Sometimes it’s just better to focus on fun and games. And, that’s what Thumbspire, a mobile apps partner, wanted when it engaged Nice Shoes Creative Studio to create a mobile campaign for the game “Timepop.”
The objective of the campaign was to attract new gamers to “Timepop,” a game that challenges players to pop balloons in numerical order before the clock runs out. Nice Shoes Creative Director James Coulson devised the tagline “Pop against the clock,” as well as four unique approaches to illustrate the addictive appeal of the game.
The campaign, which is running as in-app advertising, was a new and exciting challenge for the studio, with Thumbspire engaging Nice Shoes to craft the ads from concept through completion. Coulson led a team including CG Supervisor Steve Parish, VFX Supervisor Adrian Winter, Editors Cameron Kelly and Nicole Lana, with Colorist Gene Curley putting a polished look on each piece.
Parish animated “Words” and “Clock,” which featured the tagline and a clock as balloons that expanded until they popped. “Playground” and “Portrait” were efforts blending live action and visual effects, which Coulson directed. Winter supervised the visual effects for “Clock,” which featured a young lady popping after she attempts to pop a child’s balloon.
“‘Words’ and ‘Clock’ were great opportunities for doing some R&D work in the area of cloth simulation,” said Parish. “Both animations were achieved by pressurizing each object until they exploded. As the computer doesn't always get it right, there were some very interesting bloopers along the way!”
Traditionally, many ads for games and apps focus on features and gameplay, but the NS Creative Studio honed in on the experience of Timepop, with close-ups of players’ faces as they vented their aggravation at the game’s increasing difficulty.
“I think ‘Portrait’ stands out because it showcases the emotions of playing Timepop,” said Coulson. “It’s done in an over-the-top, humorous manner, and it creates a curiosity to click through and find out what game could be so addictive and evoke so much frustration from players.”
With calls to action at the end of each ad that bring users to Google Play or the iTunes App Store, Coulson and the Creative Studio team are granted a rare opportunity to see the direct results of their creativity. The click-through for each ad is tracked, with “Portrait” found to be the most successful of the four spots, increasing both awareness and installations of the game, to date.
“Collaborating with Thumbspire was incredibly rewarding,” added Coulson. “We’ve been able to get a real sense of who’s making purchases based on our work, and why. Having this level of information at our disposal really aids us in helping our clients make successful advertising.”
Daniel Cohen, Skipper at Thumbspire, said, “Working with Nice Shoes was great. Combining our data-driven approach with their creativity and production values resulted in some really interesting, original and effective approaches to promoting Timepop. We consider the collaboration a huge success.”