Case Study: How to Drive Sales During the Off-Season

May is traditionally the slow season for consumer electronics sales. Rather than ride out the lull, we decided to turn it into an opportunity — generating buzz and driving sales for our Russian client Kingston Technology by tying the brand to the launch of Rage 2, a highly anticipated title whose release was timed perfectly to our needs. Rage 2 is the sequel to the first-person shooter originally released back in 2011.

The game's bold, vivid visuals let us build a campaign that cut through the noise of the usual spring promotions from competitors. Co-branding and partnering with a leading global publisher gave us reach into audiences the brand simply couldn't access on its own. The result: Kingston product sales rose by 50% — all during a period when consumer activity typically drops.

Execution

We knew the release of a major new title wouldn't go unnoticed by an audience that had been eagerly anticipating it. Choosing Rage 2 was no coincidence. First, the game's vivid, high-energy visuals paired perfectly with the festive mood of May. Second, its launch window lined up with a client promotion that had already been planned and approved. Third, Rage 2 is a hardware-demanding game — making the vendor's products a natural fit for players looking to get the most out of it.

The project kicked off with negotiations with American game publisher Bethesda Softworks to secure the use of Rage 2's visual assets, after which we launched a co-branded advertising campaign promoting the HyperX and Kingston product lineup: Kingston SSD and HyperX Memory.

To prepare for negotiations, we built a clear case for why this kind of co-promotion would be valuable to the partner:

— Free exposure on platforms where the game's core audience is already active;

— Visibility with leading e-tail partners where the game isn't sold during the national promotional period;

— Placement in relevant product categories (SSD, RAM, and other sections frequented by the gaming audience) across leading e-tail partners;

We developed and signed off on the creative concepts and banner layouts for the campaign, then locked in the KPIs and mandatory reporting metrics. The core message across all selected channels was: "For the best gaming experience, we recommend 16 GB RAM and a 240 GB SSD. Upgrade your PC — and save while you're at it."

For advertising and PR support, we chose branded placements on IT portals, targeted ads and seeding in VK, an announcement on Habr, and pre-roll ads on gaming YouTube channels that were already gearing up to cover the game's release.

The final media mix comprised 16 platforms: 6 YouTube channels for pre-roll integrations and 9 VK communities for targeted advertising — plus a post on the Habr blog, online retailer websites, and one placement in a niche trade publication.

VKontakte

We ran sponsored posts in five gaming communities and one IT-focused group.

The placements delivered 35,000 impressions and 211 clicks.

Two additional posts published in the VK communities of online retailers Citilink and OGO! generated 27,500 impressions.

Targeted VK advertising across IT, esports, and gaming communities delivered an additional 400,000 impressions and 3,200 clicks.

YouTube

Six pre-roll placements with YouTube creators generated 1.2M views and 2,500 clicks.

Retailer and Review Websites

We also ran a banner ad on an IT hardware, gadget, and gaming review site reaching up to 500,000 monthly visitors. Over the course of one week, it delivered 154,000 impressions and nearly 1,500 clicks.

On the Onlinetrade, OGO!, Ulmart, and Citilink websites, banner ads were placed in special offers blocks and in dedicated computer peripherals sections.

Results

In two weeks, we ran 15 activations and drove over 7,000 clicks to retail stores. The hypothesis held: bold co-branded creatives built around a hotly anticipated game captured the attention of exactly the right audience. The calculated risk of partnering with a gaming title that hadn't yet hit shelves paid off. We successfully delivered Kingston's key messages to its target audience and boosted SSD and memory sales during what is traditionally the slowest season. Want results like these?

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