SimCity is a groundbreaking videogame franchise that created a genre. After a ten-year absence, SimCity was reimagined and ready to be re-launched.

As a game about puzzle solving, complexity, and creativity, SimCity needs to be played to be appreciated. We needed to find a way to give gamers a sense of how much fun it is to play.

Our campaign, 'Let’s All Be Mayor,' enlisted a global audience in the creation (and destruction) of a new SimCity every day for seven days.

For four hours a day, we live-streamed as a SimCity developer ran the game and two comedians provided cheeky commentary. Consumers guided the fate of the city by voting on major mayoral decisions and voicing their opinions on Facebook and Twitter.

The experience became much more than a gameplay video; it was an entertainment experience that engaged consumers with the game and sparked a vibrant dialogue.

'Let’s All Be Mayor' enlisted a global audience in the creation (and destruction) of a new SimCity every day for seven days.

For four hours a day, we live-streamed as a SimCity developer ran the game simulation, and two comedians provided humorous, cheeky commentary. Consumers guided the fate of the city by voting on major mayoral decisions and voicing their opinions on Facebook and Twitter. The experience ended up being way more than just a gameplay video. It was an interactive entertainment experience that engaged consumers with the game and sparked a vibrant dialogue beyond our expectations.

We set out to drive engagement and buzz. The response was overwhelmingly positive.

In seven days we garnered over 1.3m views and 363,000 votes. Close to 500,000 visitors spent an average of 27 minutes on LetsAllBeMayor.com in contrast to the three minutes visitors spend on SimCity.com. SimCity Twitter impressions tripled from 7.1m to 21.3m, averaging 4,000 tweets per hour. Sentiment across Twitter and Facebook was extremely positive. And while engagement and buzz were the primary goals, LetsAllBeMayor.com drove nearly a quarter of its visitors directly to SimCity.com’s pre-order page and contributed to SimCity exceeding its aggressive sales goal by 10%.