BBH Singapore develops virtual Sentosa island getaway on Nintendo Switch’s Animal Crossing
BBH Singapore has developed a ‘Sentosa Crossing’ campaign for Singapore’s popular holiday island Sentosa. ‘Sentosa Crossing’ is the county’s first branded virtual destination on the Nintendo Switch game Animal Crossing which will allow visitors to experience the island from the safety of their homes, until the end of the government-mandated stay-home period.
While everyone stays home the game has transformed “uninhabited islands” into perfect getaways that families and friends can still “visit”. ‘Sentosa Crossing’ features all of the island’s popular landmarks and attractions. Beyond the in-game experience, the game will engage its audience through topical videos and other content on streaming and social platforms including Sentosa’s owned platforms.
Rebecca Ash, Head of Strategy, BBH Singapore said: “Necessity is the mother of invention – the pandemic has seen people find creative ways to carry on with parts of their pre-COVID lives, and the whimsical world of Animal Crossing has provided a timely escape from the depths of confinement. Amazingly, how people were spending their time in the game mirrored how they chose to spend their time on the island – from exploring to eating, dancing to dating. The opportunity just presented itself”.
“Through our virtual offerings, we would like to encourage everyone to make time for an “island getaway” during these challenging times, as a break is important for one’s mental wellbeing”, said Lynette Ang, Chief Marketing Officer, Sentosa Development Corporation
To #maketime for a virtual break and escape to Sentosa, players can register for one of the 36 free slots available each day to visit Sentosa Crossing.
Omar Sotomayor, Creative Director at BBH Singapore said: “While cooped up at home, the creative team had this brilliant idea of creating a getaway island that allows everyone to get away while staying safe at home. That idea gave birth to Sentosa Crossing. Everything on the virtual island has been painstakingly designed so that it reflects the attractions on the real island. But it goes beyond that and moves Sentosa into the Animal Crossing world. So in the coming weeks, Sentosa’s social media channels will broadcast the life and experience on this new island, and we’ll also be hosting tours and events.”
Credits
Agency: BBH Singapore
Chief Creative Officer: Sascha Kuntze
Group Creative Directors: Janson Choo & Khairul Mondzi
Creative Director: Omar Sotomayor
Senior Copywriter: Adeline Siow
Senior Art Director: Kenneth Foo
Senior Designer: Deng Hui Heng
Designer: Shervin Low
Gaming Consultant: Stanley Tang
Creative Technologist: Jiarong Sng
Business Director: Ross Henderson
Account Director: Manavi Sharma
Account Manager: Shu Li Tan
Head of Strategy: Rebecca Ash
Strategist: Zoe Chen
Content Strategists: Faith Huang & Cheryl Koh
Content Producer: Sam Lynas
Community Managers: Chelsea Auo & Tricia Vergara
Operations Director: Eddie Jackson
Head of Delivery: Lesley Chelvan
Executive Producer: Wendi Chong
Digital Producer: Sean Thambiah
Editor: Christopher Leow
Client: Sentosa Development Corporation
Chief Marketing Officer: Lynette Ang
Director, Brand, Marketing and Communications: Mira Bharin
Senior Assistant Director, Brand & Marketing: Elaine Quek
Deputy Manager, Brand & Marketing: Wendy Tan
Deputy Director, Digital: Ivan Teo
Deputy Manager, Digital: Mohameed Zaki bin Jufr
38 Comments
This is a killer right here. They’ve infiltrated pop culture in a timely manner, and have done it nicely. This is not advertising. It’s doing what people care about. Nicely done BBH and Sentosa!
I HEART THIS
Couldn’t agree more. Since BBH took over the account, Sentosa has done some really good stuff. I rmb the ad with the tables on people, and some funky zoom backgrounds recently. Well done for flying the black sheep flag high BBH!
Couldn’t agree more. BBH has always been consistent in their work, esp when it comes to local brands. Ever since they took over Sentosa some nice work has come out. That ad with the people stuck to tables, and more recently some fun zoom backgrounds. Well done BBH for flying the black sheep flag high!
Nice one Adeline and Kenneth! I assume you’re the “creative team” mentioned in the article, so if it’s you, mad props! Such a talented and nice couple these two 🙂
This is even better than when Wendy hacked Fortnite!
Dammm i wish i’d done this! Great example of the power of creativity and how it can help brands in challenging times. Wish more agencies did this kind of work rather than scamming on print, radio and ooh. Forget awards, these are the kind if ideas that we need at a time like this. Congrats to the team!
Wish I’d done this idea! Ingenious at a time like this. Mad props to the creative team!
OMG I think I wanna get a Switch nowzzz! Was contemplating Xbox or PS, but hell yeah I’ma go for Switch! Lovely idea btw. Congrats blacksheepzzz!!!
What does the CD mean when he says “creative team”?
What kind of a question is that?
Awesome! Forget awards and scam, this stuff is legit, tapping into video games and culture. Wish more work like this came out of this region!
Dis even bettah than that Wendy Fornite thing
Not sure, but at a time like this, hell yeah!
I’ve played over 300 hours of Animal Crossing New Horizons. What’s so special about this? You’re basically playing the game the exact way you’re supposed to play. Why is this creative again? Also you can only visit the island if you have a Nintendo Switch console. And if the person does have the console, he/she can visit thousands of better looking/more creative islands to improve mental health as you have boldly claimed in the article.
