BUILDING THE NEXT GENERATION
OF VOTERS IN MINECRAFT
While on the rise, youth voter turnout in the U.S. is still lower than the turnout of older Americans. For many of them, voting for the first time is too complicated. According to many experts, this isn’t due to apathy, but to a lack of education on how the voting process works. With that in mind and with the 2020 U.S. presidential election looming, we partnered with Rock the Vote — a non-partisan non-profit dedicated to building the political power of young people — to launch Build the Vote, an educational voting experience that helps first-time voters and future voters learn more about the electoral process in a world they know and understand: Minecraft.
GAMIFYING THE ELECTORAL PROCESS
Build the Vote is a custom Minecraft world in which players are invited to go through the same steps U.S. voters go through in real life, from registering to casting a ballot, but in a Minecraft way. The largely popular video game provided an ideal environment for Rock the Vote to engage and educate its young audience in a more compelling and fun way across multiple devices and platforms.
A CUSTOM BALLOT AND POLLING PLACE
A Capitol-like building was created inside this virtual world to host the entire experience. Young people could experience the voting process by progressing through the various steps of this educational journey. Throughout their experience, they were instructed on the importance of making their own political decisions by voting not on Trump vs. Biden, but on the 10 most important issues at the core of the actual election, ranging from healthcare access to racial equality.
Having their voices heard
On November 2, the day before the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Rock the Vote and partners released the results of the Build the Vote polls and shared them on their social platforms to let America know what young Americans wanted for the future of their country.
AWARDS
Fast Company World Changing Ideas
1 Finalist Education / 1 Finalist Politics / 1 Finalist Advertising
CANNES: Shortlisted
One Show: Merit
ADC: Merit
Webby Awards: People Choice Award
MARKETING AWARDS 1 Gold / 3 Bronze
IDEA: 1 Gold / 2 Silver / 1 Bronze
CREDITS
Alex Bernier / ECD
Jonathan Lavoie, David Allard / ACD
Julien Roub Charland / Creative Technologist
Nicolas Labbé / Copywriter
Pascal Tremblay / Art Director
Eric Valiquette / Graphic Artist
Simon Wilka / Game Designer
Justine Trudeau / Group Account Director
Magali Loiselle / Head of Production
Chloé Brossard / Account Executive
Anne Simard / Product Owner
Laurie Perron/Marie-Ly Cormier / Production Coordinator
Samuel Bonneau / Researcher
Jean-François Lavigne / UX Designer
Nicolas Beaucage / Back-end Developer
Aziz Zouaoui / Back-end Developer
Nicolas Mercure / Back-end Developer
Stefan Paré / Front-End Developer
Nicolas Trudel / Front-End Developer
Patrick Freedom Mayer / Front-End Developer
Alex Pilon / DevOps
Benjamin Des Rosiers / Technical Lead, Post-Production
Daniel Daigle / Assistant Editor
Olivier Valiquette / Creative Director, Motion Design
David Leclerc / Motion Designer
Catherine Simard Boulé / Operations Manager, Creative Services
Katia Aubin / Global Head of Communications and Brand
Kristel Dupont / Coordinator, Public Relations
Tareeni Bogra / Public Relations Manager
Jenny Ng / PR Coordinator
Legal firm: YULEX
Sound editing: Boulevard
