The Brief
Oakley, the sportswear brand behind many of the world's top athletes, wanted a European product launch campaign that went beyond conventional advertising and captured its ethos of risk and innovation. Bigballs brought our team in to help realise one of their most audacious concepts: a microsite and game built to stir competitive spirit and encourage social sharing.
The result was Oakley You Vs, a game designed to demand the swift, accurate decision-making of a world-class athlete. High-stress gameplay and the ever-present risk of crashing out drew on players' competitive instincts, while nuanced social attributes personalised the experience and made hard-earned triumphs genuinely rewarding to share. Branded elements ran through the gameplay itself, keeping Oakley present throughout without interrupting the fun.
The campaign showed how a well-crafted game can carry a brand further than conventional advertising: players spread it through their own networks, and every share was earned rather than bought. The same appetite for bold, well-engineered ideas now runs through the platforms we build and manage as Node.