Situation Overview

The Wonacott team was tasked to plan, organize and execute a comprehensive media outreach campaign for 505 Games’ Last Day of June, the poignant, painterly and beautiful tale of love and loss.

Last Day of June’s somber story, unique gameplay and limited outreach window posed interesting challenges, as we needed to highlight the game’s artistry within a condensed timeframe without giving away critical details of the plot.

Wonacott Approach

The team developed a highly-targeted, three-phase campaign to secure continuous coverage between the game’s pre-E3 reveal in April 2017 through the title’s official launch on Aug. 31, 2017.

Research was key in identifying media outlets with writers that are die-hard fans of cinematic gaming experiences. We nit-picked hundreds of writers, editors and content producers with extreme interest in the game, who became the centerpiece for our initial outreach efforts, where we secured more than one hundred E3 press appointments.

In phase two we utilized media feedback and business intelligence to from the event to further refine our product messaging and segue into the launch campaign. We leveraged our numerous E3 awards, accolades and positive preview impressions to entice, secure and multiply our coverage from tier-two and three media and influencers who were unable to attend E3.

The final phase of the campaign focused on generating positive reviews for the game. We distributed hundreds of swag packages to reviewers, including to-scale replicas of the protagonist’s super-hip glasses, and much needed tissue boxes featuring the game’s gorgeous artwork; and supplemented with exclusive feature pitches, developer diaries, interviews and more.

Achievements

In total, Wonacott secured nearly 100 media placements between previews, features, reviews and playthroughs in a mere four months of outreach. Coverage resulted in millions of impressions, and an estimated earned media value exceeding $1.2 million. Most importantly, the team’s review outreach created positive media sentiment, generating widespread critical acclaim.

Campaign Summary
• 3-phase campaign
• 4 months of outreach
• More than 200 million impressions
• $1,265,300.52 estimated earned media value

Here’s a look at some of the coverage highlights:
• IGN – Developer Diary – Making of Last Day of June: Part 1 – Featuring Steven Wilson
• Game Informer – Feature – Changing A Devastating Past
• Polygon – Review – Last Day of June Review
• Destructoid – Review – A Tale of Love and Loss
• GameSpot – “…it’s art style is particularly striking… it looks like a watercolor painting with some Tim Burton inspiration thrown in.”