BMW ‘Heroes of Rivalry’
SPONSORING
BMW entered esports and gaming by sponsoring six of the world's best League of Legends teams. The work was designed to communicate with a young, hard-to-convince audience, which was part of a 'future ready' positioning strategy I had created prior to this project.
CLIENT
BMW
ROLE
YEAR
THE CHALLENGE
Raising awareness for the BMW esports sponsorship among Gen Z, despite not being able to commence any in-person productions due to Covid — while seamlessly integrating the BMW i product range into the narrative.
THE APPROACH
Using the global trend of anime and manga as a vehicle for communication, bringing digital storytelling to a new level.
Drawing on my 20+ years of reading manga, I leveraged the Isekai a.k.a. 'parallel world' mechanic to place each sponsored team into a medium entirely independent of physical production constraints.
THE CAMPAIGN
Heroes of Rivalry rolled out across eight weekly digital manga issues, alongside a Xmas Holiday Special. The campaign drove substantial traffic to bmw.com, offering fans custom desktop wallpapers and a limited-edition coffee-table book.
Each team received a dedicated vehicle within the narrative, converging in a subterranean laboratory beneath the BMW Vierzylinder in Munich. Led by Dr. Eve Brenner, a BMW engineering mastermind, the storyline resonated deeply with fans and established BMW as a credible, core contributor to global esports culture.
CASE FILM