Our Work

Gram Games – 22% Project

Challenge:

Despite half of gamers being women, there’s a lack of female talent in the industry. We were tasked to help Gram Games reverse the gender disparity in the gaming industry, fuelling conversation and encouraging women to get on the games career ladder.

Solution:

The UK’s games industry has never been more vibrant, but there’s a distinct lack of female talent – only one fifth (22%) work in videogames. Mobile studio Gram Games moved their HQ to London and wanted to celebrate the melting pot of talent in our capital as a way to encourage more women to get involved.

To answer this, Alfred brought the #22PercentProject to London, a multi-faceted event and communications campaign which tackled the problem head-on and created conversation. We ran a series of innovative workshops, bringing budding female gamers before industry titans, to learn about their experiences and get first-hand career advice. These female heavy-weights attracted media attention – Pocket Gamer attended, updating in real-time through social, and questions were crowd-sourced via Twitter from the Daily Mirror and The Guardian. A live recording on Instagram Live and Facebook took the discussion global, as the hashtag #22PercentProject drove real-time conversation.

Outside of the room, our tailored media approach saw us leverage access to these industry heavy-weights, creating bespoke angles for a cross-section of media outlets and delivering key messaging around women in games. Our timing couldn’t have been better. We recommended that the workshop was designed to coincide with the annual Women In Games awards, giving industry-defining outlets including MCV and Develop, a further reason to write about the initiative, and maintain momentum for this important topic.

Results:

The project was a game-changer for Gram Games, positioning them as a voice with a mission in the London market. 40 budding female gamers attended the day, all keen to understand more about working in the industry and coverage landed in target outlets including GamesIndustry.Biz, Pocket Gamer and Kotaku.

Impact:

More than a one-off, the next chapter of the #22PercentProject is in planning. Set to be bigger and better than before, thanks to support pledged from other studios and industry bodies including TIGA (The Independent Game Developers Association) and UKIE (UK Association for Interactive Entertainment). Making waves in the male-dominated industry, the topic is being openly discussed at industry events, inspiring female gamers and generating support from additional games studios.