Summation

Following the successful launch of the latest Alienware products in April 2011 (you can read about them here), AxiCom was tasked with continuing the media momentum with activities that went over and above traditional product news and reviews – resulting in Europe’s first Alienware Gaming Night!

The Challenge

Alienware has always been regarded as a major player amongst the gaming media, with a large volume of coverage – both in traditional and social media - featuring the constantly evolving portfolio of products designed specifically for gamers. The challenge was to take the brand beyond product coverage and reviews and involve Alienware in conversations around the gaming industry in general, opening the discussion to lifestyle media and positioning Alienware and its product experts as thought leaders …and extending the reach not only to media and opinion leaders in the UK but French and German influencers as well. 

The Strategy

Host a pan-European event that focussed on two core elements:

- Establishing thought leadership: leverage the brand’s position as a known high-performance, PC gaming brand, product experts and subject matter experts from strategic partners including NVIDIA and Team Dignitas (Europe's No.1 e-sports team)
- Making PC gaming accessible and inclusive: focusing on direct engagement with the consumer and securing attendance of lifestyle media at a live interactive event

Step one: To secure direct consumer engagement from the gaming community, media partners Heaven Media staged a contest for its readers – offering gaming fans from the UK, France and Germany the chance to attend the Alienware London Gaming Challenge event.
Step two: Host a roundtable debate with key gaming journalists from the UK, France and Germany discussing the current state of the PC gaming industry, with specific focus on immersive gaming trends such as the growth of 3D gaming and whether it opens up new audiences to the PC platform.
Step three: Stage an interactive Gaming Challenge, extending the reach to lifestyle media, gaming partners and the winning community members. Inviting a broader set of media allowed us to actively engage with journalists with the Alienware brand who could not editorially report on a roundtable debate.

Supporting steps:
- Secure attendance of Team Dignitas (a highly regarded e-sports team sponsored by Dell) to participate in both events, adding gravitas to the conversation around the state of PC gaming and for the gaming community to meet their idols at the Gaming Challenge.
- Get partners on board, like NVIDIA, to share a different perspective during the roundtable discussion and to provide equipment for the Gaming Challenge.
- Use a variety of social media platforms to amplify the debate discussion and share the Gaming Challenge experiences.

The Results

- 11 journalists (including 7 from France and Germany) attended the debate and were joined by an additional 25 journalists for the Gaming Challenge
- The pre, during, and post social media efforts resulted in over 60 posts with a combined Twitter reach of over 68,000
- Several blog posts and news articles covering the roundtable discussion and Gaming Challenge appeared over the 4 weeks following the event on key gaming blogs and partner sites.
- Videos and photos were captured at the event and integrated into a Direct2Dell blog post and shared with various Alienware/Dell social media properties.

Hot Quotes:
“Cracking night last night - nice work. Really loved the round table too (although I'm sure it was square).” - Alan Dexter, PC Format

“Just saying thanks very much for organising it all - great fun had by all”! - Adam Oxford, PC Gamer

Hot Tweets:
@PatrickGoss  #awgn lovely night. 3D discussed with common sense and little cynicism. Some really interesting points

@Richard_A_Lewis: Great time at the Alienware event in London. Can't wait to deliver my write up. Hope everyone enjoyed it #AWGN

@MrBenB Great night at #AWGN, good games & a fab round table on 3D with plenty of thoughts to ponder! Thanks to @MelanieatDell & @a51m for hosting

@RantAbulus Alienware Gaming Night: http://t.co/cuL4Hc7 < Post from last night is up! #AWGN

@David_P4G #awgn plus de Français en liste. Bien joué @JournalDuGeek ;)