Despite recent layoffs, Activision had a very big 2011. In the down economy, the Santa Monica, California-based game developer, distributor, and publisher introduced a new event on a massive scale: Call of Duty XP. The Labor Day weekend event took over a large compound in Playa Vista (where Howard Hughes famously built the Spruce Goose), drawing more than 10,000 gamers for the debut of the multiplayer mode of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3—more than a month before its official launch. Activision event marketing director Jonathan Murnane oversaw the ambitious program, working with the agency Ncompass to execute it.
The event comprised two main warehouses, one that housed a gaming arena with more than 1,000 Xboxes and another with a main stage for keynotes, tournaments, and concerts. Outside were nearly 20 acres devoted to interactive experiences and dining venues. The centerpiece of the program was a $1 million tournament presented by Xbox 360, and Kanye West dropped in for a performance.
Other experiential highlights included a chance to paintball firefight across a life-size replica of the game’s Scrapyard level; a live-action thrill ride across an obstacle-ridden challenge course in the Jeep Ops Experience; and a Call of Duty: Black Ops’ military-style zip-line plunge across the compound. Food was available for sale at the Burgertown and Nate’s Grab N Go eateries inspired by the game. One hundred percent of ticket sales from the event went to the Call of Duty Endowment, a nonprofit organization for veterans.
And what was the payoff after all that hoopla? In addition to a 675-percent bump in page views at callofduty.com during the event and hundreds of millions of positive global press impressions, the game passed the $1 billion mark in sales just 16 days after its official release in November. That made it the fastest-selling entertainment product of all time. It prompted Bobby Kotick, C.E.O. of parent company Activision Blizzard, to deem Call of Duty one of the most successful entertainment franchises in history—up there with Star Wars and Harry Potter.
“Call of Duty as an entertainment franchise has made an indelible mark on popular culture, and its broad and continued success is further validation that audiences increasingly value interactive experiences over passive experiences,” he said in a statement.
Although Call of Duty XP was Activision’s largest event for 2011—and one of the largest local events of the year—it wasn’t the only trick the brand had up its sleeve. It also ramped up its experiential marketing for children’s gaming, executing a mall tour promotion for the title Skylanders, which drew thousands to splashy, branded domes housing experiential programming at venues like the Grove around the country. Among the playful touches: pajama parties for kid fans.
Murnane said the percentage of marketing spend the brand put toward its events this year skyrocketed. “We’ve never done anything like XP before,” he said. “We did a whole chunk of things never attempted.”
