Leveraging Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) for Global Promotion in the Genshin Impact Odyssey

Background

The #ENDLESSJOURNEY project was created by the developers of Genshin Impact based on active feedback from players. For over two years Genshin has been uniting a huge community of fans around it (note - 63 million users according to 2023 data).

The concept of unity became the basis of a global marketing campaign dedicated to the game's anniversary (note - the first release of Genshin Impact took place in September 2020). On the HoYouLAB forum (note - as part of the Player Stories Submission online event) the developers asked players to write their impressions of Genshin Impact. They received about 150,000 user responses in just 1 month.

The most interesting stories moved from online to offline, becoming OOH/DOOH advertising. Billboards placements began in September 2022 in various countries as well as Genshin Impact themed offline events. Illuminated in-game Teleport Waypoints by the game's developers could be found on busy London streets, Chinese subways, Mexican beaches, Japanese festivals, etc.

How can a project be presented in Russia?

This was the question which we started working with Genshin Impact as part of their global #ENDLESSJOURNEY campaign. By the way, Russia occupies one of the leading places in game downloads, being among the Top-5 countries. The variety of formats and locations of the project required us to find interesting solutions quickly.

Goal

The client asked us to solve several tasks at once, reflecting a wide range of their marketing goals. It was important to ensure a large promotion coverage, but it was equally important that the campaign was visually appealing and looked good in photos and videos.

We approached the tasks in a step-by-step manner. First of all, we had to offer options of places and formats of outdoor/indoor advertising. Next, to attract as many viewers as possible to the places of campaign placement and make it a thematic event with cosplayers. All of this had to be filmed for the storyline of the #ENDLESSJOURNEY global commercial.

Solutions

The project turned out to be diverse, unusual and, as always, all tasks had to be solved in a fairly short period of time. Before #ENDLESSJOURNEY, we had been working with Genshin Impact on YouTube for about a year, so we were already used to fast deadlines.

We also realized that, the main indicator of a successful campaign for the client is reach. If YouTube was about views, outdoor advertising required a large traffic. Because of this, the choice of location for advertising materials was focused on the top locations in Moscow and St. Petersburg. RMAA systematically works with catalogs of outdoor advertising objects in Russia and the CIS. Therefore, we were able to offer the client the most attractive options for indoor and outdoor placement within a few days after the request.

The client chose the European shopping mall in Moscow. The object is located closest to the center. The atriums inside the shopping mall (note - atrium Moscow and Berlin) equipped with digital screens across the entire width and height of the building allow to place visual materials in a large-scale and spectacular way.

A few words about photo and video production within the project. We needed to take into account the technical requirements for the equipment so that the filmed material would meet high standards and make it into a global commercial. This stage included interaction with our professionals base, whom RMAA engages on various photo and video tasks on an ongoing basis. For DOOH and OOH projects clients often ask for visual reports of a good quality. We understand the importance of this service.

Results

The #ENDLESSJOURNEY project started on September 24, 2022. The event was attended by Genshin Impact fans, cosplayers and shoppers of the European Shopping Mall. Accidental spectators turned out to be potentially new players for Genshin as they actively used Teleport Waypoints on digital screens with the updated game release. Within 5 days the campaign was shown to 564,079 people in the shopping mall.

As originally planned, project footage was featured in the client's international commercial along with stories from the other countries.

HoYouLAB developers published an extended post about the campaign on their platform. Genshin Impact continues to meet its fans in different parts of the world at themed events, including Russia. But that's another story... and the journey never ends.