Leading up to the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, we were challenged to tease the return of Vladimir Makarov, a fan-favorite antagonist from the original Modern Warfare trilogy. With the player's knowledge that Makarov would betray anyone and cross any line on his mission to collapse the global order, we needed a way to pull them into his confidence.

We set out to build an immersive activation that would pull players through in-game missions while delivering key product intel without immediately revealing Markarov’s identity. Our most dedicated users were the first to discover new intel, spreading information about the game with the global COD community, while staying true to the game’s narrative tone.

While players were accustomed to having an immersive in-game experience, we set out to drive players beyond the game to discover the next chapter of Call of Duty through a direct 1:1 connection.

Knowing our audience’s love for immersive storytelling and new game info, we predicted they would jump at the opportunity to play an active role in uncovering information about the next installment of Modern Warfare.

Makarov’s presence and personality in the franchise, a desire to reach his goals by any means, inspired our campaign.

With a campaign embedded within the narrative of the game, an unknown character appeared as if he was reaching out from behind the bars of an in-game prison, recruiting creators to spread his message. It started with a parcel filled with bars of soap, slippers, books and a smuggled burner phone scattered in pieces and buried within each object.

While livestreaming, our creators assembled their phones, before receiving instructions from our mysterious agent.

Creators then recruited audiences into the experience.

Our SMS channel opened, allowing fans to speak directly with the Unknown Caller during key

In a social landscape increasingly dominated by algorithms designed to spread attention across topics and serve shortened attention spans, we needed a way to reach players that would cut through the noise and hold their attention in the leadup to the reveal of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III.

Side-stepping social platforms and using SMS gave us the direct, intimate connection to players that we needed. This channel also gave us an opportunity to pull players deeper into our game’s world, diegetically immersing them in a tense conversation with the most chilling villain in Call of Duty history.

As soon as players started engaging with our activation, we began analyzing their questions and conversations to determine opportunities for additional replies. Combining these insights with social listening, we were able to keep the campaign topical and reactive to community sentiment and pressing curiosities.

Your phone is your most intimate device. It goes everywhere with you, and over time, becomes an extension of you.

We set out to establish direct, one-on-one contact with our players in this extremely intimate space, and not just stop there, as we also needed to hold their attention for a full two week marketing cycle.

Yes, there were technical challenges, like managing logic trees on SMS and ensuring our message delivery system didn’t collapse due to the scale of the campaign. These were the minor blockers.

Our ambitions truly came to life as we tackled the deeper hurdles - building a compelling narrative that reaches a wide audience, balancing lore for the core fans with valuable content for the casuals, maintaining immersion while navigating unexpected hurdles, and ultimately: giving passionate players an experience that meant something more than a marketing beat.

Growing our mobile marketing list from 0 to over 400k in a matter of weeks, we opened a new channel that could cut through the clutter and immediately reach players with messages relevant to the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III.

On social channels, we received over 15M+ additional global impressions, further amplified through press articles and fans sharing their unique interactions with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III’s villain.

Immersing players in the world of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III before it was formally revealed set the tone for a successful launch and made a lasting impression on players who are eagerly waiting for our next message.