Gamers are demanding consumers. If they're not happy, they’ll let you know. Launching small in-game cosmetic items is tough when the community has feedback on the game; it can feel like an impossible battle to be heard. Drops like this can even feel tone deaf: “Fix the game? No, but here’s a little keyring for your gun.” The social equivalent of ruffling the community’s hair and expecting them to give us a thumbs up.

So when Activision charged We Are Social with distributing codes to redeem a small, decorative in-game item, it didn’t seem like a shoe-in for a viral success. By drawing on our in-depth community knowledge, we made it just that.

The cosmetic item in question was the soap weapon charm. A nod to much-loved Call of Duty character John ‘Soap’ MacTavish—played in motion capture by Neil Ellice—it’s a little emblem of a bar of soap that has more charm than a little emblem of a bar of soap has any right to have (its adorable winky face has a lot to answer for there). Such items are not new: the game can release codes to redeem them — type in the code, and the item will appear on your weapon — but this item’s cutesy look was a departure from the game’s edgy look and feel.

Our objectives were clear from the start. We were to increase positive sentiment, as well as to drive demand for the in-game item, boost social engagement (in the form of likes, comments, and shares), and make sure our most loyal and engaged followers know they are seen and appreciated.

With a budget of £0, no influencer pot and no paid media, our strategy relied on the intersection of multiple insights to drive reach in the most impossible space: organic social.

Our audience was Call of Duty’s followers in the UK, Germany and France, plus prospective players reachable through organic shares.

Our approach was to draw up a simple but effective social game to encourage our followers to work together to gain rewards, just like they do in the game. Our followers had to co-operate as a community to earn codes by replying to our post with soap emojis. The more soap emojis appeared in the thread, the more an illustrated image of the soap charm mascot would be revealed from behind a wall of suds. This took the form of a series of illustrations of the bubbles floating away, revealing the “mystery item” beneath.

It was an immediate hit. And a sustained one. Weeks after the drop, the community couldn't get enough. Demands to fix the game were replaced with demands for more codes. Every post became an opportunity to request more soap. The community were more hungry than we'd ever imagined. So we put the most engaged on a hit list, and targeted them with more of what they wanted. At the same time Neil Ellice responded to the clamour and got involved, and we released a video of him announcing another code drop — dressed as Father Christmas, to fit the season of giving — and our community managers reached out to these most loyal Soap code fans, giving them what they craved.

Every member of our team is a Call of Duty fan. But we don’t rely on our own points-of-view alone. We constantly immerse ourselves in social listening to deepen our understanding of our community’s habits and humour. 

Leaning into community trends was key to success. “Digital hoarding”, or collecting rare in-game collectables, was crucial; as was embracing the huge fandom surrounding Soap’s actor Neil Ellice, and understanding the community’s love of stanning the game’s characters by sharing illustrations of them on social. We know players enjoy it when this art is a little cutesy and cartoonish, but only if this is grounded in the story, characters and spirit of the game. To work with this, our copy tempered the visual aesthetic with military lingo that felt rooted in Call of Duty’s tone of voice.

The reach was massive. Youtubers started making content about our content, helping other “digital hoarders” track down the rare item. Major streamers got in on the act. Controversy bubbled up on Reddit as fans disputed the fairness of an exclusive code drop at random times (don’t worry, we had our ear to the ground and made sure there were plenty of codes to go around). A fan’s TikTok repost of our content went viral, and a black market for Soap codes even formed online with people selling codes via online marketplaces. Fan-made videos celebrating getting codes were appearing a full month after our first post, and even in March of the following year Scottish streamer Marley Thirteen teamed up with Ellice to stream a new soap code drop and continue the hype.

Our Soap code posts generated 5M impressions (all through organic), 140K total engagements (all through organic), +87% positive sentiment (from -7% - +78%). Complaints and negative commentary reduced for far longer than the campaign period; this moment felt like a factory reset for the community, and brand love increased with permanence. 

Demand for the item itself was so high our community managers almost couldn’t keep up — but they did.