[trotsky]

I understand why you're confused, that seems like a rational (if rather lowball) understanding of the resources you'd use. In reality an agency used a team: brainstorming sessions with senior staff + one or two graphic artists doing multiple concepts and then multiple revisions of the final, a copywriter, one or two doing the video work + outsourced voiceover + a creative director half time + senior staff/ceo sign off + ceo diablo training + analysis of metrics and a post campaign review. And don't forget the time that's being spent on outside pr.

When you are completely based on billable hours (like all ad agencies) you need to consider internal projects as using resources like they were client billed. So the CEO is ~$300-$450/hr, CD ~$200-$300, tech & art $100+. Time isn't free if people are salaried in any business.

Oh and that's going to be the CEO online because this is going to attract other industry folks, some of which will know him personally.

[Useful_Idiot]

Thank you, I understand the metric used now, although I'd say you'd have to offset the costs against traditional print advertising (e.g. 1/2 page advert in Guardian / Ha'aretz jobs section etc).

~ This begs the question, which I assumed (down thread): if the CEO is the one actively engaged, and he looked rather uncomfortable / wooden in the video, then there surely has to be some kind of agreement with Activision/Blizzard to use their Brand like this. i.e. Any and all such arrangements for third parties must have sign off by them (or "why can't I use the D3 franchise / name to sell my porn parody", see http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Inworld-Employment/Still-... for reference).

Thus, I tend towards the meta position I mentioned below: that the real cost is being born by that ~$500mm advertising budget, not Saatchi & Saatchi, and this is meta-advertising.

Jury's out: whether or not this is as clever as I'm imagining will be born out in the next few nights...

[trotsky]

That certainly would make a bit more sense, but I'm not sure how likely it is - It doesn't seem like Blizzard has a relationship with S&S and it seems unlikely that they'd hire creative so far away from their offices in California.