Ubisoft’s Just Dance 2017 busts new moves with fresh campaign

“From a personality standpoint, Just Dance is just really about the quirky, fun-loving moments that we can provide our consumers and to be an experience unlike any other in the living room,” said Kristina Phillips, brand manager at Ubisoft and brand lead on Just Dance.

Phillips and crew know they have a good product, but keeping it fresh to a core teen audience means changing things up while staying true to the game.

“A huge bulk of our players are teenagers, so we have to make sure that we stay not only cool to them, but also really tangible to parents,” she added.

The game is now on seven platforms, including older gen consoles, including Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and last year’s additions included the app and Wiimotes, along with a Just Dance demo, where dancers could try one song off the game, which Phillips said brought in more people to the franchise. So keeping it fresh this year means focusing on the free-to-play opportunity and new tracks.

“We have an awesome track list that changes every year. We have 40 songs. This year, we have "Don't Wanna Know" by Maroon 5, "Sorry" by Justin Bieber, "Into You" by Ariana Grande, we have "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)" by Silento, so we keep it fresh every year, and that's one of the biggest changes of the game.

Stop, collaborate and dance

With the changes to the game, Ubisoft tried to go in a new direction for the advertising and marketing while staying relevant and true to the brand personality. They had already done spots with teens and Millennials at dance parties, as well as family home parties. The 2016 campaign featured grown men dressed as phones dancing. Changing it up meant upping the game, which is where Funworks came in.

The first 30-second spot features a bored girl alone with her dog eating off the table. The Just Dance app comes on and she’s transported into a slo-mo home dance party, complete with butt-bumping and a guy dancing wearing a panda head. It shows that a user can go from completely bored to fully entertained in seconds.

“We try to stay silly and we try to stay true. We have a really natural organic guide to pop culture because of our track lists, so we want to make sure to stay relevant to those interested in pop culture, but also having those heart tugging moments where you actually want to be in the room when this commercial is seen,” said Phillips.

Working with Funworks helped them get their points across, which is creating bonding memories for people to bring them out of their comfort zone, which is kind of what happened in the idea sessions for the campaign.

“We got all Ubisoft people in a room with Funworks, social scientists, and then a bunch of improv comedians, and it was really interesting as a brand lead to not be in charge, so let the session run and observe and see what real people had to say about our game and the thoughts that they had, and then also bring ourselves out of our comfort zone and try to accept some truths that were underlying. That really came to the surface through those sessions,” said Phillips.

She added that seeing what insights bubbled up from their sessions had a direct impact on the campaign, including a line by the straight-laced voice over that says that the party went from “nope to dope in eight seconds flat…because one of the comedians had been playing the game and he was like, ‘Hey, it only took eight seconds, and then all of a sudden I was in there getting stars and laughing at my friends.’” Said Phillips, who added that the game this year is about being more accessible than ever.

The Funworks people saw it as an opportunity to reinvigorate a popular franchise — and balance kitsch with reality.

“We wanted the work to look good. I think that was one of the biggest things. There's a difference between looking kitsch and having fun, but also looking good and being smart rather than just campy and glitzy,” said Craig Mangan, Funworks ECD.

To make the look, Funworks employed Steve Mapp, a director from Tool North America and a stoic voice over artist to convey a smart yet funny juxtaposition to make sure that watchers know that Just Dance isn’t trying to be cool, it is cool.

“We juxtaposed it with that VO that really helps get like, ‘that's funny.’ It's clearly a joke, whereas if you have a teenager saying ‘nope to dope,’ it's nope. It becomes nope very quick,” Mangan added.

The spot achieves its goal of appealing on multiple levels, able to hit the core teen audience but reaching out to Millennials and families as well.

“It's like you have to be relevant to the parents and the kids at the same time and that's, and if you're trying to be all cool on top of that, it's a real delicate thing. It was a really fun challenge,” said Mangan.