Watch Dogs | Know Your Target
Overview
Taking a niche game about underground hackers mainstream by tapping into reality with an immersive experience pushed the boundaries of what was possible (not to mention legal). After accessing users’ Facebook data (with their permission) we exposed their online vulnerabilities in ways they did not expect. The combination of tone, mood and real data produced unnervingly accurate results for a fictional experience that ultimately proved to be prescient.
Roles: Creative Strategist // Copywriter
Recognition
Gold American Advertising Award (DC ADDY) and Best of Show
2 Gold IAB MIXX Awards: Data Inspired Creative, Branded Destination Site
Webby nominee
What I Did
Strategy
Ideation
Writing
Voice and tone
Why It Mattered
This project was a masterclass in creative ideation and brute force technical execution. It gave me a chance to flex and train strategic and creative muscles while absorbing as much as I could from exceptionally talented designers, technologists and creative directors. Newly minted in a hybrid role , I was challenged not just to plan, but produce. My research, combined with my work on voice and tone set the stage for the experience. I was thrown directly into the fire and emerged singed, but stronger.
Approach
Watch Dogs was an ambitious game set in a thoughtful and meticulously crafted world with a slightly altered reality. Our key insight was that while the fictional world of Watch Dogs was creepy and unsettling, the reality of our own world and the constant exposure of our personal data was downright terrifying. Thus we set about crafting a campaign and experience that was grounded in fact as a means to connect with our audience on a deeper level. The gamified Facebook Connect experience garnered significant press at launch and helped Watch Dogs become the fastest selling new IP in history while giving gamers and casual fans something to think about (and hopefully led to more than a few password resets).
