XBOX DESIGN LAB ORIGINALS: THE FANCHISE MODEL
Title | XBOX DESIGN LAB ORIGINALS: THE FANCHISE MODEL |
Brand | MICROSOFT |
Product/Service | XBOX DESIGN LAB |
Category |
A01. Creative Effectiveness |
Entrant
|
McCANN LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
|
Idea Creation
|
McCANN LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
|
Production
|
MRM//McCANN London, UNITED KINGDOM
|
Production 2
|
CRAFT LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
|
Additional Company
|
AYZENBERG Seattle, USA
|
Credits
Rob Doubal and Laurence Thomson |
McCann London |
Chief Creative Officers |
Sanjiv Mistry and Jamie Mietz |
McCann London |
Executive Creative Directors |
Jim Nilsson |
McCann London |
Copywriter |
Jacob Björdal |
McCann London |
Art Director |
Karen Crum |
McCann London |
Head of Strategy |
Charlotte Walters and James Appleby |
McCann London |
Planners |
Rob Smith |
McCann London |
EVP |
Sailesh Jani |
McCann London |
Managing Partner |
Tom Oliver |
McCann London |
Account Director |
Lynne Carter |
McCann London |
Senior Account Manager |
Charlotte La Torre |
McCann London |
Account Manager |
Sophie Grierson and Alice Parker |
McCann London |
Account Executives |
Clare Mann and Mandy Wilson |
McCann London |
Project Directors |
Paul Gillespie |
McCann London |
Senior Project Manager |
Dan Howarth |
McCann London |
Head of Design |
Gustavo Fernandes, Nazima Motegheria and Matthew Thomas |
McCann London |
Designers |
Sergio Lopez |
Craft/McCann |
Chief Production Officer EMEA |
Doris Tydeman |
Craft/McCann |
Producer |
FOREAL |
FOREAL |
Illustrator |
Andrew Tusabe |
Craft/McCann |
Editor |
Liam White |
Craft/McCann |
Print Producer |
Ellis Faint |
Craft/McCann |
Studio Manager |
Nick Cook |
Craft/McCann |
Artworker |
John Martin and Rob McDonald |
Craft/McCann |
Retouching |
David Smith |
MRM/McCann |
Account Lead MRM |
Craig Cameron |
MRM/McCann |
Senior Project Manager |
Dan Miles |
MRM/McCann |
Designer |
Jess Byatt |
McCann World Group UK |
Director of Communications, UK & Europe |
Francisco Penedo |
Craft/McCann |
Case Study Producer |
Paul Jenkinson |
Craft/McCann |
Case Study Editor |
Anna Curtis |
McCann London |
Case Study Junior Project Manager |
Please provide a 500 word summary of your entry below.
From designing your own levels to creating your own characters, much of the modern video game experience is rooted in customization. In 2016, Xbox launched the Xbox Design Lab, an online controller customization store, in order to satisfy the existing need consumers had for personalization. Until that point, DIY had been difficult, risky, and the only option, for gamers who wanted to design their own controllers.
In 2017, the challenge was to grow the Xbox Design Lab, by getting more fans to buy a personalized controller.
We did that by realizing the act of designing the controller bestowed on people a powerful sense of ownership. They felt like the design was theirs.
This was empowerment we could amplify. We weren’t just selling them a controller to use for themselves. We were asking them to create a controller that they would feel was theirs to sell online.
Our customers weren’t customers at all. They were designers. After they made a design, they were allowed to name and claim it. The more other people bought their design, the more they could make money from it.
And so, the Fanchise Model was created – a system from which both the users and Xbox could derive benefit. The Fanchise Model was a reimagining of the business model and the e-commerce experience, taking the act of designing that users were already engaged in to its logical conclusion.
We brought the Fanchise Model to the world in three pieces – Design, Promote, and Earn.
First, we used premium designer influencers to show people the design credentials of the Xbox Design Lab.
Second, we opened up the Fanchise Model, let them claim their designs and gave them the tools to promote them online.
Finally, we championed the user-created designs, and shared the stories behind them, to promote the earning capability that the Xbox Design Lab offered its creator customers.
Gamers began acting more like designer entrepreneurs than consumers. They spotted gaps in the market (especially in their own communities) and then designed controllers to appeal directly to those communities, essentially selling our product for us.
Supported mostly in owned and with earned social and PR exposure, millions of new designs were created, and sales rose by 350%. Even as traffic to the Xbox Design Lab increased, conversion rates to sale also increased. And consumers benefited too – as well as getting the controllers they wanted, they earned. The top earner made $1131, more than 14 times the cost of their original controller.
Personalisation and co-ownership are only going to become more prominent in the future, and the Fanchise Model broke a lot of ground in successfully merging the two to create a new commercial model which created a win for both the business and its fans.