Webzen Korea

The objective

Targeting a specific audience using ad creatives

Webzen, one of Korea's leading game companies for MMORPGs with iconic titles such as MU and R2, launched MU Monarch in 2023. This mobile game captures the essence of the original PC game MU Online, appealing to users with its nostalgic charm.

Webzen turned to TikTok to target a specific audience: one that had shown interest in their original PC game, aiming to minimize drop-offs during sign-in stages by optimizing ad creatives in real time. Since MU Monarch's main feature is its faithful recreation of MU Online nostalgia on mobile, its perspective on graphics and direction differs from other major MMORPGs. Webzen had to ensure that the ad creatives could convey the gameplay and characteristics of the original MU Online to the right target audiences for maximum advertising efficiency.

The solution

Optimizing creative strategy with Airbridge's customizable reporting

Webzen worked with one of TikTok's Measurement Marketing Partners, Airbridge, to plan a strategy utilizing short-form videos on TikTok. Webzen leveraged Airbridge's customizable reports to determine which are the most compelling scenes from the game that should be included in the short-form videos.

In order to stand out in the gaming industry with short-form videos on TikTok, swift monitoring of performance was necessary. Webzen optimized its ad creatives by reviewing campaign efficiency pulling insights from Airbridge's reports, TikTok data, and internal metrics. Webzen could also access Airbridge's Actuals Report dashboard to configure reporting metrics, fields, filters, and measurement date options, making it easy for Webzen to set up reports suitable for monitoring video trends and operational strategies to analyze their campaign performance daily.

Through efficient monitoring, Webzen quickly optimized their ad creatives, promptly discontinuing underperforming content, which increased view-through rate (VTR) to optimize their marketing budget.

The results

Target acquired. Game on

Through optimizing their ad creatives, Webzen achieved sign-in rates exceeding 90% and also increased their return on ad spend (ROAS) by an outstanding 300% in the MU Monarch launch campaign on TikTok. Leveraging Airbridge's customizable reports, Webzen was able to measure the impact of their ad creatives and explore a new advertising channel, while targeting specific audience segments, resulting in a significant improvement in player sign-in rates and return on ad spend.