NBA2K
You’re Not Ready
The brief: Launch a new iteration of an iconic gaming franchise without a single gameplay asset. Seems daunting enough, but factor in the fanatic fanbase of the NBA2K franchise, that weight compounds. So when we set out to launch the 21st installment of one of the most beloved sports games, we knew this was no small challenge.
Well, that’s when the challenge became the inspiration. Our team had been hearing that our audience wasn’t ready for what this new version was going to bring to the table, so that became our idea and our line. We leaned hard into the NBA2K’s community’s obsessive nature, knowing they would dissect anything we put out looking for new info. We created an influencer campaign featuring the who’s who of the 2K community, NBA players, rappers, gamers these fans look up to and had them give away all the juicy details. The catch? We redacted everything, leaving it up to the community to decipher the message that may or may not have been there.
Outside of the teaser film, we created kits for gaming influencers to share with their followers and had them invite fans to try and decipher the clues.
And they bit, hard. We saw fans start whole reddit and discord threads as well as create original youtube videos slowing down and picking apart the spot trying to figure out the games new features.