WORK/RUN!

Run! was a 4-week national event on CBBC aimed at kids 6-12; a hybrid of animation, story-telling, real-world activity and live online gaming. It was a groundbreaking success which proved how television and social online gaming can work seamlessly to achieve massive levels of engagement.

Run! is a story about everyday kids turned freerunning superheroes and their adversary, the giant blubber-ball “Orwell”: ultimate hacker and killjoy couch potato. Orwell’s objective? To remodel the nation in his own lazy image and stop anything resembling physical activity.

What were we trying to do?

Run had a dual-purpose: entertain the CBBC audience, and activate the Sport Relief campaign.

We were also trying to prove a point; that the way to cross platform engagement at scale is to conceive of each element together, then produce it all in a joined-up way.

The concept required instant response from a TV audience; kids needed to get online within minutes after a major “Call to action”. We knew that TV is highly influential, but could we convince activity from a passive medium?

It also needed to feel much bigger than it really was. On a limited budget and tight timescales, we had to imply a lot of story without the luxury of full episodes.

The Story

Two teams of Freerunners, each with four “Runners” are united in their aim to stop lardy Orwell before he scuppers yet another major event in a British city. The Lightriders and the Skyliners are on the same side, but there’s a healthy competition between them to show off and be the first to stop Orwell…in style.

Each week, Orwell is in a different city – from Liverpool to Cardiff. And each week he’s got a dastardly plan and with the help of his army of remote-controlled OrBots he’s got every intention of causing Havock. Here’s the Week 1 TV trailer:

The story was told across platforms, with only very small segments of animation on TV in the trailers. Layers of story were built up online within the game as pre and post-game video, and as text messaging between the fictional characters while the game took place. This encouraged the audience to fill in the gaps and let their imaginations run wild.

The Experience

The format is made up of many inter-linked parts:

1. TV trailers. A new one for each city across weeks 1-4.
2. TV presenter involvement referencing the game progress
3. Online video and story content
4. Online back-story and character information
5. Live online multi-player platform game at 7pm every weekday night
6. On-demand version of the game
7. New game levels each weekday
8. Story content integrated into the live game
9. Special Equipment Codes to enhance games
10. Real-world exclusive equipment codes given out at the Sport Relief Event

On TV

For many kids, the first they heard of Run! was a week before the event began, when the on-screen CBBC logo started spinning around to reveal a Run! logo. The teaser peaked curiosity, then a few days before the event the trailers began on TV and the site went live.
The insistent theme-tune of the trailers was an instant hit, the urgency and impending calamity ramped up buzz before the event and the CBBC message boards were flooded with questions about ‘this new thing’ called Run!

CBBC’s two presenters Ed & Oucho were huge fans of the game and did everything they could to push the online event. Ed joined the Lightriders, Oucho joined the Skyliners, they carried on the semi-competitive banter throughout, and every weekday at 7pm they gave a big push to the live game:

Online Game

In response to the TV call to action, thousands of kids went online at 7pm to join the live game: a 10-minute race to navigate the platform game levels, earn points and try to disable one of Orwell’s contraptions.

Each week Orwell was in a new city. Each day, a new and more difficult level was released exclusively during the 10 minute live game, driving interest in the game and keeping it fresh.

During the game we included a series of pre-scripted text story updates which were selected depending on the progress of the teams.

Social

Social networks aren’t appropriate for younger children, but we didn’t need them. Players could create their own “squad” and play in groups during the 10 minute game. The visual “radar” located your friends in the game and kids could inter-communicate with a set of pre-defined messages (avoiding the need for moderation). Around 25% of live players competed in squads by sharing codes between themselves privately. This was an important mechanism to ensure only children who knew each other outside of the CBBC environment could play together.

Special Equipment Codes

Every user was able to create a simple avatar for themselves. They could also add “Special Equipment” such as Spring Boots to their avatar, via ‘secret’ codes. These codes were given out on-air and in the real-world: kids who took part in the Sport Relief running events were given the codes in their packs.

Technology & Behind The Scenes

What did we prove?

1. TV & online can work seamlessly
2. Live Events drive the initial spike, but 24/7 usage drives even bigger numbers (30:1 in this case)
3. TV & online events can activate campaigns like Sport Relief
4. “Secret” codes drive buzz
5. You don’t always need a social network to drive massive levels of engagement
6. Event TV can have longevity when combined with gaming
7. Stories can be even more powerful when told sparingly, leaving more to the imagination

Watch the full compilation video: