XBOX DESIGN LAB ORIGINALS: THE FANCHISE MODEL

Short List
TitleXBOX DESIGN LAB ORIGINALS: THE FANCHISE MODEL
BrandMICROSOFT
Product/ServiceXBOX 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
Name Company Position
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.