ZOMBIE CHRISTMAS: THE REAL-WORLD TRAILER

TitleZOMBIE CHRISTMAS: THE REAL-WORLD TRAILER
BrandMICROSOFT
Product/ServiceXBOX / DEAD RISING 4
Category B04. Use of Ambient Media: Large Scale
Entrant McCANN LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
Idea Creation McCANN LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
Media Placement CARAT London, UNITED KINGDOM
PR EDELMAN London, UNITED KINGDOM
Production CRAFT WORLDWIDE London, UNITED KINGDOM
Production 2 MOMENTUM WORLDWIDE London, UNITED KINGDOM
Production 3 HELIX 3D London, UNITED KINGDOM
Production 4 FLUX BROADCAST London, UNITED KINGDOM
Credits
Name Company Position
Rob Doubal McCann London Chief Creative Officer
Laurence Thomson McCann London Chief Creative Officer
Sanjiv Mistry McCann London EMEA Creative Director
Jamie Mietz McCann London EMEA Creative Director
Jim Nilsson McCann London Copywriter
Jacob Björdal McCann London Art Director
Clare Mann McCann London Project Director
Paul Gillespie McCann London Senior Project Manager
Sergio Lopez Craft Worldwide, London Head of Integrated Production
Aaron Raybe Momentum Worldwide, London Senior Event Producer
Duncan Groves Craft Worldwide, London Senior Producer
Chris Cartwright Craft Worldwide, London Senior Producer
Ruth Oates Craft Worldwide, London Production Manager
Dan Howarth McCann London Head of Art
Sam White Craft Worldwide, London Video Director
Charlotte Walters McCann London Planner
Rob Smith McCann London Executive Vice President
Sailesh Jani McCann London Regional Business Director
Tom Oliver McCann London Account Director
Isobel Thomas McCann London Account Manager
Sophie Grierson McCann London Account Executive
Alice Parker McCann London Account Executive
Louise Ringrose McCann London Director of Communications
Paul Jenkinson Craft Worldwide, London Editor
Francis Harris Craft Worldwide, London Editor
Carl Warren McCann London Designer
Simon Thomas McCann London Designer
Dan Fields McCann London Designer
Michael Bow McCann London Designer

The Campaign

Xbox didn’t make a conventional trailer. They built one out of Christmas lights, installed it in central London, and put the on-button in the hands of the gaming world. The gamers launched this unique trailer. Over half a million gamers responded to the call-to-action, interacting on Facebook Live, Twitch and Beam to lower a robotic zombie hand towards a big red button. When it was pressed, the Christmas lights dramatically switched on, revealing a new story about zombies, powerful weapons and the return of the franchise’s hero. Thousands of gamers visited the trailer in person, walking through it to see the story unfold, while 360 mobile video allowed millions of other gamers to virtually walk through it too.

Creative Execution

The real-world trailer consisted of a series of animated Christmas light panels suspended, over the course of 11 days, above a busy shopping plaza in central London. At first, all the lights were off. But a celebrity wasn’t asked to switch them on, as is the norm in the UK. Instead, that honour was given to the gaming world. The on-switch was a robotic zombie hand hovering above a big red button, shown to gamers via livestreams on Facebook Live, Twitch and Beam. Over 500000 gamers responded to this tantalizing call-to-action, lowering the hand and switching on the trailer, revealing a new story about zombies, powerful weapons and the return of the franchise’s hero. TimeOut London listed it as a festive destination, and thousands visited in person. Yet the whole world could walk through this neighbourhood’s unusual Christmas lights thanks to VR and mobile 360 degree video.

Results

1900% above average Facebook response rate. Over 500000 gamers responded to the call-to-action, working together to switch on the trailer. Over 4 million walked through it. (target: 1 million) Game sales exceeded target by 34%. Over 18000 social comments.

The idea targeted a specific target audience and gave them an irresistible response mechanism that allowed them to participate in the concept, all in order to achieve a defined business goal. To get a million gamers to watch their game trailer during a busy Christmas, when TV was cluttered and other trailers were coming out, Xbox built their trailer out of Christmas lights, then gave gamers an enticing call-to-action: you have the power to switch on the lights, revealing the story of the game to the whole world.

Faced with a tough target of a million views, Xbox’s approach was to not make a conventional game trailer, which would have been lost in the clutter of formulaic game trailers, particularly around Christmas. Instead, Xbox’s strategy was to play off gamers’ love of interaction by actively involving the gaming community in the trailer, giving them an irresistible call-to-action – you launch the trailer, not us.