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In early 2019, we were tasked by Xbox’s lifestyle and pop culture team to come up with a creative idea to celebrate the release of the Warner Bros. movie SHAZAM! Inspired by the deep friendship between the two leading characters, we decided to give fans across the world the chance to celebrate their greatest gaming friendships and to become Gaming Superheroes.
The star of the film, Zachary Levi, paid Xbox and Benny Central a visit to take on the first ever Xbox Game Pass Superhero challenge, competing on a number of top Xbox Game Pass games before challenging Xbox fans worldwide to take on the challenge for themselves with their best gaming friends. Our global competition generated over 150,000 entries and millions of views of the exclusive SHAZAM! Xbox One X console.
With news outlets across the world picking up the story that Xbox fans and their friends were becoming superheroes in their own right, the brand partnership featuring the custom console created a global publicity storm.
Long before lockdown living room workouts became a thing, the miai team identified Joe Wicks (AKA The Body Coach) as an up-and-coming influencer in the world of health and fitness and brought him on board as a Microsoft Band ambassador to promote Microsoft’s smart band and health and fitness tracker.
Inviting six people with different goals to join The Body Coach 90-day SSS Plan, the Microsoft Band was used to record and monitor their progress and their journey was shared online to raise awareness of both The Body Coach and the Microsoft Band.
Wearing a Microsoft Band on his own and others’ social channels, The Body Coach not only raised additional awareness of the smart band, but he also helped drive new customers to the Microsoft Store and increase sales thanks to an exclusive discount that was created for his own channels. Our newsletter featuring the discount saw a staggering 52% open rate, far beyond average newsletter open rates of 15-25%.
A further exclusive retail offer with Amazon increased sales of the Microsoft Band further, giving customers the opportunity to buy a Microsoft Band 2 and receive a signed edition of Lean in 15, Joe Wicks’ book, at no extra cost.
Our Xbox and Foot Locker partnerships have been going strong since 2012. Originally coming together to celebrate the release of Nike + Kinect Training video game, Foot Locker’s Oxford Street customers were given the chance to try the game in-store and compete to win a bumper Xbox prize package.
The brands came together once again in August 2016 when Xbox released its Xbox One S console, a vision in white. With Foot Locker’s ‘White Sneaker Collection’ launching at the same time, it was the perfect opportunity to work in partnership on a striking in-store promotion and seeding kit to promote both brands’ products.
In 2018 Foot Locker launched their flagship store in London’s Marble Arch. Thanks to our ongoing relationship, Microsoft were invited to install a permanent Xbox gaming area on their mezzanine floor. Later that year we were given the opportunity to create themed Xbox windows and in-store takeovers in Foot Locker’s flagship stores in London, Paris and Berlin.
Most recently, in 2019, Foot Locker exclusively sold the ‘Ultimate Xbox Limited Edition Jacket’ which gave consumers free VIP entry to Gamescom, the world’s largest consumer video games event. In November of that year, Foot Locker attended XO19, a celebration of all things Xbox, where FRE Customs offered attendees live, Xbox-inspired sneaker customisation.
In 2020, Pringles were looking to reach new audiences and wanted to be seen as an authentic voice in video games. Working with Xbox and Grey London, Pringles’ creative agency, we helped to create a fantastic ATL campaign, which saw a limited content series being produced for three games in Xbox’s portfolio. The first spot played with character customisation in RARE Studios’ Sea of Thieves; the second injected Pringles’ sense of fun into Konami’s PES 2021 and the third spot leaned into the Xbox Master Brand and blended the world of in-game racing car customisation with that of the everyday. As well as running ATL, these spots were key components in a social media competition, offering players the chance to win Xbox Game Pass or an Xbox One S console.
In 2021, Xbox and Pringles are taking the concept of blending gaming worlds and real worlds to a new level. Grey London had the bold idea to bring a Gaming Character to life. Working with Raw Fury, Frank the Zombie immerged from the world of purgatory in West of Dead, he has been able to meet streamers, influencers and gaming fans digitally through Twitch and other social media channels before heading back into the game as a non-player character, helping players get further in the game.
Backing this activity is a huge on-can promotion featuring Xbox prizes across 170m+ branded cans in 40+ markets. As well as being able to win the brand new Xbox Series X console and 7-Days of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, the cans offer the chance to win customised Xbox wireless controllers that match to the winner’s flavour colourway, with a select few available to be won via a social media competition.
The on-can promotion also saw three brand new, limited edition flavours celebrate Halo’s protagonist ahead of the latest launch, Halo Infinite. Bolstered by large POS displays and takeovers across a range of EMEA-based retailers, this really drives home our ability to work with our clients and partners to go bigger and deeper.
