Kabam Games

The Objective

Shop Titans is a simulation RPG game developed by Kabam Games where gamers can build their own shop within a fantasy kingdom. In celebration of Golden Week in Japan, the game was hosting a celebratory in-app event for game players to claim Yami Coins and Beckoning Cats to power up their heros for adventuring. As gaming has increasingly become one of the most popular topics on TikTok, Kabam Games turned to TikTok to build awareness and generate buzz for this festive event.

The Solution

Kabam Games, with the help of its media agency Nativex , decided to tap into TikTok's unique and far-reaching content solution, Branded Hashtag Challenge, known for its mass appeal and viral impact. The concept was simple but creatively relateable to the gaming community. To create a real and fun role-playing game experience, the Hashtag Challenge was elevated by an augmented reality Branded Effect, featuring the popular game characters Yami and Mushgoon, and the festive game gifts. Triggered by a simple hand gesture, participants could instantly unlock different game characters and show their Shop Titan-inspired looks.

The Branded Hashtag Challenge was also supported by a mix of additional ads, which served as a traffic driver to boost user participation. These included a Brand Takeover, which delivered the challenge right in front of the target audience upon opening the app, while Brand Premium In-Feed Ads provided further exposure by appearing in the For You Feed directing users to the central challenge page. Kabam Games also worked with seven popular Japanese TikTok creators in different categories from gaming to dance to create a collection of organic content as an inspiration to draw a wider audience to follow along or create their own version of the challenge.

The Results

Lasting for three days between April 27-29, 2021, the campaign was a huge success racking up a whopping 56 million video views and 27,000 video creations in Japan. Meanwhile, the creator-made content fit perfectly into In-Feed Ad, resulting in an impressive CTR of 1.24% thanks to its authentic and creative expression.

It's also worth mentioning that the campaign impact went far beyond the platform, according to the stats shown on App Annie, during the campaign period, it also led to a staggering increase in game installs on App Store in Japan.