Submitted by NewGen

Mech Arena

NewGen built a four-pillar influencer, out-of-home and tournament campaign for Plarium's PvP mobile game Mech Arena, reporting 220K game downloads and 1.7M sessions.

220Kgame downloads
1.7Msessions
77Ktournament entries

Case in 60 seconds

Plarium had newly launched the PvP mobile game Mech Arena and wanted a hybrid influencer and community-led campaign to showcase it, so the work had to reach creators and players at once rather than sequentially.

The campaign appears to turn on the reading that a mobile PvP audience treats competition as something to be seen doing, because the tournament rewarded posting about participation rather than rewarded winning alone.

NewGen organised the work as a four-pillar approach in which influencer activity, physical presence, creator gifting and a competitive tournament each fed the same launch rather than running as separate executions.

An out-of-home activation in Santa Monica used bespoke AR filters and in-game mechs, billboards carried community channels and creators making short moments for online distribution, bespoke care packages went to key creators, and a three-day esports championship incentivised Instagram posts tagging @mecharenaofficial with #MechsAreHere for a draw to win an Ultimate Mobile Gaming Bundle worth $5,000.

NewGen reports 1.7M sessions, 220K game downloads and 77K tournament entries, and describes the campaign as gaining the most ever downloads in one day, without stating the period those totals cover.

Strategy Breakdown

The primary strategy-learning section — interpretation, not a press-release summary.

Players of the newly launched PvP mobile game Mech Arena, and specifically the esports and competitive community the championship tournament was built for.
A newly launched PvP mobile game has no player base to speak from, so the campaign had to build the community it wanted to be seen by, which is what the tournament and the community channels on the billboards appear to have been for.
Based on the available evidence, Mech Arena was positioned as the occasion for a competitive gathering rather than as an app being advertised, since the championship and the in-game mechs in the out-of-home work put the game itself in the physical space.
Based on the available evidence, the campaign assumed that competitive players will document their own participation when given a reason, because the draw rewarded sharing the experience rather than the result.

Creative & Execution System

Assets & channels

  • Instagram
  • AR filters
  • billboards
  • care packages
  • out-of-home

Partners

  • NewGen (lead_agency)

Participation mechanic

  • Tournament participants were incentivised across the three-day event to share their experiences on Instagram by tagging @mecharenaofficial and using #MechsAreHere, which entered them into a draw to win the Ultimate Mobile Gaming Bundle worth $5,000.

Results & Evidence

MetricValueResult type
game downloads220K GAME DOWNLOADSrevenue
sessions1.7M SESSIONStraffic
tournament entries77K TOURNAMENT ENTRIESperformance

Why NewGen's strategy worked

  1. 1

    Physical activation gives creators a subject to film, because the Santa Monica out-of-home work and the billboards were described as producing short moments for online distribution rather than existing only as placements.

  2. 2

    A prize draw attached to a live event converts attendance into posts, because entry required tagging @mecharenaofficial and using #MechsAreHere rather than simply competing across the three days.

  3. 3

    Gifting the creators who already hold the audience works as a distribution decision rather than a courtesy, because the care packages went specifically to the key creators the campaign had built its influencer pillar on.

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