Try The Trident - The Old Friend, Try The Trident - The E... - MSI | Clapboard Ad Archive

MSI’s Try The Trident campaign, launched in Taiwan in 2017 and developed by Redbit Pictures, approaches the competitive gaming hardware market with an astute blend of emotional storytelling and product-centric narrative, positioning the Trident 3 gaming PC as more than a technical upgrade but as a facilitator of connection for both veteran gamers and newcomers. Built around the relatable, nostalgic experience of sharing a keyboard with friends, the central episode The Old Friend leverages storytelling devices familiar to anyone who grew up gaming in close quarters, seamlessly bridging past camaraderie with the contemporary promise of high-performance hardware. With its episode-based structure — including related stories like The Epic Quest and The Dinner Surprise — the campaign crafts a cohesive narrative universe that sees the Trident 3 at the narrative fulcrum, a tactic that sits squarely in Clapboard’s FORMAT#5—Exemplary Story as the product itself drives plot and resolution. Redbit Pictures steers clear of technical jargon and instead chooses universally resonant themes, encouraging user engagement not simply with product specs but with personal gaming histories, a move reinforced by a robust digital distribution strategy and interactive incentives that offer a SteelSeries controller and Ubisoft’s For Honor game with purchase, further lowering barriers to both trial and purchase. The digital-first approach paid dividends, capturing significant viewer attention with over 166,000 views and prompting authentic audience interactions that underscore the MSI brand’s resonance in the electronics category among digital-native consumers. The emotional hook stakes out ground rarely occupied by hardware advertising, which too often defaults to performance boasts, instead staking a claim for MSI as a brand attuned to the lived experiences and desires of its core market. With a campaign score of 67/100 in Clapboard’s global creative archive, Try The Trident stands as a case study in how story-driven campaigns can revitalize functional categories, especially when brand and agency understand the values and nostalgia that animate today’s gaming communities. This campaign matters because in an industry still fixated on hardware specs and incremental upgrades, MSI and Redbit Pictures demonstrate that brand growth comes from tapping into the stories and shared rituals that define the culture behind the screen.