Call of Duty: Warzone
**Foreshadow: Gold Winner for Creative Brief at the 2022 VCU Student Advertising Award - **
Prologue:
The Strategic Workshop is a 48-hour competition with students from universities all over the country and internationally participating in teams of 3-4 to come up with a new creative brief and a presentation deck for this year’s brand - Call of Duty: Warzone.
Industry: Gaming Role: Lead Strategist My first impression: “Community branding”
The Ask: Make Call of Duty: Warzone part of the mainstream culture.
The Problem: There is a toxic gaming environment the players created to suppress non-traditional players.
The Solution: Call out the bullying in the gaming community to create a safe environment for ALL players to join.
Research Methodologies:
1. | In-depth Industry Interviews:
Conducted in-depth interviews with all kinds of gamers (casual and competitive) that play Call of Duty: Warzone, revolving around a single main idea: is the gaming community inclusive?
2. | Social Listening:
Observed social platforms (Instagram, Facebook groups, etc.) to understand the Warzone fanbase and why the community may be toxic and exclusive to other players.
Climax:
The Situation: There is a gamer caste system.
“Traditional” players (straight, white, male) tend to be the upper echelon gamers in Warzone, so other people joining who don’t fit the “ideal” player tend to feel suppressed or harassed while playing online.
77% of women face gender-based discrimination
59% mask their gender because of this
55% play as non-gendered or male-gendered because of this
The Insight: Some gamers are fighting two battles.
People seek dominance in the virtual realm to make up for the lack of control in their reality. They’re fighting in the actual game, yes, but they’re also fighting to prove themselves in their real life.
"When you win it feels good to be good at something; a confidence/ego booster, especially after a rough day. You become so engaged to where it’s like an extension of yourself."
"It’s an outlet that allows you to escape from the past and future, strictly forcing you to be in the present, and it's stimulating you enough to keep you hooked."
The Strategy: Be the player that you would be proud of.
The game is inclusive to everyone, but the community itself is very exclusive. To build a community that includes everyone, Call of Duty needs to encourage its gamers to treat other players how they want to be treated in the game and real life.
