SQUADVERTISER

TitleSQUADVERTISER
BrandMICROSOFT
Product/ServiceXBOX / HALO
Category B03. Web Service / App
Entrant McCANN LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
Idea Creation McCANN LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
Media Placement EMT/DENTSU AEGIS London, UNITED KINGDOM
PR EDELMAN London, UNITED KINGDOM
Additional Company MOMENTUM WORLDWIDE London, UNITED KINGDOM
Additional Company 2 MRM METEORITE London, UNITED KINGDOM
Credits
Name Company Position
Rob Doubal McCann London Co-President & Chief Creative Officer
Laurence Thomson McCann London Co-President & Chief Creative Officer
Sanjiv Mistry McCann London EMEA Creative Director
Jamie Mietz McCann London EMEA Creative Director
Chad Warner McCann London Integrated Creative Director
Jim Nilsson McCann London Creative
Jacob Björdal McCann London Creative
Sergio Lopez McCann London Head of Integrated Production
Michael Thomason McCann London Head of Art
Colin Lee McCann London Digital Designer
Colin Lee McCann London Digital Designer
Danny Elliot McCann London Designer
Thomas Keane McCann London Planner
Clare Mann McCann London Senior Project Manager
Lois Newcombe McCann/Craft Producer
Sailesh Jani McCann London Business Director
AJ Coyne McCann London Account Director
Tom Oliver McCann London Account Manager
Charlotte Walters McCann London Account Executive
Ellis Faint McCann/Craft Studio Manager
Liam White McCann/Craft Print Producer
Robert Freeman McCann/Craft Artworker
Rami Noumaan McCann London Account Executive
Alice Parker McCann London Account Executive
John Martin McCann/Craft Studio Imaging Director
Amelie DeRoche McCann/Craft Artworker
Andrei Andreescu McCann London Creative Tech Lead
Ellis Faint McCann/Craft Studio Manager
Liam White McCann/Craft Print Producer

The Campaign

Squadvertiser. It’s Halo meets HR. Rather than advertising Halo, Xbox launched a digital tool that let teams advertise for new teammates. With Squadvertiser they could create customised recruitment ads, specifying precisely the candidate they were targeting. These ran as billboards, banners and print to get teams’ needs in front of a wide audience of potential recruits.

Creative Execution

Squadvertiser consisted of two main sections. One section was an ad creator, which allowed teams in need of new players to create customized recruitment ads, which could then be shared on social platforms or be distributed on Xbox’s own media spaces, such as billboards, banners, magazine and newspaper ads. The other section was a job board, on which unemployed players could search for Halo jobs matching their skill sets, and then apply directly to the team.

For the first time, Halo gamers could ‘hire’ who they wanted, forming lasting friendships in the process, leading to more Halo being played. Squadvertiser is used by 9000 gamers daily Ads have a 17% response rate Halo 5 became the most-played game on Xbox Live

The issue at hand was that the target audience was faced with an unsatisfactory multiplayer experience. So rather than advertise the product (Halo), our strategic approach was create something that would make the product better.