Experience (Creative eCommerce)
Grand Prix: Xbox Design Lab Originals: The Fanchise Model
Agency: McCann London
Client: Microsoft
How do you get cash-strapped gamers already sore with paying more for video games to pay a 50% higher price tag for a gaming console controller? Answer: get a UK creative agency and US client collaborating to turn eCommerce on its head, transforming your customers into your salesforce with a campaign that sent sales rocketing.
McCann London and US computing giant Microsoft were faced with a major challenge: they needed to sell more Xbox controllers on the Xbox Design Lab eCommerce portal – where people can pimp their controller using a palette of more than a billion color combinations. But gamers were more up for saving money rather than spending more on an unnecessary luxury.
So McCann came up with a genius solution of letting consumers buy into the brand while selling their own creations. How? It transformed its consumers into 'Fanchisees', 'entrepreneurs' who could design their own controllers, share their creations on the Xbox eCommerce dashboard and earn a share of the profits.
The Fanchise Model didn't just let gamers make a quick buck (or a few thousand, with one earner making £1131), it smashed Microsoft's bottom line, sending sales up 350%, with 41% of site visitors claiming a design.
The campaign wiped the floor in the Experience Lions category, winning the Grand Prix and Silver in Creative eCommerce and a Gold, Silver and Bronze in Brand Experience & Activation.
