Project Summary
The GamesNIGHT communication project supported Estonia's largest video game festival dedicated to Estonian video games, held at Apollo Cinema in Ülemiste Centre, which brought together game developers, e-sports athletes, and video game enthusiasts. The communication work introduced Estonian-created video games, e-sports, and the event itself to the broader public.
Situational Analysis
- GamesNIGHT is Estonia's largest video game festival, which took place at Ülemiste Centre for the fourth time last year.
- The event is well-known among gaming enthusiasts; the challenge lay in reaching a broader and new audience.
- As an annually recurring event, it is sometimes difficult to find unused newsworthy angles that would generate interest, particularly in traditional media.
- Estonian game development has made remarkable progress in recent years, but its achievements and potential have remained unfamiliar to the broader public.
- The gaming community is becoming increasingly important, offering young people a socially safe environment and sense of belonging, and strategic communication helps grow this community further.
Objectives
- To introduce the event to a broader audience, especially those who do not regularly encounter video games.
- To generate interest in GamesNIGHT among journalists who typically do not cover the gaming industry, by showing them the international competitiveness and success of Estonian gamers, developers, and e-sports athletes.
- To improve the image of video games and the Estonian gaming industry in the eyes of the broader public, introducing the possibilities and achievements of video games while placing them in cultural and economic context.
- To highlight the social value of the gaming community and how it provides young people with a safe environment and sense of belonging.
- The directly measurable objective was to increase the number of media coverage items compared to previous years, including increasing the share of audiovisual media.
Messaging and Communication Strategy
The communication strategy was based on three pillars:
- Introducing the gaming world and event to the broader public
- Highlighting domestic game developers
- Positioning e-sports as a legitimate competitive sport.
- We focused on identifying and presenting newsworthy information, as the greatest challenge lay in making an annually recurring event stand out.
- We strongly emphasised successful e-sports athletes and game developers in our focus, highlighting in our messages the opportunity to meet them at the event. We specifically emphasised that the selection of "Estonian Game of the Year 2024" took place for the first time, demonstrating the maturity of Estonia's gaming industry – dozens of Estonian video games are now released annually, from which a ranking can be formed.
- In channel selection, we followed the principle that national media carries core messages for the broader public, while niche channels, such as sports and technology portals, offer more detailed and specific content for industry enthusiasts.
Target Groups
- General public
- Journalists
- Media
- Gamers
Action Plan
The communication project consisted of two phases, with the first comprising the lion's share of the project:
Pre-communication:
- Activities began 20 days before the event. First, we mapped newsworthy topics, including updates to the event concept.
- After establishing the communication plan and core messages, we began with specific topic proposals to journalists, both in radio and television.
- We also prepared press releases and invitations to ensure journalists' interest in the event did not wane. The most active period was the week before the event, when journalists' attention was also greatest.
Follow-up communication:
- We covered the results of competitions and contests that took place at GamesNIGHT, including the Game of the Year 2024 winner, which generated exceptionally high interest among journalists.
- We also highlighted that the e-sports team "e-sportid," which won the GamesNIGHT Counter-Strike 2 competition, secured their place back in the Baltic major tournament, where they also achieved great success.
Results
- GamesNIGHT on October 19, 2024, was attended by 1,000 video game enthusiasts.
- Although the economic downturn took its toll and the event did not have a record number of people on-site, 11,500 people watched the event's live broadcast (compared to 8,500 in 2023).
- The Estonian Game of the Year "Bootstrap Island" received special media attention – the game's new player and follower count grew by over 350.
- Interest from journalism, and especially television and radio channels, in the event and gaming industry increased – approximately 35 coverage items last year, compared to approximately 25 in 2023.
- The gaming community expanded, engaging new enthusiasts who became familiar with the field through media coverage.
- Media treatment of the video game sector became more substantive.