miHoYo’s Honkai Star Rail campaign with In The Black was an exercise in creative brand strategy and a unique deployment of influencer marketing budgets to bring the game to life a little bit differently than your standard campaign.

‍

Focused on working with YouTube creators who could bring a unique perspective and delivery to the Honkai experience, our team was tasked with finding channels and personalities that could deliver a unique representation of the game.  Mihoyo realized long ago that for their game, conversions are maximized when the game is presented in a holistic format rather than a simple 60-90 second midroll integration.  Enter dedicated videos.

Not uncommon, dedicated videos are often seen in the product space where a creator might try and use a product as the main focus of their video.  We decided to put a twist on that approach and allow our creators to come up with unique ways to integrate Honkai: Star Rail into their videos that went beyond just playing the game (although some did opt for this route).

‍

Case #1: Glarses (my favorite kind of keyboard warrior) https://lnkd.in/gW_UcUT7

‍

‍We worked closely with Glarses to come up with an idea that would make sense for his brand.  Initially, we were going to custom build a hologram keyboard in real life (one of the character’s weapons) but quickly learned doing that would probably take the entire budget.  We then pivoted to make a motion-tracking bat that was also a keyboard, with which Glarses would then play, swinging the bat as his character swung the bat.  Poetry.

‍

Case #2 Sensei Beats https://lnkd.in/gCTcYMei

‍

‍Working with Sensei Beats, we took things in a different direction had made a Honkai Star Rail rap!  Sensei is known for anime-styled music creation, and given the subject matter of the game, it was a match made in heaven!

‍

Case #3 Go Light Up https://lnkd.in/gTnfJ4UM

‍

‍Go Light Up, known for metal covers of songs, brought in their creative energy to do a cover of Wildfire, the Cocolia boss theme from Honkai.  I grew up obsessively listening to European heavy metal, so this collab was like a dream come true (very critical to the brand approving the integration, I’m sure)

‍

Our recent venture into groundbreaking marketing for Honkai: Star Rail, in partnership with HoYoverse, marks a significant milestone for us in Q3 and Q4. The exceptional talent and creativity displayed in these campaigns have not only captivated our target audience but also set new benchmarks in engaging promotional content. The synergy between our innovative strategies and the dynamic nature of HoYoverse has yielded impressive results, a testament to effective collaboration with such an amazing team