Roll the dice and see it's California or bust!

SapientNitro has launched the official California board game.

It took a lot of effort to convince California Travel and Tourism that an online board game would be an effective way to sell California -and it took even more effort to bring our vision to life. We had to sell CTTC on the power of online games. Then sell them on our ability to build a game and promote it. Then, once we had CTTC on board, we had to help them sell the idea to an advertising partner to share the costs. Southwest Airlines agreed to co-promote this campaign, and SapientNitro integrated SWA and their “bags fly free” message into the game and the prizes.

The beauty of the board game is that it delivers on so many levels. Here are some of the strategic benefits that we wanted to deliver:
1. Get more people to interact with the brand.
2. Increase each person’s interaction with the brand (5 minutes or more).
3. Provide a great experience that educates people about everything California offers.
4. Provide a promotional platform that California could sell to their partner Southwest Airlines
5. Provide a promotional platform that California could use over and over with different advertising
partners, and different markets (international).

But that was just the beginning. It also took hard work to ensure that we delivered a great user experience. In the face of pressure of multiple agendas, our group kept focused on creating an experience that was fun, challenging, and played like a board game. We knew it was critical for the game to be good in order to achieve the all-important word-of-mouth effect, and ultimately get big results. In addition to the game, the team had to create, sell and coordinate an integrated campaign with another ad agency and two PR firms – not to mention 2 clients.

Thankfully, all this effort is paying off. A week in, the game is a huge success. We are getting tons of visitors. People are really enjoying the game. And we are generating tons of leads. Here are some of the eye-popping numbers: 75% of all players finish the game. 50% submit their score to CTTC. And over 20,000 people have requested a copy of the California visitors guide mailed to them – so many that California will run out by the end of the week!

The integrated campaign for California – The Game includes OWNED, EARNED and BOUGHT MEDIA. Advertising and PR will work together to launch and sustain interest on social networks, blogs, and entertainment websites. But please help us spread the word! Post the game and share it.