| Title | THE XBOX LOOPHOLE |
| Brand | MICROSOFT |
| Product/Service | XBOX |
| Category |
A09. Launch or re-launch |
|
Entrant Company
|
McCANN LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
|
|
Advertising Agency
|
McCANN LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
|
Credits
| Rob Doubal |
McCann London |
Co-President/Chief Creative Officer |
| Laurence Thomson |
McCann London |
Co-President/Chief Creative Officer |
| Sanjiv Mistry |
McCann London |
Creative Director |
| Jamie Mietz |
McCann London |
Creative Director |
| Thomas Ilum |
McCann London |
Interactive Creative Director |
| Andrei Andreescu |
McCann London |
Creative Developer |
| Alejandro Campos Lamas |
McCann London |
Art Director |
| Roberto Fabre |
McCann London |
Art Director |
| Jess Mallett |
McCann London |
Copywriter |
| Harry Peacham |
McCann London |
Planner |
| Sailesh Jani |
McCann London |
Business Director |
| James Latham |
McCann London |
Business Director |
| Tom Oliver |
McCann London |
Account Director |
| Giuseppe Mormandi |
McCann London |
Creative Producer |
| Chris Cartwright |
McCann London |
Agency Producer |
| Michael Thomason |
McCann London |
Head of Art |
| Carl Warren |
McCann London |
Designer |
| Rob McDonald |
Craft |
Retouching |
| John Martin |
Craft |
Retouching |
| Paul Jenkinson |
Craft |
Editor |
The Campaign
Destiny was a massive new game for Xbox. But PlayStation had bought all the Destiny advertising rights, meaning Xbox was forbidden from advertising it. So how could we publicize a game we weren’t allowed to advertise? We created a product with the same name – “Destiny: The New Fragrance By Xbox”. It was a publicity stunt designed to get maximum attention, registering 72 million media impressions and over 100 000 unique site visits in just the first day. Our PR move trended worldwide on sites like Reddit and Forbes, and some influencers even called it a new genre of advertising – “non-vertising”. With one hit, Destiny became synonymous with Xbox. $6000 paid media led to $3.8 million earned media. Xbox got 50% share of Destiny sales, and Destiny became the fastest selling new franchise in Xbox history. All without ever advertising the game.
The Brief
How could we advertise a game we legally weren’t allowed to advertise?
Execution
Since we weren’t allowed to advertise Destiny the game, we didn’t. Instead, we created a product with the same name - “Destiny: The New Fragrance By Xbox”. Our PR fight back launched with online, social and Blippar-responsive print, which all revealed why we had to go guerilla. Gamers spread the idea on a massive scale. It trended worldwide on sites like Reddit and Forbes, and some influencers even called it a new genre of advertising – “non-vertising”. With one hit, Destiny became synonymous with Xbox.
The campaign gained 72 million media impressions, 250 000 social media impressions and over 100 000 unique site visits on day 1 alone. Just $6000 paid media led to $3.8 million million earned media. In fact, over 34 pages of articles about the campaign were indexed on Google. Xbox got 50% share of Destiny sales, and Destiny became the fastest selling new franchise in Xbox history. All without ever advertising the game.
The Strategy
Our strategy was to find a loophole in PlayStation’s iron-clad marketing deal. If we could do that cleverly enough, it would get gamers talking, and they’d tell our story for us.