LITTLE HUNGERWITH A BIG APPETITE FOR FORTNITE
Q2 2024
VIEWS
HOW DO YOU MAKE AN ICONIC BUT "NAGGING" BRAND HERO FIT INTO THE GAMING WORLD?
Danone bet on revolutionary technology. We built Poland's first AI system designed to analyze gameplay in real-time, activating the "Little Hunger" character only when the player's in-game energy dropped, serving the message in the perfect, contextual moment.
VIEWS ON
LIVESTREAMS
TRIGGER PRECISION
(PERFECT TIMING)
VIEWERS ASKED ABOUT THE SYSTEM
INSTEAD OF COMPLAINING.
LITTLE HUNGERLEARNED TO"SPEAK
FORTNITE"
Global lockdown turned Fortnite streams on Twitch into the social hub for young Poles. Danone saw an opportunity to reach this target group in their natural habitat, during marathon gaming sessions when real hunger strikes. The key barrier, however, was this community's fierce resistance to any ads that interrupt gameplay.
THE CHALLENGE WAS AMPLIFIED BY THE ASSET ITSELF: LITTLE HUNGER IS, BY DEFINITION, AN INTRUSIVE PEST WHO SHOWS UP UNINVITED.
We needed to find a way for his "sneaky" nature to work in an environment that values authenticity, sparking positive engagement rather than irritation.
REAL-TIME GAMEPLAY ANALYSIS SYSTEM
NG+, IN COLLABORATION WITH AGENCY VMLY&R, FACED AN UNPRECEDENTED TECHNOLOGICAL CHALLENGE:
To create an AI that analyzes streamer gameplay in real-time and autonomously decides on the perfect moment to display the brand message.
REVOLUTIONARY CONTEXT RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY
We built an AI system analyzing the video feed in real-time, recognizing the Fortnite interface and combat situations. The key was training the algorithm to precisely identify the character's energy drop. When health dipped, the AI instantly identified it as the perfect moment for Little Hunger to strike.
LITTLE HUNGER DIDN'T RECITE THE SAME LINES EVERY TIME.
The system was armed with an arsenal of sharp comebacks tailored to specific gameplay scenarios. Losing health in an intense firefight? Or starving during calm exploration? Little Hunger had a different line for each. This was real-time personalization that traditional advertising simply cannot achieve.
PRESERVING THE NATURAL FLOW OF THE EXPERIENCE
The critical challenge was ensuring Little Hunger felt like a natural game element, not an external interruption. The system was engineered to display the message smoothly, without cluttering the UI or distracting from the action. Little Hunger "hopped" into the stream as if he were a native part of the game engine itself.
Taiovsky Crew
vs. LITTLE HUNGER
THE WEEK OF CONFRONTATION
Four of Poland's top Fortnite streamers – the Taiovsky Crew – joined the battle against the rumbling stomach.
Patryk "Taiovsky" Winny
Paweł "LiLqki" Knicz
Jakub "Hycel" Krawczyk
Dominik "Beznickos" Przygoda
FROM FEB 19 TO 26, EACH HOSTED DAILY STREAMSFACING "LITTLE HUNGER ATTACKS"
The reaction on streams exceeded our wildest expectations. Instead of irritation over a sponsored element, viewers were fascinated by the system's precision. Chats were flooded with comments like: "How does he know you're losing energy right now?" or "Is it really reading the game live?".
THE NEW TECHNOLOGY
IMPLEMENTED BY DANIO..
..is a fantastic way to interact with viewers during a live stream. The sponsored content wasn't invasive in the slightest, and people were genuinely interested in what they saw on screen, asking questions instead of complaining.
Professional Fortnite Player
A NEW ERA OF PRECISION MARKETING IN GAMING
THE KEY TO GAMERS' ATTENTION ISN'T VOLUME, BUT INTELLIGENT CONTEXT.
Instead of annoying the audience, Little Hunger sparked curiosity thanks to revolutionary AI technology that served the message with surgical precision.
The effect wasn't just 650,000 views, but primarily the breaking of the "ad barrier." Danio demonstrated that in the attention economy, you win not with force, but with intelligence and respect for the player's experience.
Check out
other campaigns
Cheetos turns advertising into a game viewers didn’t want to skip
The Cheetos Chepard Game campaign set a new industry standard by transforming advertising from an interruption into a sought-after part of the entertainment experience.
1,896 streamers actively promoted their favorite pizza!
Pizza Guseppe by Dr. Oetker set out to solve a classic gaming dilemma, showing that a meal can be prepared quickly without meaning the end of the game.
T-Mobile turned the phrase “Fastest Network” into an iconic moment
The phrase “Fastest Network” was spoken over 10,000 times, and instead of avoiding the ad, viewers actively looked forward to it.
Small Hunger with a big appetite for gaming
We created Poland’s first AI system that analyzed gameplay in real time and activated the Little Hunger character only when the player was losing energy.
Go2Warsaw - Warsaw The City of Wonders
How we turned the capital into a playable open world to win the battle for Gen Z’s attention.
PKO Bank Polski has opened a new branch in… Fortnite!
When 9 out of 10 ads aimed at young audiences go unnoticed, PKO Bank Polski flipped the rules of the game by moving its branch straight into Fortnite. As a result, players literally “lined up” to learn the basics of finance and spent an average of 26 minutes with the brand - a level of engagement that traditional campaigns simply can’t achieve.
Mountain Dew changed the way people think about an influencer career
When society calls being an influencer “not a real job”, Mountain Dew took it seriously by creating Poland’s first “School for Creators”.
