Japanese Monster Hit ‘Monster Strike’ Debuts US Campaign Starring Andy Samberg
#1 Top Grossing Game in Japan Brings People Together Through the Power of Social Gaming, Monsters
TOKYO, March 29, 2016 -- Japanese mobile gaming and social networking company, Mixi Inc, introduces its mobile mega hit to the US in epic fashion with Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine Nine, PopStar: Never stop, never stopping). Monster Strike, which has reached over 30 million downloads worldwide, has maintained its popularity by consistently introducing new features such as event quests and new monsters to pique gamers’ interest.
The video campaign features Coach (played by Samberg) calling upon a cast of key Monster Strike characters at half time including Cthulhu, Crabotron and Freekfrogg to keep people from drifting apart. “It’s ugly out there”, Samberg says, noting that mobile platforms have been separating people and not bringing them together. With a rallying cry “We trust! We bond! We strike!” monsters are initiated to get back in the game with more striking power.
Working with San Francisco-based advertising agency Pereira & O’Dell, Director Wayne McClammy, and CGI partner, Tippett Studio, the campaign includes both long form as well as customized video content targeting multiple segments. The ad campaign largely relies on Facebook as part of its content strategy to reach North American mobile users as users’ expectations for quality content soars.
“Mobile gaming has become less and less social, isolating individual players from the people around them and focusing all of their attention onto a tiny screen with the exclusion of the people around them,” said Hiroki Morita, President of Mixi, Inc. “Monster Strike is designed to bring groups of people together in a fun, social setting, which is reflected in our campaign that sees Andy Samberg encouraging people to actually engage and play in the same space.”
[VIDEO] Watch Andy Samberg deliver his inspirational speech to the assembled creatures of Monster Strike – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxQyVD2dJYs
Monster Strike uniquely combines action elements, role-playing game leveling and monster collecting with unique “pull and fling” controls, which send players’ monsters pinballing across the screen and into other monsters, activating powerful bump combos in their wake. Players collect and raise a stable of monsters, which are then taken on battles that culminate in encounters with powerful boss monsters. Supporting up to four players in a quest, Monster Strike is designed as a social experience with friends gathered together in the same space.
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“’We trust, we bond, we strike!’, is a comical behind-the-scenes approach to introduce only a handful Monster Strike characters being rallied at halftime,” said Jonathan Woytek, Executive Creative Director at Pereira & O’Dell. “The classic locker room scene is the perfect vehicle to introduce this motley assemblage of monsters stateside. Inspirational, funny, and just plain weird.”
Follow Coach and his Monster Strike team on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/monsterstrike.us. Gamers can download Monster Strike for free on the App Store and Google Play.
ABOUT MIXI, INC.
Founded in 1997, mixi, Inc. provides communications-based services under the mission of “creating new culture, enriching lives, and bringing happiness through internet services.” In addition to “Find Job!”, the company runs the social networking service “mixi”, as well as the slingshot action RPG “Monster Strike”, which is managed by XFLAG™ Studio, the company’s entertainment division.
