Launch:

February 18, 2014 to April 1, 2014

The challenge:

With the launch of the new Z-3000, a premium quality and top-of-the-line bat from Louisville Slugger, Taxi needed to find a way to increase awareness and generate sales in the dead of winter. The softball community is a die-hard, competitive group interested in premium quality bats who like to “geek out” on the newest gear. So, Taxi wanted to give this niche target of slow-pitch enthusiasts the chance to compete and own the limited edition Z-3000 before the new bat was available in-store.

The insight:

If their target were worthy of a limited edition Z-3000 bat, they would have to demonstrate their batting skills. The power of their swing would determine the price they would pay for the bat.

The execution:

The agency introduced ThePricelessBat.com, a social networking game where consumers were given the opportunity to set the price of the new Z-3000 bat. They built a Z-3000 batting-simulator web experience that connected a player’s smartphone and web browser in real-time. Players could virtually test their swing with the new Z-3000. The website contained a full-bleed video depicting the pitcher and smartphone accelerometers that were used to sense the player’s swing. The farther they hit the virtual ball, the less they paid for the bat. And, of course, the more they shared and incited the competitive spirit among friends, the more chances they had to top the leaderboard, take home bragging rights, and ultimately win a free bat.

The results:

The mobile experience succeeded in getting softball enthusiasts excited about the launch of the new Z-3000 bat. The game directly led to 23% of the limited supply of Z-3000 bats sold on launch day in stores across Canada. In addition to sales, the excitement and anticipation for the bat was evident on the Internet and social-networking platforms. They had 8,434 views, 6,590 unique views, and an average of over three minutes spent on the site, ThePricelessBat.com. Campaign-based social mentions increased tenfold, and there was a 100% increase in brand mentions at the peak of the campaign.