Showcasing the creative power of The Sims: Behind the scenes with our Brand Innovation Lab

When Brand Innovation Lab, the Amazon Ads in-house creative agency, was commissioned to create a custom campaign for The Sims video game, we knew it had to reflect the creative spark in all of us.

Following the North Star

The brief was clear: "Getting people to understand the creativity that The Sims has been inspiring for 30 years," explains Creative Director Nic Howell, who led the project. "This was our North Star.”

The team wanted to not only celebrate the game but also showcase the creative power of The Sims in people's lives—both inside and outside the game.

Nostalgia leads the way

A childhood memory shared by Senior Art Director Roxy Dalton proved to be the key to the creative.

She recalls, "My cousin and I used to play The Sims together when we were kids. It was our favorite game in the whole universe."

The cousins’ bond over The Sims wasn’t just a pastime; it was an outlet for creativity.

"When I was growing up, being a designer wasn’t a career that was even spoken of,” explains Roxy.

“My cousin ended up studying law but dropped out after realizing his passion was for interior design and architecture,” she adds. “Now he works for a huge interior design firm. People think The Sims is ‘just a game,’ but my cousin discovered his dream job through the creativity he unleashed when playing it. He’s never looked back.”

Stories that resonate

The team found that the impact of The Sims extended far beyond this example. As Roxy explains, "There were so many stories of people saying, 'Oh, I found my passion for fashion design, or music, or art through playing The Sims when I was a kid.’ It was incredible.”

When presenting the idea to the team at The Sims, the excitement was palpable. Roxy says, "The discussion was just full of energy. It was really exciting because we knew we were on the same page. This idea got to the heart of finding your passion in the game."

Innovative execution

The campaign's execution was equally innovative, as Brand Designer Juhee Kim notes: "We found moving stories about how The Sims had changed people's lives. The content felt more like a docuseries than commercials about The Sims."

Brand Innovation Lab leveraged Amazon's diverse canvas to ensure maximum brand engagement. "There’s such a hunger for content nowadays,” says Juhee. “We wanted to attract different Amazon audiences who would be excited about The Sims.”

What set this campaign apart was taking an inventive approach to engagement, particularly on Fire TV devices, and customizing Alexa devices with The Sims–themed backgrounds and commands to extend the campaign's reach.

“It was a fun challenge and very satisfying,” says Juhee. “Many people don’t know what Brand Innovation Lab is capable of, in terms of both design and execution as well as our creativity. When a client says, ‘Wow, this is amazing; we didn't know Amazon could do this,’ that's my top tier.”

The Amazon sandbox

Brand Innovation Lab is a part of Amazon Ads that brings together creative directors, art directors, strategists, designers, copywriters, design technologists, producers, and program managers.

Nic, a veteran creative with two decades of agency experience, reflects on the transition to working at Amazon Ads. "Ninety percent of my colleagues come from creative agencies,” he says.

“When you're in the traditional ad world, you can be siloed in the microcosm. But what's remarkable here is that you can take all your creativity and use it across different properties."

Amazon owns different products, and each one needs a big idea. "For a creative, Amazon Ads feels like the sandbox that everybody wishes they had," Nic adds, "and we get to play in it. Innovation is ingrained in our DNA, and experimentation is at the core of what we do."

Roxy describes Brand Innovation Lab as a "mini agency within Amazon" and acknowledges the unique challenges and rewards of working in the larger organization.

"Everything we have to work with is part of the Amazon canvas, whether it's Alexa, Prime Video, or amazon.com; it's about using the canvas in creative ways to reach our customers."

"Working within these parameters makes me more creative," Roxy adds. "Having some sort of guardrail helps focus and inspire me to find new ways to work within them."

From agency to Amazon

When Roxy joined Amazon Ads, she found not just a new role but a new way of working.

"I was pleasantly surprised," she says. "Achieving work-life balance in an agency is hard. I thought that was standard, but at Amazon, I realized it doesn't have to be. Here managers are protective of your time; they care that you have balance so you can be at your most creative."

Creative challenge

For Juhee, joining the Brand Innovation Lab was about creative challenge. "The allure of working with different brands proved irresistible," she explains. "I’ve had in-house roles before, but I find myself feeling a little stagnant when working with just one brand. I discovered that I thrive in environments where I can work with different organizations and industries."

“It's just how big Amazon is," Juhee enthuses. "You get to really explore all the canvas and see what's possible. The idea of collaborating with pet products one day and video games the next—that’s what really excites me."