• Data insights: Core to the success of this campaign was appealing to *female* Xbox gamers without alienating male gamers. Based on our research, male gamers tend to be action-oriented, while female gamers tend to be “nerd-first,” with an appreciation for the absurd. The targeted action/adventure gamer audience over-indexed in comedy shows. Our Data Strategy team assessed that 80% of the “heavy gamer” target was male, so any analysis of the target would overwhelm the nuances of the female gamer. Thus, Data Strategy unpacked the two segments separately and created actionable insights for each gender – and then joined the data to highlight where there was opportunity to leverage an overlap.

• Innovation: This campaign utilized the Viewprint, our proprietary predictive engine, a data-driven creative map that provides actionable audience insights to inform and strengthen integrated marketing campaigns by building empirical guideposts during the ideation process. The methodology aggregates the best-of-class behavioral and attitudinal data fused with multi-platform content consumption data to: set the tone, determine genre, identify talent, and find the most relevant platforms.

• Originality: The Viewprint is the first tool of its kind to use machine learning to help predict the efficacy of Branded Content.

• Data Journey: We knew we had two very passionate personalities to speak to – the action/adventure gamer and the Comedy Central fan. To find the program and platform where these fanbases intersect, we tapped into Viewprint, which revealed that the target tends to be on the nerdy, left-of-center side. We used the Viewprint to identify Broad City as a show that over-indexed with the action/adventure gamer target and features strong female leads that align with the Lara Croft character and sensibility.

• Implementation: Knowing that Broad City was a program that over-indexes with the target, we were able to develop a creative program that felt organic to both the show and the game. We focused on the action and travel adventure genres that were identified as key areas for the target and decided to put Abbi and Ilana *inside* the game.

• Data Integration: For this to be a true success to the Seeker target, we needed to stay true to the Broad City tone. In the custom content guided by Viewprint, Abbi and Ilana imagine themselves in the game, only to cut back to their less-than-glamorous reality.

Upon release, the Broad City/Rise of the Tomb Raider execution trended on Facebook, with multiple press outlets and fans believing the branded content piece to be a trailer for the show itself, proving the organic nature of the integration. The overall feedback on social was exceedingly positive, with fans celebrating a mashup of two of their favorite things: Broad City and Tomb Raider. With the data garnered from Viewprint, we knew that it was extremely important to stay true to both franchises in order to not alienate fans of either, and by incorporating recognizable and beloved elements of both into the final product, we accomplished just that. The program was a success not just for fans of Comedy Central and Tomb Raider, but also for Xbox as a whole, who reported that the program succeeded in driving strong social engagement and brand recognition.

“Rise of the Tomb Raider,” published by Microsoft and released for Xbox One and Xbox 360 in 2014, represents an innovative convergence of art and science to create a relevant and compelling Integrated Marketing campaign that broke through the clutter and resonated across platforms with the targeted audience. By utilizing Viewprint, a proprietary predictive engine for branded content, we deconstructed the attributes and drivers of the custom audience segment into actionable pieces that the Velocity Integrated Marketing team were then able to put back together into a cohesive multi-platform campaign informed by quantifiable data science.

• Data Gathering: Viewprint uses a “Fans First” approach that pulls in a unique combination of data specific to the custom audience’s segment from across the Search Graph (what are they searching for?), Social Graph (what are they liking/sharing?), and Interest Graph (what are they reading and watching?). Viewprint uses unsupervised machine learning techniques that allow fan data to uncover hidden correlations that connect the various insights from across the data sets. For XBox and “Tomb Raider” Viewprint was able to…

• Data Interpretation: …recommend: Genre & Tone (Comedy, Action/Adventure), Program Adjacency (Broad City and Inside Amy Schumer), and Talent (Amy Schumer, Abbi & Ilana). This aligned with the strong themes of female empowerment embodied by Lara Croft and the “Tomb Raider” franchise.

• Targeting: Targeting was fed by Viewprint, which ran cluster analyses across devices, social channels, and programming most likely to reach the target audience. To deliver a 360 convergent program, we relied on Viewprint’s Digital Viewing Overlap data. Broad City had significant shared viewership online, suggesting a need to maximize engagement by creating content specifically designed to pop on each platform. In total, we created 22 pieces of content, reaching fans everywhere across digital and social.

Xbox challenged us to create a unique partnership that generated awareness and buzz for the release of “Rise of the Tomb Raider.”

In the end, we were able to integrate the Action/Adventure genre of Rise of the Tomb Raider into the very DNA of Broad City, creating a truly organic partnership designed to resonate with our mutual fans across all platforms.

To accomplish this, Abbi and Ilana were shot with practical elements built to match the gameplay of Lara Croft. The end result is a combination of gameplay footage, practical elements, green screen and VFX that seamlessly melds the worlds of “Rise of the Tomb Raider” and Broad City.

In addition to the final custom content piece, we created a behind-the-scenes piece to be released alongside the game’s launch, building anticipation and teasing the ultimate crossover event.