Until recently, gaming was a peaceful place where millions of gamers spent time connected. Movistar Telecom knows this very well, as 40% of its business is in gaming, and as part of its brand pillars, it is committed to keeping it safe.

However, drug cartels have shifted from recruiting children in the streets to recruiting gamers in video games, disrupting an entertainment space that players, parents, and even the government thought was untouchable.

Therefore, we decided to step in and raise awareness about this issue to millions of players who were previously unaware of it.

In Mexico, thousands of children are being recruited through mobile video games to join organized crime. Video games that they play on their smarthphones expose them more, as 81.4% of gamers prefer this medium. They become easy prey for drug cartels ('narcos') seeking to approach them through gaming.

Movistar Telecom is a brand socially committed to the digital environment, caring about providing a safe space for gamers. That is why they created a video game film, a piece of interesting content that, from the entertainment of gaming, connected and delivered a message based on real events.

Using video game narratives, they sought to warn children and young people that the outcome of enrolling with drug cartels ('narcos') is fatal. No matter how attractive it sounds or looks, it never ends well. At the same time, they had to raise awareness among parents to supervise their children more and, above all, not let the 'narco' play with their lives.

The danger is not just on the streets; it is now in our rooms, on our mobiles, and has finally infiltrated the world of entertainment in the most popular and widely viewed video games.

For Movistar Telecom, this is not a game. To counteract and minimize the growing impact of these bad practices, it decided to act with content that appeals to the tastes and interests of the target audience: video games.

Situation:

Recruitment through gaming is a danger that the gaming community was unaware of, and they did not realize that drug cartels were entering their world, disrupting the peace they once had. The more time they spent playing games, the more time they were exposed to being contacted.

Brief:

As a socially responsible company that aims to create a safe digital environment and with a significant presence in gaming, the brand needed to launch content that could stand out in a world offering the latest in entertainment.

Objectives:

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

Audience insights.

Young gamers, parents who game, and non-gaming parents.

81.4% of this audience of gamers use smarthphones as their connection platform, so we had to speak to them in their language.

Community building and management approach:

'This is not a game' sparked conversations on social media that reached media outlets, which then began to disseminate the content. Once the content went viral, more parents and gamers were able to watch it and approached the brand. We directed them to our site where they could find information on how to protect their children with parental controls and reinforced this with talks from Freedom Squad, the largest video game cybersecurity

The video game film tells the story of a young gamer who is deceived and recruited by drug traffickers through a mobile gaming platform.

Referencing one of the most famous games in the world (GTA), we aimed to stand out in the vast ocean of audiovisual entertainment content. Therefore, we needed to be impactful, engaging, and true to our audiences.

How did the creative insight directly influence the amplification of the brand message?

81.4% of gamers in Mexico who use Movistar Telecom's mobile platform for entertainment identified with the video game film's message: staying in a safe environment.

Implementation:

In a month when the conversation on social media revolves around children (because Mexico celebrates Children's Day on April 30), we wanted to raise awareness about the issue and emphasize the importance of monitoring who our children are playing with.

Timeline:

April 8, 2024 - May 8, 2024

Placement: The piece was broadcast on Facebook, YouTube, YouTube Shorts, Instagram, X, TikTok, cinemas, TV, and Movistar Arena.

Scale: It was launched in a space sponsored by Movistar Telecom for gamers: Arena Movistar, and amplified in Mexico's most important tournament: the final of League of Legends, 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, the largest video game cybersecurity group in Mexico, to discuss the topic.

Impact

We premiered in front of over 300,000 viewers.

+ 23 millions of views across platforms in 2 weeks.

Reach

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.

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.

Quality of experience and interaction

We were the most-streamed brand in Mexico.

Brand perception

87% sentiment positive.

Change in behaviour.

Searches for parental control increased by 67%.

Achievement against objective

The initial goal was to achieve a total of 22 million views, which were surpassed

We transformed a film into a video game film where the true challenge wasn't during filming, but rather the preliminary planning to recreate the movements, color grading, audio design, and cinematography found in video games.

We made it appear like a "video game" at first glance without digital assistance. We emulated bugs, lag, desynchronized lip-syncing, and some "errors" that video games often experience.

We organically edited the film from the casting stage, ensuring the movements felt computer-generated; the actors acted like NPCs, blending cut scenes and gameplay, with realistic settings and audio design mixed with real video audio.

All the visual characteristics, values, and codes made the audience feel like they were in a mission in a game similar to GTA. And, of course, an epic production required a finale that suddenly brought you back to reality.