#MarketingEventsAwards 2021 highlight: ROG brings its game face in tie-up with SG celeb Benjamin Kheng

With the emergence of new gaming laptop brands in the gaming industry, ASUS had to reinforce its Republic of Gamers (ROG) gaming laptop’s footing as a prominent gaming brand in the market.

To that end, it worked with renowned local celebrity and influencer Benjamin Kheng to create a video campaign that would be marketed in line with ROG’s then latest product launch. 

ASUS’ ability to target new audiences, despite an increase in competitors in the market, as well as form a partnership with a local influencer that was known by its target audience, and had a portfolio of international brands, impressed the judges and secured it as a finalist for Best Use of Influencers/KOLs at MARKETING-INTERACTIVE’s Marketing Events Awards 2021. 

Challenge 

Republic of Gamers (ROG) is the world's number one gaming PC brand launched in 2006, also known for its powerful performance gaming series. However, fierce competition within the industry had led the brand to lose its footing as a prominent gaming brand in the market. 

ROG wanted to elevate its brand positioning by building an association between ROG and Kheng, while increasing awareness of the new ROG Flow X13 gaming laptop series. 

It decided to emphasise the series’ “work and play” message as the product was a convertible gaming laptop – a relatively new concept for the gaming industry. 

ROG ran the campaign from 30 March to 30 May 2021, and primarily targeted new audiences, especially content creators who required a high-performance device, rather than gamers who were already familiar with the ROG brand. 

Strategy 

As part of the objective to elevate its brand positioning, ROG collaborated withKheng to leverage on his image built from his past endorsements with premium brands such as Mercedes and Nespresso.

The collaboration would also highlight the connection between his profession as a content creator in music and social media – the target audience of the ROG Flow X13. 

ROG decided to use a catchphrase familiar to the Gen Z audience to capture their attention: “Whole day play game.” 

Execution 

The campaign kick-started with a branded video released through Kheng’s social channels in conjunction with the launch of the ROG Flow X13.

Highlighting the product’s key feature, which complements “work and play”, the video showed Kheng jumping between gaming and working mode in an instant, in a comical and exaggerated manner. 

ROG later amplified the campaign message through a series of social content and giveaways on its social channels, and digital media placements on key social media platforms, specifically TikTok, as it is popular with Gen Z. 

The campaign ended with a high-impact digital media that drove lower funnel engagement and conversion across online and offline resellers. 

Results 

On the day of the product and campaign launch, ROG had reached the first position of interest over time among gaming laptop brands, according to Google Trends.

The video also received a total of over 2.5 million impressions, 116,000 engagements, and more than two million views across both ROG and Kheng’s social platforms.