When the client wants to launch a mouse, and Romania realizes it has a gaming industry

When the client wants to launch a mouse, and Romania realizes it has a gaming industry

Dăescu Borţun Olteanu, a PR and consultancy agency, has been using its expertise for over 14 years to communicate for technology brands and the gaming industry. In 2006, for the first time, the agency managed to “sell” proposals for tech devices, such as Logitech mouses, in the fashion pages of the most important Romanian glossy publications, which was not happening until then. This action allowed gadgets to be appreciated in another environment, a glam one. In 2018 we have a growing game development industry, but whose performance is not known by the general public. Media loves to sensationalize, thus the main themes it addresses are those related to the addiction young people develop by playing.

The challenge: In 2018 the media landscape has dramatically changed. The specialty media of IT&C and gaming has lost some of its traction. The gaming and tech PR industry is facing a big challenge: their client’s messages don’t reach the public. Once again, neatly but away in a box labelled “kids wasting time with games”. In this medium, where macro topics are ignored, we can easily imagine the difficulty of communicating new products to the public… and we’re back at the mouse. This is how we arrived to pinpoint the need to place the mouse in a context and think more about the public and the industry we know so well and that are also users of our client’s products: the gaming industry, the game developers and, last but not least, THE GAMERS.

How do we spin this “kids wasting time playing” into “professionals are creating games and making thousands of Euros doing it”? How do we convey that the local gaming development industry is THE branch of the creative industry that brings the most revenue to the state budget? How do we transform the achievements of the gaming developers industry into a serious press subject and a matter of national interest for the general audience? How do we, once again, “sell” creatively the very same mouse we made into an object of desire back in 2006?

WE BECOME OUR CLIENT. WE TRANSFORM AN EVENT INTO A HAPPENING. AN INDUSTRY INTO A PHENOMENON.

Long story short: BUCHAREST GAMING WEEK. A one-week mega event that generates a full 360 view on the game development industry and esports phenomenon (concept art show, round tables, game design workshops, game jams, esports competitions) with the participation of central and local authorities, major tech players, associations which promote digital curricula in education system, Youtube content creators. The event was attended by over 10.000 participants. The main competitions were broadcast live on Look TV, Antena Play and the online platform Twitch. // The event generated 500+ articles online // Online reach – 500,000 people// 80+ videos on Youtube// Youtube reach – 1,200.00 people // 500+ Facebook posts// 25+ TV materials // TV reach -1,100,000 people.

Bucharest Gaming Week managed to put a spotlight on an industry that was perceived as a more playful niche of IT&C, but which no-one was taking seriously. The event highlighted the IMPORTANCE OF GAMING as a solid part of the foundation for the economic future of the country and as a serious career option for passionate gamers. For three months, the months before the event, we managed, through targeted and sustained communication, to present the opportunities and strengths of the local gaming and game development industry to both the classical media and the new media.When we will announce the next gaming mouse, the media will understand why this release is relevant in a much larger context.