The brief

The China Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference (ChinaJoy) is one of the industry’s mega gaming events. Held in late July to early August at the Shanghai New International Expo Center, the 2020 edition continued its tradition of fostering deeper communication between gamers and companies.

Tencent Games’ striking 996 sq. m. booth was the result of their commissioning Pico to create a brand presence with a theme of “spark more, explore more possibilities”. The booth housed six of the brand’s popular IPs (intellectual properties) and an array of in-person activities, creating an immersive feast of digital and cultural creative products for young visitors.

Insight

By offering a variety of interactive experiences, the booth would capture the interest of curious and fun-seeking young gamers. Visitor engagement could be further strengthened with the use of an app designed specifically to enhance the booth experience.

Solution

Tencent Games’ booth was organized around the brand’s six most popular IPs, resulting in six distinct areas with different digital and cultural creative experiences. Uncluttered and high-end in feel, the design contributed to the brand’s fresh image and overarching “spark more, explore more possibilities” theme.

Thirty-one games previously launched at the brand’s annual conference in June were available for trial at the booth, helping it to gain a large number of new fans. Even more were attracted by the booth’s e-sports related offerings – particularly the onstage face-off battles between star e-sports players that raged each day. A giant slide and merchandise and cosplayer zones also did their bit to entice and entertain passers-by.

A special app developed by Pico helped to ensure that those lured into the booth stayed engaged. By visiting specific areas of the booth, users could collect ‘Spark’ e-stamps which could be scanned on a dedicated screen on-site to unlock a surprise gift. The app also included questionnaires, cloud photo albums, and partner information for content sharing and collecting feedback.

Pico activated Tencent Games, OPPO and JD to shine at ChinaJoy 2020.