For the launch of the IGM.GG video game store in a hyper-competitive market, we created a viral campaign built on nostalgia. We sent users on an emotional journey to childhood — to a time when buying a game was a ritual.
Instead of standard arguments, we bet on sensations: visual, tactile, and even olfactory. Phygital boxes, a "THAT ONE game" quiz, and a scent that evokes personal memories became tools for engagement and sales.
The project proved that experiential marketing can work without huge budgets if it hits the emotion precisely.
We had a challenge: Launch a new e-commerce brand, IGM.GG, in conditions where major competitors had monopolized the advertising space and were dumping prices. It was critically important to break through "banner blindness" and information noise, creating a unique proposition without a multimillion-dollar budget, in order to attract a loyal audience and achieve profitability right away. We started with audience analysis and discovered that, in the era of digital sales, gamers aged 25-45 had lost a key element of the experience — the emotional ritual of buying and "unpacking" a physical game box. Nostalgia for tactile sensations and the legendary "new-box smell" became our main discovery and the foundation of the campaign.
When developing the site, we reimagined the game purchasing process by adding a phygital shelf with virtual boxes. Now every customer can not only download a game but also "unpack" it upon receiving a digital key, just like in the old days.
Next, to create a complete immersion effect and draw users to the launch of the new store design, we recreated the smell of "THAT ONE" box with a favorite game. Perfumers developed a unique fragrance that is associated with childhood and first discoveries.
The resulting blend we poured into a stylish diffuser, sealed it, and decorated it with a branded iridescent label, directly referencing the holographic shimmer of compact discs. All in all, we ended up with unique and limited-edition merch with beautiful storytelling. Part of the batch went as gifts to bloggers and streamers, and the other part went into action. More precisely, into the campaign and for sale!
We also developed a quiz with a purchase conversion, where everyone could recall their "THAT ONE game" from childhood, and carried out native promotion of the campaign through bloggers unboxing gift sets of diffusers and streamers taking the quiz.
The campaign results showed growth 30% above planned. The greatest impact on the result came from promotion through a viral news hook. We got publications in 5 major media outlets (shazoo, kanobu, wargm, goha, igromania), in hundreds of communities, and from popular bloggers. Ultimately, we achieved the main thing — we won the audience's love.
