Rocket League is hot news - the popularity of this esport is soaring and it’s attracting audience eyeballs and investment. Sky UK has just signed a huge sponsorship deal with Guild Esports, a business backed by David Beckham no less, and there are plans to field the first all-female Rocket League team.

Redwood Studios has put  its stamp on the game by crafting a fast and furious halftime show for the epic 7-Eleven Rocket League Slurpee Cup. Our storytelling craft underpinned by our  guiding Better/Faster/Cheaper principle meant we delivered an audience-focused, power-packed result that rivalled the entertainment provided by the tournament itself.

Why is Rocket League so popular? The set up is that a team has five minutes to outscore its  opponent and win. The player controls a hyper-acrobatic, rocket-powered battle car with which they send a careering giant ball into the opposition's goal. The game has a bright, punchy aesthetic and is designed for players of all ages but it does require a level of skill and that is what makes it so popular.

Popular US-based convenience store 7-Eleven devised a refreshing creative concept for its  Rocket League partnership. The brand created a bespoke event - the 7-Eleven Slurpee Cup - which promoted its new Slurpee drink in-store. It collaborated with Rocket League to develop exclusive in-game items, a bespoke Model 711 car and - for the main event - a tournament featuring the best teams from across North America.

The tournament, in which the team’s would battle it out live on stream with fate and skill deciding the winner, was the crowning piece of the activation and magnet for the audience.

But 7-Eleven wanted a comprehensive experience which kept audiences engaged throughout the show - even at halftime. Which is where we stepped in. Our goal was to help craft a halftime show which could rival the entertainment provided by the tournament itself.

The idea itself was simple.

The halftime show was to be a mini tournament in which a pair of high-profile influencers would team up with a pair of professional Rocket League players and battle it out in a best-of-three 2v2 grudge match. The series was pre-recorded and then digitally broadcast ‘as live’ at halftime. 

This sounds a lot more straightforward than it was. We needed eight physical cameras shooting on location in four regions across the globe. Added to this, we needed in-game footage from every angle. Another 13 cameras to be precise. Then we had to stream all 21 feeds to our London gallery, whilst keeping all players connected and playing live, whilst we cut a live line feed that would inform the direction of the story and the structure of the edit - a long-form twenty-minute show alongside a four-part series that needed turning around in just 2 weeks. All in all, none of it was straightforward.

But the resulting content paid testament to the intense work. The brand was able to occupy half-time in a way ads or bumpers couldn’t have. The audience got a front row seat as four influencers illustrated just why Rocket League is world-beating. And the client managed to amplify their message, in a way the audience chose to pay attention to, and sell out of every limited edition line linked to the sponsorship. 

Game on 
The world is changing. Audiences have diverse interests - and an increasingly diverse set of channels through which they can fulfil their content needs. It is easier than ever for them to find what they want to watch. And simpler to block out the ads along the way that don’t fulfil their needs. 

This means that the difference between success and failure in commercial work comes down to a brand’s ability to meet its audience through telling a compelling and relatable story drawn from mutual interest. 

There is a huge amount to learn from working on projects like this. The most pertinent lesson is that, even though this is a commercially focused piece of content, to create anything that is engaging and effective it must authentically resonate with the target audience. 

In this instance, it meant finding a way to engage a broad audience, with every viewer able to relate to the experience of trying Rocket League for the first time, revel in the vast chasm in skill between a beginner and a pro, and do so with a level of entertainment value that would keep them glued in the halftime of what they’d tuned in to watch. And because games, just like sports, are inherent generators of a jeopardy-driven narrative, it was our job to harness that and translate it into a compelling story people would choose to stay and watch. 

You can’t just sell a service. You need to tell a bigger story. That’s why our team at Redwood  Studios is a diverse set of creators, with capabilities and passions that match the breadth of audience interests they create for. With creative, development, production and technology united together under one roof, there is nothing the team can’t produce. But the common trait that makes this possible, is the shared understanding of how to
tell stories that land in culture, and the proven pedigree to deliver these through the
right formats. 

This project was an example of how we can dynamically handle a complex proposition and create a story at speed. Four people, four locations in four weeks. Blending footage from physical and digital worlds. Done at pace, and on a tight budget. This is what is possible when you have proper production muscle in the guise of an agency - with in-house experts rather than just a network of freelancers. 

Compelling storytelling is one of the most powerful advantages a brand can have. And it doesn’t just happen by chance. Just like the Rocket League professionals, it takes years of practice to be at the pinnacle. 

On paper, filming a Rocket League tournament is a simple enough concept. But Rocket League isn’t played (or filmed) on paper.

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