ABOUT MONSTER STRIKE
Monster Strike is a Japanese chart-topping mobile game from Mixi Inc., a social networking service, with over 30 million downloads worldwide. Monster Strike is a fast-paced hunting action game you can play cooperatively in groups of up to 4 players. More info at http://us.monster-strike.com
ABOUT PEREIRA & O’DELL
Pereira & O’Dell is an international award-winning agency that is constantly evaluating the marketing tools we are given today to be in sync with consumer behavior. The agency has been named among Fast Company’s “10 Most Innovative Companies in Advertising” as well as Agency of the Year by Advertising Age's A-list and Creativity’s “Top 10 Agency Innovators” for its industry leadership and innovation. Among the Pereira & O'Dell client roster are Intel, Coca-Cola, Fox Sports 1, Monster Strike, Kellogg's and Timberland. Pereira & O’Dell has offices in San Francisco, New York, São Paulo and Porto Alegre. More information can be found at http://www.pereiraodell.com
CREDITS:
Lead Agency - Pereira & O’Dell
Director: Wayne McClammy
Strategic Partner: Facebook Creative Shop
Editorial - Rock Paper Scissors
Visual Effects – Tippett Studio
Sound Design - 740 Sound Design
Music - Massive Music
***** FULL CREDITS *****
Client: Mixi
CEO, President: Hiroki Morita
Head of Marketing, West: Tomo Motoyoshi
Brand Marketing Manager: Tomo Sueda
Marketing Lead, West: Koichiro Hayashi
PM: Tomomi Suda
General Manager, Marketing: Masaya Tamura
Agency: Pereira & O’Dell
Founder & Chief Creative Officer: PJ Pereira
Executive Creative Director: Jonathan Woytek
Creative Director: Elaine Cox
Design Director: Moses Kelany
Associate Creative Director: Brett Beaty
Copywriter: Simon Friedlander
VP of Production: Jeff Ferro
Senior Producer: Sara Krider
Senior Project Manager: Lindsey Anderson
Director of Business Affairs: Russ Nadler
Business Affairs Coordinator: Christina Hadley
Co-Director of Client Services: Henry Arlander
Account Supervisor: Maura Mattoon
Chief Strategy Officer: Matt Herrmann
Director of Strategy: Alan Stout
VP of Distribution: Joshua Brandau
Associate Director of Communications Strategy: Ashley Wells
Senior Communications Strategist: Breanne Brock
Strategic Partner: Facebook
Head of Japan, Facebook Creative Shop: Jun Fukawa
Client Partner, Global Gaming, Facebook: Toshi Tanaka
Media Researcher, Creative Shop, Facebook: Nikhil Nawathe
Production Company: Hungry Man
Director: Wayne McClammy
Managing Partner/EP: Kevin Byrne
EP: Mino Jarjoura
EP/Director of Sales: Dan Duffy
EP: Nancy Hacohen
Producer: Dave Bernstein
DP: Bryan Newman
Production Designer: Brock Houghton
Production Supervisor: Shelly Silverman
Editorial: Rock Paper Scissors
Editor: Christjan Jordan
Assistant Editor: Pieter Viljoen
Executive Producer: Angela Dorian
Helena Lee: Producer
Animation/VFX: Tippett Studio
Visual Effects Supervisor: Eric Leven
Visual Effects Producer: Ken Kokka
Animation Supervisor: Brian Mendenhall
Lighting Supervisor: Marie-Laure Nguyen
Compositing Supervisor: David Schnee
Art Director: Mark Dubeau
Character Supervisor: Seung Jang Kim
CG Supervisor: Charles W. Rose
Lead CG Painter: John Rader
Lead CG Modeler: Marc Estrada
Digital Production Manager: Blaise Panfalone
Visual Effects Editor: Shannon Gerardin
Color Pipeline Supervisor: Page Frakes
Set Surveyor: Kirk Jung
Character Rigging Lead: Eric Jeffery
Roto-Paint Lead: David J. Sullivan
Finishing: Spy/ A Fotokem Company
Sr. Colorist/DI Artist: Chris Martin
Colorist: Will Smith
SVP/Creative/Flame Artist: Darren Orr
Flame Artist: Nathan Walker
EP: Lori Joseph
Music: Massive Music
Creative Director(s): Tim Adams, Ben Einziger
Executive Producer: Scott Cymbala
Senior Producer: Kiki McDaniel
Graphics: Lightborne
Creative Director: Chris Gliebe
Animator: Justin Lee
Executive Producer: Scott Durban
Producer: Riann Wiggins
Sound Design & Mix: 740 Sound
Executive Producer: Scott Ganary
Lead Mixer/Sound Designer: Chris Pinkston
Sound Designer(s): Rob Marshall, Scott Pinkston, Caron Weidner, Eric Dean
Sound Design Producer: Jeff Martin
Executive Producer of Mix: Dawn Redmann
Associate Producer of Mix: Geena Richard
