An Evolution Inspired by Discovery
Rebranding the World’s Biggest Escape Game Franchise.
Capturing Curiosity
To stay ahead of the competition in the fast-growing escape game market, Escapology needed to find a new way to grow brand awareness. The biggest challenge for Escape Game Companies is striking the balance between engaging room themes and a memorable, overarching brand narrative. Consumers tend to put individual room themes and current room availability over any loyalty to a particular location. Escapology partnered with 321 to refresh their brand and grow a loyal fan base across social, digital, and on-location touch points.
321 initially partnered with them in 2023, and has since conducted multiple workshops, observations, photo and video shoots across Escapology locations to build more targeted and engaging campaigns.
A Targeted Social Strategy
With the various IPs such as Batman, Star Trek, and Scooby Doo competing with corporate and individual Escapology messaging, it can be difficult to display a coherent and memorable brand in the casual scroller’s feed. As we developed the brand from an aesthetic perspective, we experimented with the right cadence game room storylines and promotions. We landed on a mix of influencer perspective imagery in both our video shoots and actual influencer content, along with a small set of approved templates to keep all corporate messaging and promotions consistent.
Sharing the Story
Our main target audience included adults who value unique social experiences. They were primarily looking for weekend activities to unwind and bond with friends, family, or colleagues. Each audience also shared a high-level interest in games & activities, generally, and room-based interests, specifically. Our secondary audience promoted Escapology’s Kids Mode specific games and targeted parents aged 30-50 with children 6–15 years old. Typically professionals, stay-at-home parents, and educators. High-energy videos preformed best.
Story Branding
Any Escapology gameplay begins with a steampunk lobby experience, which became the driving brand aesthetic. But they struggled with finding methods to emphasize it as a differentiator without taking focus away from their primary IP investments with individual rooms. We created new brand assets that symbolized delving deeper into the story of each room, while simultaneously setting the steampunk cogs and gears as the framework.
Challenge
To provide scalable marketing for Escapology in a competitive and growing market, while not letting high-value partnerships like Batman, Star Trek, and Scooby Doo cannibalize brand awareness.
Solution
321 created and executed a new social and advertising strategy, implementing research and a refreshed brand that combines its steampunk origins and storytelling.
Longer format touch points like the website or printed collateral like the Group Guide above demonstrate the versatility of the new brand assets in striking the balance between Escapology as a framework for unique experiences.
Let’s Transform Your social Together
In this complimentary consultation, we’ll dive into your challenges, explore tailored solutions, and outline clear next steps for partnering with 321 The Agency on your journey. Our commitment is simple: no matter the outcome, you’ll walk away with actionable insights and strategies to elevate your brand and drive results.