Increasingly younger people are finding big telco networks less appealing. Consideration and purchase intent has decreased across the category. And reaching an ‘ad-blocking’ generation doesn’t help the problem.

With the pandemic, O2 found increasingly difficult to engage younger audiences through conventional media channels. But online and more specifically gaming became the go-to place to escape reality. These virtual spaces became places where live experiences could once again thrive. And a suitable media channel to increase brand awareness and consideration.

Our brief was simple: how could we open up O2 to a younger audience (16-24) by supporting music artists and reconnecting fans to the music they love with additional content for those on Priority, O2’s rewards platform.

From the 21st of June 2021, we added a bit of brightness to players and music fans around the world with a branded partnership between O2, Epic Games and Universal Music Group (UMG).

We invited them to The O2 in Fortnite Creative; the world’s most iconic venue in the world’s biggest game to help launch the debut album of one of the hottest up and coming British bands, easy life.

But this wasn’t gigs recreated, this was gigs reimaged; a showcase for the future of music performances in Fortnite’s Creative mode. Creative mode allows players to create experiences and games to share with the community. We partnered with Fortnite Pro-builders, Team Cre8 to build The O2 from the ground up.

We even launched the first collaboration between Epic and a band to release an in-game music track by easy life; UFOs & Aliens integrated perfectly into Fortnite Season 7.

Through our Priority rewards program’s data, which offers 48hr early access to live events, we knew younger demographics are predominantly music lovers. And didn’t take us a long time to realise the overlap with gamers.

Reimagining O2’s music sponsorship in the right moment was the strategic approach for O2 to engage a younger demographic (16-24). This wasn’t just about getting people to play the game, but creating a first-in-category activation with a halo effect to position O2 as the network of choice for gamers.

Collectables, exclusive elements and mini-games were used to get players to spend more time with the brand. Even partnering with UMGs easy life, aligned to O2’s music ethos of supporting young talent to establish the new generation of live experiences.

Prominent in-game promotion in Fortnite got our experience in front of all players while gaming influencers were used to endorse the experience to their followers.

Our virtual experience consisted of two parts, The O2 itself and a 20-minute, interactive performance by Island Record’s, easy life. The first-ever gig in Fortnite Creative and the first use of video.

We filled The O2 with mini-games, collectables and an exclusive Squeezy Life virtual item that was redeemed over 750k times. On the 24th June, players experienced a gig like no other, accessible for 72 hours. From coral-covered apartments, to players sucked into the belly of a whale, then flying into the sky with our band, we moved players through six incredible environments. Each area was tailor-made to a different song from easy life’s debut album, ‘life’s a beach’.

Under the guts of the build were an astonishing amount of sequence timers, event triggers and teleporters that moved players through the experience. Video in Creative Mode was in an experimental stage, only capable of displaying one stream at a time. We got around this by encoding multiple videos in the same stream and used in-game objects to mask out parts we didn't want players to see.

We even launched the first collaboration between Epic Games and a band to create an in-game music track. Redeemed over 3.5 million times, UFOs & Aliens integrated perfectly into Fortnite Season 7.

To amplify the experience we created a fully integrated campaign covering gaming, music and innovation audiences. With strategic PR coverage, live streams and influencer endorsements the campaign got on the front page of The Verge and Campaign as well as coverage from the BBC, Radio 1 Newsbeat, NME and more.

The O2 in Fornite Creative broke Epic Games’ record for engagement for players in a branded space. We managed to achieve 15.2 million plays over 72hrs, 10.8 million unique players, 169 million minutes played and an average playtime of 19.5 minutes.

We broke Fortnite’s record for engagement with over 10.8M unique players in a branded space. On average players explored the experience for 19.5 minutes. Our Squeezy Life virtual item was redeemed 766K times and our exclusive music track, 3.6M.

The gig was enjoyed over 15.2M times. The band gained 15k+ Spotify followers and 2M monthly listeners plus 8M impressions across all organic social media.

PR coverage, live streams and influencers endorsements of the campaign positioned O2 as the choice of network for gamers.

In-game success translated into a raised brand consideration and perception. 64% gamers said O2 is the only network they would ever sign up to (+19% prior to the campaign). And 57% of O2 customers agreed that O2 brings you the best music experience to your mobile (+10% prior to the campaign).

The activity engaged 57% of O2’s most profitable audience increasing browsing for purchase and upgrades.