Welcome to the first of the series of Miri’s Ads of the Month, where we share some of our favourite creatives we worked and explore what we like about the ads from an engagement and design perspective and indicate the latest UA creative trends. This month, we focused on featuring some of our gaming clients.
Angry Birds 2 - Rovio
Comments from Oliver Grover – Mid-Level Motion Designer & Yupei Liu – Performance Marketing Executive at Miri
What inspired this concept?
This ad was inspired by the growing trend of utilising widely known card games to show the recognisable Angry Birds characters in a new light. We wanted to keep the Angry Birds aesthetics cute in line with their branding and gave the characters dramatic and emotive expressions with each action performed.
What market insights were applied?
We know that the Angry Birds games are famous for it’s slingshot mechanic whilst card games are a popular (physical and mobile) game to play commonly in a competitive environment against an opponent, so we combined these to merge the two ideas and display the Angry Birds gameplay from a fresh new angle!
What did you like about the ad?
I loved animating the expression of the characters to convey the right emotions, and the cutaways to different camera angles that all helped push the narrative of the card game in a fun and engaging way. I loved how the characters’ expressions and intricate animations really displayed their emotions throughout the narrative, and how the gameplay is like an in-game reflection of that narrative. Red the bird’s lovable reactions from winning the game gave me a big smile!
Party in my Dorm - A Thinking Ape
Comments from Elise Zareie – Performance Marketing Lead at Miri
What inspired this concept?
Our client wanted a Black Friday themed brief to fit the seasonal trend at the time, so I decided to also make it a Kim Possible / Disney Channel themed creative. I wanted to go beyond the classic shopping themed concept with a makeover.
What market insights were applied?
Players of narrative games love being entertained. This is a storyline concept that’s passive, we’re not asked to participate in the ad but purely enjoy its content. I’m not saying that it’s the only concept type that works (see our creative matrix) but it’s a good example of addressing players’ motivation in this game vertical.
What did you like about the ad?
It reminds me of the kind of fun spy cartoons I used to watch as a kid (your audience is nostalgic too, take advantage of it!). It also creates a mini-lore around this high school spy and the mysterious red dress.
Longleaf Valley - TreesPlease Games
Comments from Sannah Saleem – Creative Marketing Executive at Miri
What inspired this concept?
Longleaf Valley boasts an interesting and endearing storyline, adorable characters, and allows its players to plant real trees whilst playing through its partnership with Eden Reforestation Projects. As per a discussion with the client we established player personas and designed this concept to appeal to the ‘Eco Warrior’, who is motivated by advocacy and sustainability.
What market insights were applied?
This concept required the drama of battle-oriented creatives. Market insights repeatedly indicate that ‘fail concepts’ are favoured, and the failure of our protagonist, Ash, in this concept sought to evoke anger in our audience. The mission statement of TreesPlease Games is a very important one, and we have been on a journey of discovering the most effective way to present this in our creatives. We have found over the course of our partnership that tackling environmental issues does not always yield the most installs, but it does attract the highest quality users.
What did you like about the ad?
I personally love how this ad looks. It is polished and spirited, showing off both the charming assets and engaging gameplay.
Backgammon - Lord of the Board - Beach Bum
Comments from Elise Zareie – Performance Marketing Lead at Miri
What inspired this concept?
Backgammon is a difficult game, sometimes it feels like you have to be more than a genius to beat your opponent. Instead of using the concept of genius, we wanted to push it further and use the concept of a psychopath being so cunning and smart, they can beat their opponent easily. We also wanted to test an AI twist to it.
What market insights were applied?
AI as an execution type has been seen more and more, and we wanted to apply it to this concept. We also know from producing creatives for seasonal events in gaming that usually the audience tends to respond well to creepy / spooky themed creatives.
What did you like about the ad?
Our designer did a fantastic job bringing this AI character to life using some scary animations and SFX. It looks polished and creepy at the same time, you can’t look away!
