MIXX and the xbox
This panel from the IAB MIXX conference looked at how Burger King, CPB and Microsoft XBox teams teamed up to make some exclusive games that were sold through the restaurant chain.
Burger King, Crispin Porter + Bogusky and Xbox - A Case Study in Collaboration
The "MIXX" of strategy+content+channel, and the collaboration of marketer+agency+media is critical to success in interactive. In this session we will here a case study of the Burger King Xbox King Games, a superb example of three-way collaboration. Our panel will discuss how and why their collaboration came about, what it took to make it happen, how it’s created value, and what they learned about creating value through marketing in the vast, open field of interactivity.
Moderator: Katie Kempner, The Host of "The hook with Katie Kempner", webmasterradio.fm
Panelists: Chris Di Cesare, Director of Creating Marketing, Xbox, Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions
Brian Gies, Vice President, Marketing Impact, Burger King Corporation
Sion Lenton, Advergames Director, Blitz Games
Rob Reilly, VP/Creative Director, Crispin Porter + Bogusky
BG: we were looking at doing some different things we had something with music, something with sports. Video games grabbed out attention. the growth wowed us. we liked the interception of our customers and those playing the games. we are planning 18 months out so the time period was good. the big deal of the holiday was going to be Sony PS3 lunch, but we say xbox as a better brand fit. for a number of factors we had our eyes on xbox. we liked the idea of 2 challenging brands coming together., we knew there would be a successful launch. Year 2 could be a bigger deal. we liked the idea of the partnership..both winning. we explored different ways in, and this one was the biggest and boldest and had never been done before. I like huge risk, liked being innovative.
KK: an interesting partnership and so many people involved. In a big business with egos..to get it done you had to check egos at door
CDC: had to figure out who would do it. the ideas at the front were clear..we had a clear timeline, a clear price point, wanted it on both platforms and they wanted 3 games. diff to usual. We had to get the team in place..we went to Blitz..we were comfortable with the brand. it was the right brand to do this.
RR: we usually go to BK with crazy ideas and get laughed at. in this time, we initially laughed at this..then I thought about it. we took a deep breath, said lets do this..took the challenge. working with so many partners was the most exciting part of this. we went to these guys…they were English and that was an other issue! we knew how to do branding, not games
BG: once we go past the shock we had to make sure we were consistent with their expectations, we wanted credible, authentic content for these games. we were all consistent wit these things. it was not going to be the standard advergame.
KK: how did this work?
SL: We got over the shock about the timeline. going into this we wanted to change the benchmark, we had the tech to make high quality games. we got the King over to the UK for motion capture. we did cutting edge graphics, it needed to look like an xbox 360 game. we were working on the stuff anyway. From a visual POV it had to be a full quality product. we wanted a great gameplay. in game development it is like magicians, there’s only so many game plays that you could use. with 3 games we looked to use as many of those mechanics as possible. we were really pleased at the end of it. At conferences I had people getting their photo with me as we made the game.. I was blown away. XBox Achievement points, having those in there gave the game real integrity.
CDC: it had to meet a bar..if the WOM did not work they would not sell no matter what the marketing dollars. A great value proposition…the gaming audience did embrace it. [RC: great point here, picking up on what Seth Godin said earlier - without the great product, the story to tell, it does not really matter about the spend, people won’t talk good things about bad things.]
BG: the gamers were a critical audience, we knew we needed them as influencers. But we could not put the resources just to talk to a gamer audience, we had to appeal to the larger audience as well. we had to look at what was motivating, etc. We leaned heavily on Crispin to find something that was great.
RF: I was motivated by the initial blogs that said that these games would suck, that these guys are idiots. We were afraid of losing the momentum. we worked around the clock to make sure the games were as good as the brand. they are very creative at taking shots at you way before things come out.
CD :advergaming in general has a bad name. we wanted great entertainment first and that was key. not trying to sell you anything, changing perceptions of what advergaming is.
Sl; the games were a lot of fun to play and we did not have the logo all over the place and I was proud of this. it was shrewd.
KK: no logo but you are interacting with brand. for a long time clients were looking for ways to interact. is this something where advertising is going?
BG: yes, if it is done right. we were not sure it would be until it went to marketing. it was thrilling to us that there were assets with the brand that could deliver against the entertainment., we look at what it could be for us beyond the 5 week programme. it now lives on for many months as an alternative media vehicle for us. either with consumers engaging, or the cover graphics…we took time of engagement, it was the equivalent of 15 superbowls in media value..that continued after the promotion, promotion that consumers paid for
KK: when ad agencies are trying to convince people to do something like this..how can you measure it?
BG: in a position where we take risks. we vetted it with research..with dev timeline there was no way to truly test the content until ready to roll. heavily reliable on execution and it worked it was a success. We sold 3 million games over 5 weeks,
RR: there is an amazing amount of stuff that people are doing…the space is so exciting now and this is one small part of it. agencies need to bring more ideas to clients that are interactive.
KK will we see more?
CDC: not all brands work in this space bk was ideal. there’s lots of growth..in terms of online gaming. it’s engaging they are interacting with eh brand so the value is 10fold what you may get watching a tv spot
KK: advice for other brands?
BG: partnership is critical.. the brand fit need to be there and the commitment that you need for something that is risky and unproven..you hold hands tight….there were so many internal hurdles that we had to navigate around and we needed 100% convictions
CDC: i got caught up in the BK enthusiasm..their goals with making it happen..
SL: we treated this the same as any full console thing. we made sure we were immersed in the brand…
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POSTED IN: Conferences and Events, Engaging the Customer, Fun and Games
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