Lenovo Legion – Motley Squad

Overview

Herd MSL helped Lenovo, the world’s largest PC manufacturer, to grow awareness of its gaming brand amongst ‘casual gamers’ in a way that’s never been done before.

Challenge

Despite 92% of Australians gaming, our research showed there was still a strong stigma around it, with gamers often negatively stereotyped. As a result, ‘casual gamers’ were not considering themselves as ‘gamers’ at all and therefore didn’t realise Lenovo Legion was right for them.

We needed to convince our audience that they were legitimate ‘gamers’ through an idea that brought casual gamers front and centre and made them the hero.

Solution

Our idea was simple: create Australia’s most unexpected eSports team, the Motley Squad, and show our audience they were not alone.

Strategy

We chose each member to align with core messaging and target audiences – from lovable bad-boy Shannon Noll to publicity maven Roxy Jacenko, Olympic Gold Medalist Steven Bradbury, and Love Island star, Cassidy McGill.

We unveiled the team at PAX, Australia’s biggest gaming festival, and announced they would be competing in a newly created Lenovo’s Legion of Champions (LoC), an e-Sports tournament, designed to give casual gamers a route to the top.

Execution

• At PAX, Australia’s biggest gaming festival, we announced Lenovo’s Legion of Champions (LoC), and the Motley Squad, with Captain Nollsie on the lookout for the rest of his team.
• We announced the full team with a launch video generating more lifestyle coverage.
• At LOC, we set up paparazzi shots of The Motley Squad and seeded them to media.
• Video content followed the squad preparing for LOC and competing in the tournament. Fans engaged by editing content themselves, turning the Motley Squad’s gaming streams into meme-like highlight reels.
• Additional content with each team member showcased the diversity of gaming and Legion’s versatility. This ranged from Roller Champions (sports) to cult favourite, Untitled Goose Game.

Results

• Legion brand awareness increased 5 points
• Sales increased 23%
• Traffic to e-commerce site increased 44%
• Searches for Lenovo Legion went up by 40%
• More than 34 million earned media reach with 87% positive sentiment
• 3.4 million+ social media impressions
• 2400% increase in social engagement

Awards

CommsCon 2020 – Best Influencer Strategy