Guitar Hero Live festival campaign takes gold at IPM Awards 2016

The experiential arm of last year’s campaign to re-launch the iconic video game Guitar Hero Live won two awards at last night’s Institute of Promotional Marketing (IPM) Awards in London.

The activation, entitled Guitar Hero Live: Amp, which was devised and run by real world marketing agency Sense, took gold for the best ‘Experiential Activation at a Public Event or Festival’ and silver in the ‘Experiential Creative Execution’ category.

To mark the game’s explosion back onto the gaming scene after a five-year absence, Guitar Hero Live: Amp toured UK festivals last summer. Designed to resemble a giant guitar amplifier, the two-storey installation gave festival-goers the chance to be the first to play the new version of the game. It also invited a select few to free their inner rock star in a mock VIP green room, complete with fake fans and rock journalists, and hosted live music performances.

Key to the success of the campaign were experiential staff, who were specially selected and trained to reflect the brand and resonate with the festival audiences, including actors coached for the role-playing element.

Running over 11,000 personalised gaming demonstrations (10% over target), the campaign also extended far beyond festival-goers, reaching a media audience of over 33 million people and 5.3 million across social channels.

“Guitar Hero Live wanted an experience that matched the iconic nature and stature of this massive game launch to wow fans, draw in potential new players and drive advance orders,” explained Nick Swift, Senior Account Director at Sense. “The new game’s key hook is its authenticity and immersive gameplay. This tour amplified (forgive the pun) these qualities to a highly targeted consumer base.”

The brand’s global teams declared the campaign as the “best-in class” experiential response to its core brand challenge. “The results and response to the tour, from both our consumers and within the business, has been uniformly excellent,” said Rachel Grant, Senior Brand Manager for Guitar Hero Live at Activision. “From the initial creative idea of the Amp experience, through the intensively detailed production and planning process, and to the seamless execution of the live events, Sense provided an excellent and unflappable service.”