HEWLETT PACKARD
HP OMEN CHALLENGE
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
FWA - Site of the Day
Hewlett Packard wanted to launch their specialist gaming laptop, HP OMEN, to the online gaming community in a way that would make it credible. The gaming audience is highly resistant to advertising, so we needed a way to connect with them which spoke their language and offered content that they would find truly valuable. Gamers thrive on competition, so we created a way to put their new product at the heart of a brand new type of e-sports competition, hosted by HP on Twitch.
We pitched it to gamers as the first ever, live action game show on Twitch, named ‘The HP OMEN Challenge’. I worked as creative lead team to develop the show format and work out the challenge. Every aspect of the gameshow demonstrated the OMEN’s strengths to gamers, as well as used language derived from the online game, SMITE, that the teams would be playing.
The HP OMEN Challenge’s popularity with gamers and the ratings it drew meant that it went on to become a series for HP with a further two shows airing on Twitch, which later lived on as content on the channel. With a live, social event like this the numbers speak to its success, so here they are:
Before the live event, the Omen Challenge content pushed out via YouTube influencers collected more than 900K views.
On the date of the event, 109,120 gamers tuned in to watch live and spent an average of 30 minutes watching the Omen Challenge.
Our audience went crazy on Twitch, generating more than 104K interactions within the live chat box to cast their votes and discuss the battle.
Twitter mentions of #OmenChallenge on that day alone grew by more than 18,000 hashtag uses.
In total, the campaign communications reached more than 95 million around the world and the HP OMEN made its name as the birth of a new era for gaming laptops.
Watch the highlights of the event here:
I concepted and crafted a full suite of assets to build hype with Tweets, Facebook posts, videos and online adverts to release in the lead up to the live show. I also worked with high profile gaming influencers to craft a content plan for social posts put out through their channels to inform their followers about the competition and gain it credibility.
Sonic Boom was the most popular challenge. This involved the e-sports gamers having to play SMITE whilst being blasted in the face with an air cannon. Viewers tweeted throughout the show with their reactions. With hashtags like #SONICBOOMISMYLIFE it became apparent this was well liked by the gamers.
I oversaw the design and build of the set. It was built in a day on the eve of the shoot. It consisted of a series of chambers with a an HP Omen laptop at the heart of each. Each player had to enter a chamber to play. Inside were a series of challenges built into the design.
E-sports gaming teams London conspiracy and Titan (Denmark) were the first contestants to battle it out in the Omen Challenge. They bought with them a following of fans who tuned in to watch and a knowledge of the game Smite.
We devised tortures tests to challenge the gamers’ concentration and skill, as well as the laptop's features. Every torture was derived from the powers of the gods of SMITE, so the viewers at home played god themselves, inflicting lightening strikes, death gaze, sonic booms and even a call from the gamers’ mums.
Viewers tweeted throughout the show with their reactions. With hashtags like #SONICBOOMISMYLIFE it became apparent that sonic boom - an air canon to the gamers faces, was a hands down favourite.
Throughout the show product placement and partner and sponsor branding was built in to the shot list to create maximum impact for all involved.
The winning team received an Omen Challenge Trophy which we designed using perspex and metal.