Case Study - Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

Activision was looking to capitalize on growing passion for Guitar Hero with the next title in the series, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. Guitar Hero III would release simultaneously on Xbox 360, Playstation 2 & 3, and Nintendo Wii, with an all-new song list and Gibson Les Paul style wireless guitar controllers. The brand was poised for explosive growth but needed to be elevated to more than just a video game with plastic toy guitars.

Our team looked to capture the emotional essence of “unleashing your inner rock star.” That meant the indescribable feeling of transforming into a real rocker. The “Slash” campaign, including TV, Interactive and Print, helped catapult the Guitar Hero franchise to an entirely new level of status in pop culture, ultimately becoming the first ever video game to exceed more than $1 Billion in sales. The title sold more than 14 million units worldwide. We even placed an ad in Entertainment Weekly, putting Hollywood on notice that Guitar Hero III, with $115 Million in week-one sales, had officially arrived.