fairytales and hello to a new era, an era full of explosions, excitement, speed and, most important of all, an abundance of action.

The Challenge

The videogame moved Disney on to the next level and on to a new audience, a sophisticated adult audience of experienced gamers. AxiCom’s challenge was to accentuate the new positioning of the Disney brand while focusing on getting coverage of the videogame and its main features not only on TV and Radio but also in nationally distributed dailies and magazines.

The team also had to ensure coverage and interviews with the Artificial Intelligence programmer of the game, the Spanish engineer Eduardo Jiménez.

The Strategy

To meet this challenge, AxiCom planned and developed a strategy focused on reinforcing the new values of Disney Interactive Studios by juxtaposing the new videogame features with classic Disney images. Building on a high-impact invitation to the press event, AxiCom was able to attract the interest of the main national TV channels and dailies, as well as lifestyle and automotive magazines.

To support the presence on TV, AxiCom suggested the creation of B-roll, so any TV station in the country could have access to images enabling them to assemble a news piece despite having been unable to attend the press conference. The B-roll included impressive real gaming action images of ‘Split/Second: Velocity’ and statements from AI programmer Eduardo Jiménez and PR & Online Manager Iberia José Herráez, Disney Interactive Studios.

The Result

AxiCom secured a total of 14 interviews for Disney Interactive Studios representatives, Eduardo Jiménez and José Herráez. Eight were recorded by TV channels, four were on the radio and two were made by newswires. The remaining two were with specialist on-line titles.

On the day, the press conference was attended by 38 media representatives, including the general press and videogame trade publications.

In terms of coverage, AxiCom has generated to date a total of 12 pieces of news on television, one on radio, 12 in the general print media and more than 40 dedicated articles in online media. The AVE (with a rate of 1:1) amounted to 453.305,10 € on TV, radio and printed press, with an audience reach consisting of more than 12.1 million people (almost 30% of the Spanish population).