Believer: The 2017 Launch Campaign

Read the campaign story

Nintendo’s 2017 Switch launch campaign used everyday settings to explain a home-and-portable gaming proposition. BAM Studios documents work with Leo Burnett Chicago on the Super Bowl advertisement, including sound design and mixing with Imagine Dragons’ Believer. Its account separates the February broadcast from the console’s March release.

Director Ash Bolland’s portfolio credits Interrogate and the agency team. Contemporary reporting also makes clear that this launch work followed the previous year’s announcement film. The case therefore does not label the Super Bowl advertisement as the first reveal of Switch. It groups related launch demonstrations together and excludes unsupported portfolio claims about the campaign causing musical or commercial success.

Editorial interpretation: a hybrid product can be difficult to explain through category labels because people may try to fit it into one familiar box. Showing continuity across settings answers a more practical question: what can I keep doing when the context changes? The creative task is to make the transition itself legible. A sequence of attractive lifestyle scenes is less useful if the audience cannot see how the product changes mode or what remains the same.

Editorial interpretation: ordinary context can be more persuasive than exaggerated fantasy when the distinctive benefit is flexibility. A person may understand movement between rooms more readily than an abstract portability claim. But lifestyle demonstrations still require accuracy. Power, connectivity, accessories and game-specific limitations should be explained where relevant, and an adaptation should avoid suggesting that every feature works identically in every setting simply because the edit moves smoothly between them.

Show the transition rather than only the endpoints

Include the step that connects one use situation to another. This is often where the product’s distinctive value becomes understandable. If the film jumps directly between finished scenes, viewers may assume the transition is effortless or miss it entirely. Test a rough sequence without narration to see whether people can explain what changed and which part of the device made that change possible.

Choose contexts that clarify a real benefit

Use situations people can recognise without elaborate explanation, and make each one demonstrate a different practical aspect. Avoid adding locations solely to imply limitless use. A smaller number of well-chosen scenes can explain more than a rapid montage of possibilities. Review the contexts for safety and appropriateness, including whether the depicted behaviour would distract someone from a task that requires their attention.

Keep launch timing and availability separate

A product can be visible in advertising before it is available to buy, and not every demonstrated feature or title necessarily arrives at the same time. Make those distinctions clear in supporting information. This reduces confusion and helps people make an informed decision. The campaign’s excitement should not depend on viewers assuming that every element in the film is immediately included in the base purchase.

A small test for another brief

Proposed adaptation: demonstrate a fictional modular desk tool moving between two ordinary workspaces, using a continuous shot of the transition and a separate list of requirements.

Measure whether viewers understand the transition, remember the distinguishing benefit and identify required equipment. Compare the continuous demonstration with a montage using the same contexts. Treat clarity and accurate expectations as the primary outcomes, not purchase urgency.

Stop if editing conceals a material limitation, implies unavailable functionality or depicts unsafe use in order to make flexibility seem unlimited.

• Use adult participants and controlled, safe locations.
• Show actual prototype behaviour rather than conceal setup steps.
• Label accessories, connectivity and availability assumptions plainly.