Since November - Veterans Day - has become saturated with more than 40,000 U.S. nonprofits activating, each year the Endowment seeks to own Military Appreciation Month by developing creative campaigns that reach target audiences. Last May, the Endowment did so by launching the #CODEUAVChallenge presented by USAA.
The goal was to raise awareness and funds for the Endowment’s mission while doing something they love - playing Call of Duty - in two ways:
To raise funds, the Endowment team’s quantitative campaign goal was to generate at least $750,000 through in-game pack sales, which would fund the placement of 1,247 veterans into jobs. For awareness, we aimed to maintain 60% awareness amongst Call of Duty players via player insights surveys.
Qualitatively, we strove to deepen connections with the Call of Duty community while raising awareness about veteran employment challenges and the value veterans bring to the workplace.
The campaign sought to educate players about the Endowment’s mission, strengthen brand loyalty by showcasing Activision’s commitment to meaningful impact, and build community engagement by involving players in the veteran employment cause.
Through our partnership with Call of Duty, the #CODEUAVChallenge utilized strategic insights driven by our goals. We created a comprehensive go-to-market plan to reach our target audiences of players and veteran supporters on the platforms they use regularly.
For our in-game Call of Duty tactics, we kept players at the forefront, relying on gameplay data to design an in-game challenge that would engage our community to participate, and an in-game pack that players would purchase not only because of its charitable impact, but because it was a unique offering. This included purchasing information, pack aesthetics, player habits, and other preferences. We also applied gameplay mechanics (such as drone footage, UAVs, and Recon drones to spot people hiding), which helped modernize players’ favorite pastime of Hide & Seek within the UAV Challenge trailer that was shared across social, editorial, and CRM channels.
On the veteran impact side, we leveraged partnerships with our grantee organizations to connect with the real-life veterans we serve to educate our community about our cause. Finally, we tracked and evaluated progress, measured impact, and made data-driven decisions for improvement. These tactics collectively contributed to the long-term success of the initiative.
To reach our goals, we implemented several in-game tactics. The “U Assist Veterans” Challenge ran between May 8 and May 22, in collaboration with the USAA, where players could call in 5 UAVs within a Call of Duty match, unlocking $1 towards a $1M donation from Activision to the Endowment’s mission. In addition to the UAV Challenge, we launched a new Endowment in-game pack, with 100% of Activision’s proceeds from these bundles going to the Endowment. This year there were two packs for players to choose from - The C.O.D.E. Knight Recon: Tracer Pack available in Modern Warfare III, Warzone and Warzone Mobile, and the C.O.D.E. Regulator Pack available in Call of Duty: Mobile.
The marketing strategy maximized awareness and revenue by launching engaging content for key audiences across Endowment and COD channels. We developed content with insights such as social metrics and player insights from previous campaigns, while integrating unique UAV and Knight Recon themes. This included the "Ride of the UAVs" teaser to generate anticipation, a high-energy trailer for the Knight Recon pack, and a playful "Hide and Seek" challenge trailer. Static assets included billboards, beauty shots, infographics, and veteran testimonials. Our channels included social media (Instagram, X, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok), with content and copy customized per platform. We maximized reach via paid media and amplification from Activision/Xbox, partners, influencers, and grantees. Specifically, we partnered with USAA and gaming creator, JoeWo, to produce a branded livestream to rally Joe’s community to call in UAVs in support of the program.
We also targeted players and current/former military via Call of Duty in-game messages, blog, email, and U.S. Veterans Association newsletter/blog.
Lastly, Activision revealed the largest single donation to the Endowment from Citadel and Griffin Catalyst CEO and Founder Kenneth C. Griffin. The $2.5 million donation will help support job placement for over 4,000 veterans.
We ensured seamless execution by collaborating with Activision's cross-functional teams from marketing, game development, digital, PR, blog, and CRM working together. Leadership provided strategic direction, resources, and advocacy to empower teams. Consistently growing the campaigns each year with a new challenge and increased efforts reinforced loyalty and lasting impact.
Through in-game pack sales and the in-game challenge, we raised more funds for veterans than any previous Military Appreciation Month, making it our most successful May launch in Endowment history helping to fund the placement of 3,732 veterans into high-quality jobs.
Endowment awareness also increased by 12% in May since the previous consumer insights wave in April (58%) and is tied with its all-time high (65%) since Military Appreciation Month 2022.
The team also made sure to maximize awareness and engagement with the Call of Duty and veteran supporter communities through innovative creative campaigns, reaching 7.5 million impressions, 2.4 million video views, and 798K engagements. This was up over 96% in impressions, over 1281% in engagements and over 120% in video views from last year’s activations.
Media relations from the campaign also resulted in top hits with gaming, business, and military focused outlets including Gamespot, Fox Business, Forbes, Windows Central, and Stars and Stripes.
