Beeline has been active in gaming for several years. The brand aims to be a real teammate for its audience: to understand their real problems and create projects based on real insights. One of these insights is about relationships. Gamers are often seen as loners, and gaming as a hobby that harms relationships. But research shows the opposite: couples who play together are twice as satisfied with their relationships (https://mantelligence.com/logitech-g-gaming-couples-survey/) Beeline had already started challenging this stereotype with Love Cup, an esports tournament for couples. It showed that gaming does not harm relationships and can bring people closer
Problem
After Love Cup, we wanted to take this idea beyond the gaming community and show a wider audience the real stories of couples brought together by gaming. Our task was to find a way to make these stories visible with minimal media spending.
Solution
We took an unusual approach and became part of an existing city ritual. On Luzhkov Bridge in Moscow, couples leave locks as a symbol of a strong relationship, and passers-by enjoy looking at them. Among thousands of these symbols of love, we placed the stories of real gamer couples For five couples from Love Cup, we created five custom locks inspired by the games that brought them together: Counter-Strike 2, Dota, Fortnite, Mario and Minecraft. The locks immediately stood out from the others, and their gaming theme was easy to recognize. Each design used recognizable details to show the visual style of its game. Instead of the couples’ names, the locks featured their gaming nicknames. The locks were 3D-printed in resin, were fully functional and an artist painted all the details by hand. A QR code on each lock led to a landing page where people could read the couple’s real story and see how gaming brought them closer.
Results
We turned a city ritual into a media channel. It took gamers’ stories beyond their community and attracted the attention of a wider audience. 40,000 offline contacts 770,000 impressions 0 ₽ media budget.
