J Walter Thompson, with youth media channel Vice and digital strategy agency Heyday have collaborated to gamify politics with a campaign designed to persuade young Kiwis to vote. Currently, only one-third of 18 to 24-year-old citizens not even enrolled.
The result of their collaborative campaign is a Street Fighter-style online game called Battle to the Beehive.
JWT ECD Justin Barnes said the partners sought creative cut-through to reach disengaged youth voters.
He declined to supply a credits list. “We always prefer to give credits for the wider team responsible,” he told M+AD. “The game was conceived and executed by JWT Auckland and developed and built by Heyday in Wellington.
“The client was Vice NZ.”
The soundtrack at the game website features a swirling rock’n’roll rendition of Tiakina e Aotearoa atua/God Defend New Zealand, and outstanding caricature work. Barnes did not directly identify the musicians.
Battle to the Beehive will be live until election day, with support through digital out-of-home, digital display, social media, and eDM marketing.
- www.battletothebeehive.co.nz
- www.vice.com/play-battle-to-the-beehive
- www.facebook.com/BattletotheBeehive
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