MTG: Kaldheim - PR & Influencer Marketing
The Challenge
ICO was the designated European PR for Magic the Gathering in 2021.
The team was challenged with keeping up with Magic: The Gathering intensive set release schedule whilst coming up with regular, interesting and exciting ways to create coverage and engage content creators and media alike. This process included ongoing press relations and regular communications adapted to varying theme that each set, as well as special activations on each of them.
The Solution
ICO executed a fully integrated PR and influencer marketing campaign for Kaldheim, a heavy metal and viking-inspired card set launched in January 2021. The campaign included a "metal moment" Guitar Riff Competition, collaborations with top metal bands like Lacuna Coil and Rhapsody of Fire, and partnerships with music magazines. By working with top-tier media outlets, the campaign generated 530 articles in European regions and kept the community engaged.
ICO commissioned, produced and launched a heavy metal song in collaboration with musician content creators PelleK and Jonathan Young that was composed exclusively for the card set.
The song was printed into vinyl and a music video published by the content creators.
These vinyls were distributed through selected European media outlets and influencers that organised giveaways.
ICO collaborated with music media sites, metal bands, and metal-adjacent brands to create a PR moment for Kaldheim. This was done by setting exclusive card reveals through their websites and social media channels.
This campaign featured bands such as Rhapsody of Fire, Nanowar of Steel, Lacuna Coil, and Saurom, as well as collaboration with sites like EMP.com.
Throughout the campaign, ICO kept discussions with top tier media in key European regions to land previews, interviews and in-depth guides.
ICO leveraged the theme of the set, the gameplay mechanics and the assets available in order to establish the right approach to each media outlet.
Some of the outlets picking up the set included:
- English: Forbes, PC Gamer, The Gamer
- French: Gamewave, Millennium, Jeuxvideo
- German: Giga, Metal, Heise
- Italian: Multiplayer, Everyeye, Tomshardware
- Spain: MeriStation, Vandal, 3DJuegos
The Results
The campaign was part of ICO's work with Wizards of the Coast on their regular card set releases for Magic: The Gathering, both physical and digital products.
In 2021 ICO defined the strategy, plan and execution for more than 15 product launches including new card sets, MTG Arena Mobile, Secret Lair brand collaborations, and regular set releases. ICO was also in charge of press kit production for content creators and media, including concept, production, delivery and coverage.
The work generated over 2,400 pieces of coverage across Europe, with regular presence in more than 350 top tier media outlets.
