BANDAI NAMCO unveils regional brand campaign with VMLY&R

Interactive entertainment publisher, BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Asia has launched a regional brand campaign, as part of ongoing efforts to connect consumers with its portfolio of games.Said to be its first regional campaign, the company said it saw an opportunity to increase recognition and awareness about the "common developer behind the various franchises". The campaign kicked off last month, as it rolled out an interactive video asking consumers who they want to become through the power of video games.Consumers were then invited to participate in a series of Easter Egg contests to spot hidden messages. In addition, this also tied into offline activations that spanned three weekends in locations across the region such as Bangkok, Hong Kong and Seoul. Named the ‘Cut-and-Play Salon’, gamers had the opportunity to style their hair professionally into one of their character's iconic looks.BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Asia worked closely with its creative agency, VMLY&R Singapore for the campaign. The duties included spanning from the initial conceptualisation and strategy stages, to the creative execution and community management, as well as critical steps such as video production and Augmented Reality (AR) filter development.VMLY&R Singapore worked with an AR developer to create an AR filter, which was then rolled out on the BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Asia Facebook page, allowing gamers to easily try out the hairstyles of their favourite characters and experience the transformation first-hand.Users were encouraged to share these looks on social media and join the online conversation with the hashtag #WhoWillYouBeToday on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.“We were looking for a fun way to capture how every BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment game is immersive for the player, while seamlessly featuring all the various titles that make the brand so great. We were inspired by the in-game character selection screens because that’s where players have the chance to be someone new and become part of all the epic worlds BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment’s franchises offer," Joaquim Laurel, creative director, VMLY&R Southeast Asia and India said.