Xbox Live Hits the Ad Spot

Research conducted by BDRC Continental in December 2009 evaluated an XBL advertising campaign for a high resolution PC monitor, and results showed how well this worked.

The ad campaign targeted gamers in the UK, Denmark, France and the US. Core to the promotion was a prize of 1 million Xbox Live points that gamers could use to acquire game add-ons, movies on demand and more. BDRC Continental interviewed 600 Xbox LIVE gamers in the UK and US; 300 prior to the campaign and 300 towards the end, matched demographically so that the only difference between the pre- and post-stages was exposure to the advertising.

Results showed that the campaign had an enormous influence on key brand attributes:

• 79 per cent uplift from pre to post exposure on likelihood to recommend the brand
• 50 per cent uplift from pre to post exposure on likelihood to purchase the advertised monitor
• 150 per cent uplift from pre to post exposure on spontaneous recall of the brand advertised

The campaign also successfully delivered a solid 3.1 per cent click-through rate and nearly 300,000 sweepstake entries.

There is much talk in the advertising and media industry about people – particularly young people – consuming different media simultaneously. A research study by Thinkbox, the marketing body for commercial TV, claims 48 per cent of 'digital consumers' (people who own and regularly use digital TV and broadband internet) watch TV while accessing the internet at the same time on most days.

It is a fair assumption that Xbox Live users - who fit the digital consumer profile (being significantly more likely to have Virgin or Sky) - are less likely to be consuming other media whilst navigating the XBL menu.

The service is predominantly a gateway to online gaming, and any gamer will tell you it's virtually impossible to do anything else whilst gaming, particularly online, where pausing a 'deathmatch' puts you at an enormous disadvantage! This gives Xbox Live advertising an edge over other media.