The stage was set for the 20th anniversary of the inaugural World Scrabble® Championships in Warsaw, Poland with a record number of participating countries and entrants. Yet interest in watching a Scrabble® match was close to zero, even if it was a milestone competition. To increase awareness of the championship, Mattel enlisted the agency to create and execute a broadcast and video campaign that demonstrated how the veteran board game could be utilized to its full potential in the age of social media and fantasy gaming. Mattel also aimed to increase sales of the Scrabble® board game, which we achieved by an impressive 19% increase over the previous year.

Using our specialist, integrated digital and broadcast experience, we developed creative video content and implemented a multi-lingual media relations campaign to communicate Mattel’s key messages, all on a minimal budget. Our team ensured the World Scrabble® Championships was a major news story targeted to each of the client’s seven key global markets and globally, through pan-regional broadcasters. Top-tier international coverage was achieved, with an ultimate reach of over 244m people. BBC’s flagship morning show, BBC Breakfast, even featured presenters playing the game throughout the entire 3 hour-long programme.

The first step in executing our media strategy was to identify 15 broadcast news and sports targets and 20 online editorial targets in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, India, Malaysia, Australia, Singapore and China. We pitched the championship to key broadcasters and online targets 2 weeks before the event, highlighting the pre-event material and angles specific to each territory.Our team attended the championship to oversee the filming, editing and distribution of the video news packages. We distributed a news package via satellite 2 hours after the event's closing ceremony that hit every key market in time for early morning news programming. The subsequent edited package for online outlets was made available within 3 hours of the culmination of the tournament.The team oversaw and co-ordinated live and pre-recorded interviews. Bespoke footage and interviews were captured on request and video content was also made available via electronic distribution.

Results spelled 'success' with a 19% increase in sales the week of the event, and a 12% uplift the following week. Global coverage reached more than 244m people, with an ROI of 137:1.Coverage stands out due to its duration. Presenters of the BBC’s flagship ‘Breakfast’ programme played Scrabble® throughout the entire 3-hour programme, watched by 2.5m people. A live interview with a Mattel representative and Scrabble®’s Twitter feed accepting word suggestions from the public created a truly interactive experience.We also secured an hour’s worth of coverage on BBC World’s ‘Impact’ programme, beamed into 240m homes worldwide daily. A former UK Scrabble® champ challenged the presenter in the studio, delivering key messages and bringing the game to life.

Our video content appeared on more than 20 media channels, including CBS, ABC Good Morning America, The Huffington Post, The Sun, The Telegraph and Yahoo!