Excuse me, a little spotlight over here, please

The challenge: 

World of Warcraft is one of the hottest video games on the globe. There was no doubt the crowds would show for a New York City midnight launch event, and 800 fans did. The true question was whether anyone would remember they were at Best Buy.

Time and again the retailer had hosted expensive launch events without sharing in any of the spotlight. This time, they wanted a slice of the attention for themselves so they turned to Moses Anshell. Our challenge: increase awareness of the World of Warcraft event among the New York public, the mainstream press and the gaming press while strategically grabbing a foothold for Best Buy.

The approach:

Working with the news peg of gaming thriving while the economy was limping, Moses Anshell landed interviews for the Best Buy VP of games and movies with the Village Voice and MTV News among others. A media-trained Best Buy “blue shirt’’ was positioned in every key media moment throughout the launch event. Our on site art director positioned Best Buy logos in key vantage points. Public Relations coordinated advance and on site media relations and media training.

Then we turned on our laptop. Using a live event page on Twitter that we created just before the launch, we quickly attracted followers and helped create a buzz. And because we were there early we posted the first picture and short interview with those already camping out at the front of the line.

The results:

Our live Twitter page received hits from across the country and into the UK. There were more than 1,100 views of the initial TwitPic photo from our site. Those in line uploaded photos to our site. Observers even applauded Best Buy for using Twitter, saying it was “beyond cool that they took the time to set up this feed.’’ From TV coverage to Forbes to Best Buy beanies tossed to customers in line, this wasn’t just a World of Warcraft event. Finally, this was a Best Buy event.