Why Media.Monks Brazil Put Valorant Highlights on Billboards

Valorant is the free-to-play, first-person ‘hero shooter’ from Riot Games - a developer best known for their battle arena game ‘League of Legends’. Despite being enjoyed by over 15 million players globally, the competitive, 5v5 title, like many video games, is still considered to be largely outside of the mainstream - especially when compared with other media and entertainment categories.  

To promote Valorant to the general public, Media.Monks Brazil left the virtual world of games and took to the streets of Brazil’s main cities. By broadcasting epic plays and moments from the Valorant community on billboards, the agency spread the achievements of players across the nation, not just for other gamers to witness, but in the view of the general public too.

Streamers and pro-players got involved with the campaign by launching fun challenges that invited the community to put their skills to the test. Players could then record their ‘plays’ (outstanding highlights of their gameplay) and post them on social media using the hashtag #playvalorosa. The best plays were then selected and shared on strategic billboards in major Brazilian capitals such as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, and Salvador. 

To take a look behind the creation of this campaign which brings the Brazilian gaming community to the forefront of society, LBB’s Ben Conway spoke with Media.Monk Brazil’s creative director, Renato ‘Jun’ Okida.

LBB> Where did the initial creative spark for this campaign come from?

Jun> We know that gamers can spend hours straight playing the same game, just to make a great play. It takes time and effort, so once they do it, all they want is to share their accomplishment online. In this behaviour, we identified an opportunity to celebrate the Brazilian gaming community in an innovative way - taking casual players' achievements to the one place where you don’t normally see them: the streets. 

LBB> You described the Brazilian Valorant community as ‘feeling excluded’ - why was that? And why were billboard highlights the best answer to this problem?

Jun> It’s not uncommon for the spotlight to be cast on pro players and athletes, but the truth is that a game like Valorant thrives thanks to the communities that support it. Casual players are as relevant as pro players, and we wanted to reflect that by drawing attention to the community and their achievements. Instead of using big names like streamers, celebrities or influencers, we picked casual players to be the face of the campaign. 

LBB> Have you worked with Riot Games/Valorant before? What was the brief like?

Jun> Yes, we’ve been collaborating for some time - mostly on social media and content campaigns - but this is our biggest project yet. The brief was to help launch Valorant’s new episode by highlighting the Brazilian community. 

LBB> What does #playvalorosa mean? And what was the process like of creating the best hashtag? 

Jun> The internet is full of beautiful plays from countless games, across every social media platform. But in the case of Valorant, these plays are in a league of their own. The combination of weapons and magic [character abilities] opens up a range of possibilities that you won't find in any other game. Because of that, we decided to name it #PlayValorosa -  meaning something like ‘Big Plays’. Players could use this hashtag to share their most extraordinary moments and achievements. 

LBB> How did you decide where to display the highlights? What factors did you have to consider for your target audience?

Jun> We wanted to make sure the players were featured in the very best spots we could find, so we selected the biggest cities in Brazil and bought the best OOH spots available. The goal was to highlight these players (and the brand) not only among Valorant fans, but also among people who are not even a part of the gaming community. 

LBB> What has the response from the public been so far?  Do you have any data about the campaign’s results that you can share with us? 

Jun> [It’s been] way more amazing than any of us could’ve imagined. We had wonderful feedback from so many players, with many even asking when the next campaign will happen. The pro players also said they loved the campaign. They were thrilled to see others trying to recreate their plays on Twitter.

We’ve received over a thousand plays and counting - since people are still using the hashtag to upload their plays - and the campaign reached more than 165 million people overall. 

LBB> Who created the graphics for the billboards? How closely did you collaborate with the Riot Games/Valorant teams?

Jun> We were responsible for both the design and the copy, but as always, we were working in close collaboration with Riot. It was an excellent partnership dynamic from beginning to end. While the campaign was running, we used Valorant’s social media channels to interact with people. We created content not only to engage new participants, but also to entertain fans. The billboards had a QR code inviting people to learn more about the campaign and the challenges featured. 

LBB> Are the Media.Monks Brazil team gamers themselves? If you had to submit a #PlayValorosa yourself, what would it be?

Jun> We are. In fact, our first brainstorm session was at a LAN-house, playing some Valorant together. I should probably submit the clip of the time I did my first ‘ace’ [an achievement acquired by vanquishing the entire enemy team on your own]. 

LBB> How do you think this campaign changes how the Valorant brand is seen in Brazil?

Jun> Even though the games industry is huge in Brazil, most games are still seen as hobbies for kids. Showing these epic Valorant plays in some of the biggest locations in the country helps change that perception. We want to show that Valorant is more than just a first-person shooter - it’s a community with a lot of Brazilians in it.

LBB> What was the hardest challenge you faced on this campaign? And how did you overcome it?

Jun> The only difficulty was that Valorant doesn’t have a ‘replay’ option. We were worried that this would discourage people from participating, since players had to be recording their screens to save the video. To overcome that challenge, we created a tutorial on how to record your screen using Windows. Clearly it worked, considering we received a lot more plays than we could’ve ever anticipated. 

Working with gaming brands is a dream come true, and we can't wait for the next project.