Scopely is a leading mobile-first video game company with a diverse portfolio of top-grossing, award-winning interactive entertainment, which include beloved titles like “Star Trek™ Fleet Command.” Scopely’s free-to-play games immerse millions of players every day, with the objective of continuously evolving with them for years.
The “Star Trek” universe spans through decades of television and movies and continues to engage and fuel its avid fan base of different generations. As the only game company to bring the entire “Star Trek” universe to gamers’ fingertips with “Star Trek™ Fleet Command,” Scopely wanted to highlight the expansive multiverse for new and long-term Trekkie players everywhere with a series of digital marketing campaigns featuring beloved “Star Trek” icons. These campaigns reflect the versatility, inclusivity, community and adventure within the game.
Tapping into the nostalgia of “Star Trek,” the two campaigns featured fan-favorite celebrity talent to introduce a new generation to “Star Trek™ Fleet Command”. The objective of the campaigns was to excite current players with the new characters and ships that were launching in-app, as well as increase the game’s overall visibility to “Star Trek” fans who were not familiar with “Star Trek™ Fleet Command.”
As one of the only games to bring the entire “Star Trek” universe to gamers’ fingertips, Scopely’s “Star Trek™ Fleet Command” wanted to celebrate their Trekkie players everywhere while introducing a new generation to the significantly expanded galaxy of the award-winning “Star Trek™ Fleet Command, the #1 most engaging “Star Trek” mobile game.
In order to do so, Scopely launched an innovative, successful series of digital marketing campaigns to highlight new playable characters featuring fan-favorite talent across different “Star Trek” timelines. Capitalizing on built-in excitement from fans, the launch of the campaigns was timed with cultural moments in the “Star Trek” fandom, including Captain Picard Day and Star Trek Day.
The “Rivals” campaign brought together popular actors from different “Star Trek” films and series all into one universe. Sonequa Martin-Green (Michael Burnham in “Star Trek: Discovery”) and Karl Urban (Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in “Star Trek Into Darkness”) battled it out in a series of videos one-upping each other in the “Star Trek™ Fleet Command” mobile game.
On the heels of Rivals’ success, Scopely introduced the “Newbies” campaign which introduced “Star Trek: The Next Generation” storylines and iconic characters into the popular game. In the live-action trailer for the campaign, beloved 90s Enterprise trio - Jonathan Frakes (“Riker”), LeVar Burton (“Geordi”), and Brent Spiner (“Data”) - explore the world of “Star Trek™ Fleet Command,” where they sparked age-old rivalries.
To drive awareness on a larger scale and introduce new fans to the game, the campaigns ran across Scopely’s social channels, including YouTube and Facebook, the “Star Trek '' official social channels and website, as well as debuted on Paramount+ alongside the new “Star Trek” series. The campaign content was also shared with players in blog posts on the Scopely website in addition to media coverage in entertainment and gaming outlets.
With “Rivals” in particular, the crossover between characters from different “Star Trek” timelines illustrates the “meta” fantasy that players are able to live out in the game. With STFC, players are able to step into the “Star Trek” universe and chart their own adventure within worlds that have never previously met on screen.
One of the biggest challenges resulted from the COVID-19 safety and travel restrictions around the world. These limitations required the campaign to be shot remotely. With Karl Urban based in New Zealand and Sonequa Martin-Green based in Canada, the “Star Trek™ Fleet Command” team worked remotely to direct and shoot both pieces which were later combined through editing to make a seamless, effective campaign.
Additionally, the production value of these campaigns were extremely high compared to other comparable social video campaigns within the mobile games industry. For example, these videos featured a mix of live-action, CGI, and visual effects, delivering technically advanced storytelling not often found in commercial work. As such, the campaigns took longer to deliver that traditional marketing content.
Scopely’s “Rivals” campaign drove more than 160M impressions across channels, as well as an 81% higher average click through rate (CTR) and a 9% lower average cost per install (CPI) compared with other “Star Trek™ Fleet Command” creatives. The “Newbies” campaign delivered more than 45M impressions in just four months and a 114% higher average CTR compared to creative without celebrity talent.
Scopely partnered with ViacomCBS Consumer Products to gather every “Star Trek” timeline for the first time under one experience in the award-winning mobile game “Star Trek™ Fleet Command.”
As the only mobile games company to feature the entire “Star Trek” multiverse, Scopely boldly innovates to reach players wherever they are and empowers them to “play their own way.”
