diving letter:
- NBCUniversal today (September 20) released Tonight at the Rock – Powered by Samsung Galaxy in partnership with Samsung, according to details shared with Marketing Dive. The playable experience recreates a fantastical version of Rockefeller Center and The Tonight Show set in Fortnite.
- The experience lets players explore a co-branded virtual New York City and find their way to Studio 6B using in-game power-ups inspired by Samsung devices. Minigames are inspired by The Tonight Show.
- The Fortnite collaborative experience is billed as an experiment in the Metaverse, a growing area of interest for marketers. To extend the reach of the effort, an in-show integration mirroring one of the game experiences will be featured on The Tonight Show on September 21.
Dive insight:
The Tonight at the Rock – Powered by Samsung Galaxy experience in Fortnite sees brands and publishers coming together to launch activations in the Metaverse, the emerging concept around immersive worlds utilizing augmented and virtual reality. Experience shows how NBCUniversal can leverage one of its largest platforms to showcase a brand outside of traditional advertising or product placement.
“At NBCUniversal, innovation occurs at the intersection of creativity and technology. We are focused on creating unique opportunities for our partners across NBCU’s portfolio of iconic intellectual properties that unlock the latest consumer and cultural trends,” said Sari Feinberg, senior vice president of marketing, creative partnerships, advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal , in a statement.
This experience recreates iconic locations with NBCUniversal connections such as New York’s Rockefeller Center, the 30 Rock building and Studio 6B, home of The Tonight Show. For its part, Samsung is represented in the immersive experience through power-ups inspired by its mobile, watch and tablet devices, giving players different views and speeds.
The experience is available in single and multiplayer modes and includes games inspired by The Tonight Show including Giant Pong, Race Up the Rock, Cabbie Crash Course and Escape Studio 6B. A game will be featured on Wednesday night’s broadcast, potentially bringing the experience to a wider audience of consumers – many of whom are unfamiliar with how the metaverse works despite increased attention from marketers.
Tonight at the Rock was independently created in partnership with IPG global experiences agency Momentum Worldwide and is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite. This has increasingly been the case with branded Fortnite experiences – such as those from Honda and Ax – although Epic has partnered with WPP to deliver digital experiences for brands in the Metaverse.
