Telecom · VR Activation Campaign
A VR Cricket Game That Made Fans Use Robi’s Services to Reach the Next Over
Project Snapshot
- Client : Robi Axiata Ltd, one of Bangladesh’s leading mobile operators
- Industry : Telecom, brand activation
- Scope : Virtual-reality cricket game for an activation campaign — concept, design, development, testing and deployment
- Occasion : ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, Australia
- Platforms : VR headset, distributed through the Oculus Store
- Demo : Gameplay video below
The Impact
In-game
Progression tied to using Robi products and services, so play doubles as education
2 modes
Target mode and free play, plus quick play and tournament options
Leaderboard
Competitive high scores that keep players coming back to the brand
Lower cost
A more targeted, engaging, data-driven promotion than conventional campaign spend
Overview
Robi Axiata wanted to promote its brand, products and services while the whole country was watching the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia. A billboard competes for attention; a game asks for it. Three audiences had to be served:
- cricket fans, who wanted the thrill of the game in a new way,
- gamers, who would judge the experience on graphics, controls and challenge, and
- Robi’s marketing team, who needed engagement they could measure and messages that landed.
Activation campaigns fail when the branding gets in the way of the fun, or when the fun leaves the brand behind. The game had to be genuinely good and genuinely Robi at the same time.
Brain Station 23 developed the Robi VR Master Blaster Activation Campaign Game: a virtual-reality cricket experience with realistic graphics, multiple modes and difficulty levels, where players use Robi’s products and services to progress.
The result captured cricket enthusiasts and gamers alike, raised brand awareness and lead generation, and did it at a lower cost than conventional promotion.
Business Challenges
A World Cup is a crowded moment. Every brand in the country is shouting, and the audience is watching cricket, not adverts. The campaign had to be the thing people chose to do.
Four pressures shaped the game.
- The moment was fixed. The campaign had to land during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, with no option to slip.
- Engagement had to be earned. Robi needed an innovative way to promote its products — something the audience would actively want, not tolerate.
- The brand had to be inside the game, not on it. Showcasing Robi’s services effectively meant weaving them into play rather than pasting logos on a loading screen.
- It had to be a real game. Cricket fans and gamers would judge the experience on realism, controls and challenge, and a weak game would reflect on the brand that put its name on it.
The last two pull against each other, and resolving that tension is the whole design problem of an activation game.
Campaign moment fixed, experience not built yet?
Bring it to a 30-minute call — we will come back with a concept and a scoped estimate.
What We Built
The build followed a full game-development lifecycle — concept, design, development, testing, iteration and deployment — with the brand integration designed in from the concept stage.
An immersive VR cricket experience
Realistic graphics and animations, from the texture of the grass to the movement of the players, with 3D models of the ground, batsman and bowler crafted for a lifelike feel.
Brand integration as game mechanics
Players use Robi’s products and services to advance through the game, so they are educated about the offering while being entertained rather than interrupted.
Multiple modes and difficulty levels
Target mode and free play, quick play and tournament, and a range of difficulty levels let players of every skill level find their game.
Team and player customisation
Players customise their teams and players, which deepens investment in the experience and time spent with the brand.
Intuitive batting controls
A user-friendly interface with intuitive batting controls keeps the game accessible to first-time VR users at a public activation.
Leaderboard and customisable branding
A leaderboard adds competition and repeat play, and the game’s branding layer can be customised — making it reusable for future campaigns.
Tested, iterated and deployed to the Oculus Store
Rigorous testing for bugs, balance and VR immersion, playtester feedback folded back into the mechanics, and distribution through the Oculus Store.
The Results
The outcomes are what an activation campaign is measured on: attention captured, messages absorbed, leads generated, and what it cost to get them.
Engagement and awareness
The game increased customer engagement and brand awareness by promoting Robi Axiata inside an experience people chose to have. Its immersive cricket play, advanced mechanics and customisable features captured the attention of cricket enthusiasts and gamers, delivering brand exposure a conventional campaign could not.
Leads, revenue and cost
Because players learned about Robi’s products and services through play, the campaign increased lead generation, contributing to sales and revenue. It also reduced promotional cost by replacing broad spend with a targeted, engaging and data-driven strategy, and demonstrated what VR can do for brand activation.
The transferable lesson is that in an activation game the brand has to be a mechanic, not a sticker. Requiring Robi’s services to progress is what turned entertainment into education without anyone noticing the switch.
The customisable branding layer is the quiet win. A game built for one World Cup becomes an asset for the next campaign, which changes the economics of the whole idea.
Planning a brand activation people will actually want to play?
You might have a fixed event date, a message that needs to land inside an experience rather than beside it, or a VR idea nobody on your team has shipped before. In every case, the first step is the same.
Book a 30-minute call with Brain Station 23. Bring your campaign moment and your audience, and we will come back with a concept, a delivery plan and a scoped estimate.
Campaign moment fixed, experience not built yet?
Bring it to a 30-minute call — we will come back with a concept and a scoped estimate.
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