The World Surf League (WSL), the global professional surfing governing body and tour, promoted its Rip Curl Finals within the game Candy Crush through a limited-time in-game tournament called the ‘Soda Surf Cup’.
Launched at the start of September, the WSL timed the gaming tie around its ‘Rip Curl WSL Finals’ pro surfing event and within the mobile game Candy Crush Soda Saga surf fans and gamers could win real-world, surf-linked prizes.
Promoted as an in-game tournament, the on-theme details within the matching game include surfboard candies alongside the usual diorama of brand characters the Soda Gummy Bears and Yeti taking on the waves. The core game challenged players to collect surfboard candies and make their way up the Surf Cup leaderboard to win a custom Soda surfboard and a year’s supply of gold bars.
The grand prize in the Soda Surf Cup is a custom surfboard crafted by Matt Biolos – one of the world’s top surfboard shapers – signed by the WSL Final 5 at the tournament event.
The hero promotional spot, titled ‘Candy Crush Soda Saga – Surf Season’ dropped across gaming and WSL platforms from 7 September. The video urged viewers and gamers to ‘Wax up for Surf Season in Candy Crush Soda’ and challenged them to ‘Do you have what it takes to ride the wave all the way?’
To further promote the gaming tie-up, social influencer creator Kyle Gordon adopted a new persona specifically for the campaign – a wannabe surfer called ‘Crush Sodason’ – and used the fictional character’s accounts to share content on Instagram and TikTok.
Gordon has a purple wetsuit and surfboard for comic posts in which he detail his ambitions to become WSL’s next surfing success. He began sharing content on 11 September n TikTok and Instagram, plus additional exclusive content will be available on Candy Crush’s social media.
Plus, on 7 September, ‘Gordon’ ‘trained’ on the beach in San Clemente (California) where the Rip Curl WSL Finals are being held.
Additionally, between 8 and 16 September other consumer experiences were held: including a ‘Sodalicious’ prize van, a meet-and-greet opportunity, and giveaways of items like stickers and treats.
The ‘Soda Surf Cup’ was playable from the start of September through to 2 October with on-theme gaming features like surfboard candies and the chance to win prizes. The collaboration also included additional experiences between 8 and 12 September including surf gear giveaways, a meet-and-greet opportunity with the game’s Soda Gummy Bear mascot and more.
The effort primarily promotes the Rip Curl WSL Finals: a one-day event that decides the year’s surfing World Champions held between 8 and 16 September.
Comment
This sport/gaming collaboration sees the WSL become just the latest pop-culture outfit (not just from sport, but across the entertainment space: such as The Jonas Brothers who promoted their new album and tour in the game in May 2023) to use the Candy Crush franchise to promote its events and products.
Mobile gaming, the most popular format for gameplay, continues to be a widely used option for marketers seeking to connect to larger and/or fresh audiences and for the last five years Candy Crush (owned by entertainment company King, which is part of Activision Blizzard) has been the top-grossing franchise in US mobile app stores.
WSL’s aim here is to use the mobile gaming experience and social media promotion to help it tap into new audiences: including teens and the next wave of athletes for whom TikTok is arguably their favoured social platform.
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.