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Page 1 Campaign Critique #1 Entry Name: Red Barrels: the Underscares – the Outlast 2 Companion Diaper Kickstarter Project Agen

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Page 1 Campaign Critique #1 Entry Name: Red Barrels: the Underscares – the Outlast 2 Companion Diaper Kickstarter Project Agen Page 1 Campaign Critique #1 Entry Name: Red Barrels: The Underscares – The Outlast 2 companion diaper Kickstarter project Agency: Sid Lee Client: Red Barrels Synopsis Outlast is a successful horror-survival video game launched in 2013 by a small independent gaming company named Red Barrels. The Outlast series takes place in an insane asylum on Mount Massive, run by a company named Murkoff, who are experimenting on the homicidal patients. The player takes on the role of a journalist named Miles. You’ve received a tip from an unknown sender that the experiments on the patients were inhumane, and Murkoff needed to be exposed for what they are doing. Miles arrives to discover that someone, or something, has already taken matters into their own hands. You play the game engulfed in darkness; with endless amounts of jump-scares, gore, and games of cat and mouse with the patients who just want to kill. Armed with hope for survival, Miles only brandishes a night-vision camera that guides him through the horrors of the game. In 2017, Outlast 2 was released. Taken place in the same universe but the player takes on a different character. A squeal to its predecessor, you are a journalist that is investigating the murder of an unknown pregnant woman. The evidence leads you to discover a small town deep in the woods, tokened the name Temple Gate by a cult leader who claims that the town lies on the mouth of Hell. With the popularity of horror-survival games on the rise, Red Barrels needed to stand out during the busy seasons of game releases in the upcoming holidays of 2016. Sid Lee is a creative agency in Montreal that was hired by Red Barrels to assist in increasing awareness on the launch of Outlast 2. Analysis Problem/Opportunity Page 2 Even with the success of Outlast, Red Barrels was limited on funds with a budget of $1000 Canadian dollars. As well as going against other big-name companies that were releasing horror- survival games at the same time. Biohazard was preparing to release Resident Evil 7, the biggest horror game franchises in the world.1 They needed to do something that would make them stand out. All gamers were reacting the same while playing Outlast; they agreed that you will ‘shit your pants.’ Sid Lee took the opportunity in case you do shit your pants while playing Outlast. Red Barrels teamed up with local companies to develop and create a washable adult diaper, called Underscare, with the Outlast 2 logo on the front. Players could fund this option on Kickstarter that included a free game when backing the Underscare. Key Publics Sid Lee wanted to make sure this campaign was going to hit all the corners of the gaming community. They wanted to target “existing fans and beyond.”2 They also targeted “horror film fans and action gamers.” 3 First, they engaged with their fans in the community by social media since they had a low budget. Then, they purchased a promotional post for $800 on Facebook to reach everyone who ‘liked’ Outlast that led them to the Kickstarter. After the Kickstarter launch, they made sure to stay engaged with fans and journalists on social media. Red Barrels also used twitter to increase awareness of the Kickstarter by “interacting with brands like Pampers, Huggies and Mountain Dew, to name a few.” Key Messages I believe that Red Barrels wanted to let gamers know that they listen to what they are saying and posting online to improve gameplay. 1 http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/Resident_Evil 2 https://www-warc- com.ezproxy.lib.uh.edu/content/article/cca/red_barrels_the_underscares_the_outlast_2_companion_diaper_kick starter_project/118544 3 https://www-warc- com.ezproxy.lib.uh.edu/content/article/cca/red_barrels_the_underscares_the_outlast_2_companion_diaper_kick starter_project/118544 Page 3 They can keep up with the horror game market, even though they are a small independent company with limited resources. They used the comedic route and created adult diapers for ‘shit-scared gamers.’