Situación:

Recruitment through gaming is a danger that the gamer community was unaware of, and they were not conscious of the fact that drug cartels were entering their world to disrupt the peace they had. The more time they spent entertained, the more time they were exposed to being contacted.

Brief:

As a socially responsible company committed to building a safe digital environment and having a strong presence in gaming, the brand needed to launch content that would stand out within a world that features the latest in entertainment.

Objectives:

Movistar Telecom, as a socially responsible company, will always safeguard its users' cybersecurity. Therefore, it aims to connect using the codes and language of a gamer audience that uses smartphones for entertainment. We must make them understand that recruitment can start like a game, but it will always end like one: in Game Over.

Scalability

In collaboration with the UN, Freedom Squad, and R7 (Rainbow 7), we worked on discussions and an action plan to protect our gamer community. This included strengthening the cybersecurity guidelines and promoting government support to increase awareness and amplification of the issue.

We also used Movistar Arena as a meeting point to generate debates and forums on the recruitment problem. These events were retransmitted by influencers and gamers.

Additionally, the UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) reached out to us to develop an action plan so parents can monitor their children. We aim to raise awareness not only about recruitment but also about child trafficking.

Industry impact

By bringing this issue to the forefront, telecommunications companies in Mexico are now seeking to implement security systems within the mobile video game category. Moreover, they are supporting and alerting parents about the growing problem.

Target audience

Our main audience was parents who were unaware of the recruitment issue. Since this is a new practice by drug cartels, many of them believe their children are safe playing behind a screen.

Our second audience was gamers aged 7 to 18 who use their smartphones for entertainment with video games.

Approach

In a month when the conversation in Mexico centers around children because of Children's Day, we aimed to raise awareness of the issue and emphasize the importance of monitoring who our children are playing with. We aimed to make it clear that recruitment is affecting children now more than ever. The audience was redirected to the site where they could find information to implement for their safety in the gaming world.

Implementation

The video game film was launched a few weeks before Children's Day in Mexico (April 30, 2024), with the intention of emphasizing the importance of increased supervision of our children.

Timeline

April 8, 2024 - May 8, 2024

Placement

The video was played on Facebook, YouTube, YouTube Shorts, Instagram, X, TikTok, in cinemas, on television, and at the Movistar Arena.

Scale

The film was launched in a space sponsored by Movistar Telecom for gamers: Movistar Arena, and amplified at the most important gaming tournament in Mexico: the League of Legends final, where one of the teams sponsored by the brand (R7) presented it. Influencers, gamers, and Twitch streamers retransmitted and shared it on their Discord, Twitch, and social media channels. A specific forum was created for Freedom Squad, Mexico's largest video game cybersecurity group, to discuss the topic and raise awareness within the gaming community.

Reach

We premiered in front of over 300,000 viewers.

+ 23 millions of views in 2 weeks.

2 million hours in social media in 2 weeks.

Engagement

A 7-minute piece on digital platforms managed to connect with our audience thanks to its entertaining and impressive narrative.

Impact

More than 34 million users were impacted across different platforms.

Even representatives from the UN/UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) approached us to continue working together.

Sales

This is a 100% awareness campaign designed to build on the brand’s responsible business pillars.

Brand perception

87% positive sentiment.

Achievement against objective: The initial goal was to achieve a total of 22 million views, which was surpassed in just 2 weeks.