You can only watch the tv ad if you watch tv. You can only see the online video if you’re online. You can only hear the radio ad if you’re listening to radio. What’s the difference with this? It’s called targetting, and this taps onto a whole new market. Gamers market. Not award judges. So please take all that hate inside of you and channel it towards some good. Like helping people stay entertained while stuck at home. Oh wait, this idea just did that. *MIC DROP*
It’s painful to read this comment claiming the “idea” is taping onto a whole new market and it’s helping people stay entertained… feels forceful… it’s almost like you’re trying A BIT too hard to win… awards?
“This is even better than Wendy Fornite thing”. Are you joking? HAHAHAHA! To do this “idea”, did you guys really need a team of Senior Art, Senior Copywriter, Art Director, Designer, Creative Technologist?! Game Consultant?! My 15 year old daughter built an entire island by herself. Just like the other 13million people from around the world who have also bought the game to play.
Well, the idea is simple. It taps onto what people are already doing, and the fact that mashable and ign have written about it says a lot. Fully earned media. Hate all you want, but it’s doing wonders for Sentosa. Instead of slamming, how about showing some love in these challenging times, support the creative industry and respect and love one another. For the love of ideas. That’s how we move forth.
k boomer.
Finally, a Sentosa that’s not hot, sticky and sweaty LOLz
I want to hug the designer who did this
Me too!
Can’t the credits list be any longer? Haha, in any case, if it’s BBH then it’s legit. I’ve worked there before and it truly is a collaborative force, they credit everyone involved and it’s a “we before me” culture. Well done BBH!
This may be the future if we continue living 100% at home. Feels like black mirror. Freakyyyyyyyyyyyy
Hi Sascha Kuntze. I’ve been sending u a million emails and a link to my portfolio. Name’s Jonathan. Ppl call me Jona. Pls respond. Pls hire me. Thank you.
Hi just wanted to know what does this do for Sentosa’s business. Yes it makes them cool in the marketing scene and with those who play the game but what’s it going to do for their business when I’m pretty sure it’s struggling now or is this just a Creative and gamers pat in the back kind of thing?
Errrr…..I was hoping no one sensible would ask such a fundamental question.
It kinda dampens the feel good back patting of the mutual admiration society gathered here.
that’s a lot of hours spent on Animal Crossing… why didn’t this big team spend those hours on coming up with an actual effective idea that will actually help the brand and its consumers? first you need to have the console, then you need the online subscription, then you sign up and gotta wait for the email and you can only visit this island for 15min. great job guys, im sure many of your consumers will have a great experience. sounds like you guys had a lot of fun doing this meaningful work.
The fact that you know this exists, whether or not you have the console, demonstrates how worthwhile it must be for Sentosa. If you think this was made only to cater to the small amount of people that can attend each day you are naive to how marketing works.
It seems to be getting a lot of awareness and traction online, so I’d imagine that is pretty useful for Sentosa especially at a time like this. It also doesn’t seem to be the only thing Sentosa are doing right now.
Please define “actual effective idea that will actually help the brand and its consumers”. I admit, now while I don’t really like what they’ve done here, it seems to have been getting a lot of positive traction if you were to just google it. The press and gaming websites have been featuring it. Seems like only us ad people are trying to discredit it. I personally don’t like the idea, but that’s just me. But I can’t deny the effectiveness of it.
Had the same idea for a client. CD said it wouldn’t work.
A lot of brands and companies have had to cease operations. Companies like Sentosa that rely on physical footfall are suffering by having to shut down completely from visitors. So it’s pretty obvious that there is nothing you can do to create business in a monetary sense, because that revenue stream has been shut. But, you can still remain top of mind, engage, excite, intrigue, excite, and make consumers aware of you. And this right here is doing just that.
It is too obvious those in the credits posted comments here. It’s cringeworthy. And no it’s not better than The Wendy’s fortnite idea that clearly inspired this, almost a year later.
I was wondering why so many people are so impressed with this in this chat. I’m pretty damn sure if youre an ACNH player, you won’t find this interesting at all let alone Sentosa Islands target audience. quit spending time praising yourself over here or playing animal crossing, and start doing actual work.
Just a couple of examples on how people have used this game to engage with audience in a more creative way.
Fashion
https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/6/21211236/100-thieves-apparel-collection-animal-crossing-new-horizons-nintendo-switch
Talk Show
https://www.newsweek.com/animal-crossing-new-horizons-talk-show-talking-gary-whitta-interview-1501506
Also to have an island that people would wanna visit, is to have a 5 star rating island which can only be achieved if you have spent hundreds of hours. Just from the few photos I’ve seen of this Sentosa Island, it doesnt look as good as the other 5 star islands you can find on youtube (I could be wrong!). Some people have designed Jurrasic Park themed island, Harry Potter, Halloween and so on that look really amazing and inspiring for other players.
Nice one BBH.
https://www.bestadsontv.com/news/blog.php?id=46661
https://hypebeast.com/2020/5/singapore-sentosa-island-animal-crossing-new-horizons-marketing-branding ‘Nuff said.