. It gave a sense to the players that Outlast 2 is just as scary or even scarier than the first. Kickstarter goal of CA$40,000 from November 17 – December 8th, 2016. Objective Red Barrels was going up against the all the big dogs in the horror gaming industry and needed to stand out. The only objective they had was to increase awareness for the 5 months before launch date, just as simple as that. When they went through social media posts, there was a clear pattern; people were talking about shitting their pants after playing the Outlast 2 demo. Red Barrels came up with a big idea and created a Kickstarter for real adult diapers; they offered a basic and deluxe underscares that was fully equipped with a cupholder on your hip for your mountain dew. Sid Lee was concerned that everyone in the gaming community would think this strategy was a joke, so they had to make this come true. In Ronald D. Smith’s Strategic Planning for Public Relations, he says that “a big idea is more than a unique selling point used by advertisers and marketers to sell a product. It’s more than the articulation of a competitive advantage. A big idea is a creative strategy and overriding message that appeals to all key publics and ties a campaign together. – Big ideas shouldn’t be complicated and shouldn’t require much explanation. They should pretty much stand up on their own.” I must say, I think Red Barrels nailed it. The diaper didn’t need an explanation, “because when you're scared, #2 can become problem #1." We can breakdown the objective to see how S.M.A.R.T (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-Bound) they really were. Specific – The objective is clear, Red Barrels wanted to create something different to stand out. They targeted gamers and horror film fans, worldwide, that enjoy the occasional jump scare without the cleanup. They wanted to do this 5 months before the launch of the game, which answers all of the Who?, What?, When?, Where?, and How? Page 4 Measurable – Red Barrels only had a time frame with no dependable variable in place. Objective is not measurable. Outlast was downloaded more than 8 million times. The only other thing that was measurable was their Kickstarter, their goal was $40,000 from November 17 through December 8, 2016 from 300 contributors. Attainable – Because Outlast had a huge following and fan base, the awareness of Outlast 2 was attainable. They used their own Facebook and Twitter accounts to reach out to other related companies, like Huggies and Mountain Dew, to reach out to people who would not usually follow Red Barrels on Social Media. Realistic – Their objective was realistic. They turned a running joke on social media between gamers and turned it into something real. Since they didn’t have a dependent variable, it’s hard to say what the goal was. Instead, they compared sales from Outlast and Outlast 2. Time-bound – The objective is time-bound because we know Red Barrels’ Kickstarter ended on December 8, 2016. Results & Personal Takeaways The campaign was a success in my opinion. They’ve almost doubled their sales of Outlast 2, in the first week, than their predecessor during the whole year; this could since everyone already loved Outlast and didn’t expect anything less from Red Barrels this time around. “At the end of the campaign, we had reached over 2.1M Facebook fans with more than 200K reactions, comments, and shares; 79,000 Twitter impressions; and a whopping 760,000 video views (Facebook, YouTube, and Kickstarter combined). We witnessed animated conversations on Twitter between fans from all over the world, even all the way in Russia and Japan. Overall, our story achieved 752M potential impressions and drove engagement among existing fans and beyond, while our social media budget remained under CA$1,000. All in all, we received over 80,000 online mentions.” (2017) I picked this case because I laughed so hard when I saw the Kickstarter. I recently finished this game on a live stream and I can’t remember how many times I said, “omg I think I pooped.” I think this also speaks volume. Companies that engage with their fans are important to me; it Page 5 shows that they are always looking for feedback to improve. After I graduate, I want to work for a gaming company. This case allowed me to see how smaller companies deal with a low budget but still come out successful. Red Barrels didn’t overthink the campaign. They simply took everyone’s reaction and tapped into the humor of the community to come up with something out of the ordinary, but it also made sense. Page 6 Work Cited Mark Burgess November 24, 2016. “Red Barrels' scare tactics.” Strategy, 24 Nov. 2016, strategyonline.ca/2016/11/24/red-barrels-scare-tactics/ 22/11/2016, Jeffrey Matulef Published. “Outlast 2 dev launches Kickstarter for "companion diaper", really.” Eurogamer.net, www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-11-22-outlast-2- dev-launches-kickstarter-for-companion-diaper-really Parrish, Kevin. “Adult diaper built for 'Outlast' gamers - yes, this is really a thing.” Digital Trends, 23 Nov. 2016, www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/outlast-developer-red- barrels-adult-diaper-kickstarter/. Morin, P. (n.d.). Horror in the Making: How Red Barrels outlasted Outlast. Retrieved March 13, 2018, from https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/234588/Horror_in_the_Making_How_Red_Barrels_outl asted_Outlast.php Smith, Ronald D. Strategic Planning for Public Relations. New York, NY: Routledge, 2017. Print. Outlast 2 Devs Prepare You to Shit in Your Pants With New Kickstarter.
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