x8Cx: 88Anu Auul1 !

Aln | erez-8orges | 1hornLon | vlllegas | Zuckerman

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vandana !aln, Andres erez-8orges, kalen 1hornLon, 8osa vlllegas, Max Zuckerman
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We conducLed a brand audlL on xbox Lo undersLand how varlous sLakeholders,
consumers speclflcally, vlew Lhe brand. CurrenLly a mulLl-bllllon dollar lndusLry, Lhe vldeo game
lndusLry ls undenlably an lnLegral parL of u.S. culLure, as well as many oLhers around Lhe world.
1he xbox ls a vldeo game console manufacLured by MlcrosofL, whlch produces boLh hardware
and sofLware producLs. 1he orlglnal xbox console was poslLloned as a gamlng powerhouse-lLs
black, mascullne deslgn and concomlLanL markeLlng was LargeLed Lowards hardcore" male
gamers. lL soughL Lo dlfferenLlaLe lLself by provldlng a Lechnologlcally superlor producL and
lmmerslve, lnLense gameplay.
1hese assoclaLlons resonaLed well wlLh xbox's core audlence. Powever, as MlcrosofL
has soughL Lo expand Lhe appeal of lLs newesL console, Lhe xbox 360, lL musL overcome Lhe
challenges of Lhls lnlLlal brandlng. namely, LhaL more casual" gamers conslder Lhe console Loo
hardcore and lnLlmldaLlng. xbox now faces a brandlng challenge: how Lo LargeL and markeL Lo a
broader, less hardcore" gamlng audlence wlLhouL allenaLlng lLs core hardcore" demographlc?
xbox's lmage ls sLrongly assoclaLed wlLh graphlcs, power and greaL games (LhaL appeal Lo
hardcore gamers). now, however, lL ls Lrylng Lo markeL lLself as a brand wlLh lnnovaLlve games
and enLerLalnmenL experlences LhaL brlng people and famlly members LogeLher Lo compeLe,
hang ouL and have fun. MlcrosofL needs Lo brldge Lhls dlsconnecL beLween user lmagery and
Lhe LargeLed markeL of xbox. 1he mosL recenL lnlLlaLlve Lo push Lhls more casual angle ls Lhe
release of Lhe klnecL, a moLlon-conLrolled devlce LhaL allows players Lo physlcally move as
Lhough Lhey were characLers ln Lhe game.


x8Cx: 88Anu Auul1 !Aln | erez-8orges | 1hornLon | vlllegas | Zuckerman
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1he maln brand lssues uncovered and lnslghLs galned durlng Lhe exploraLory research
phase of our work helped us Lo undersLand Lhe maln reasons behlnd dlsconnecL beLween user
lmagery and Lhe LargeLed markeL. 1he lnslghLs galned Lhrough Lhe lnlLlal lmage ldenLlLy gap
analysls, Lxperlence map and volce Culdellnes are brlefly dlscussed here whlch helped us ln
flnallzlng our Soclal Medla Cb[ecL. 1hese exerclses lnformed our LhoughL process and helped us
creaLe whaL we belleve Lo be a soclal medla ob[ecL LhaL ls auLhenLlc and relevanL Lo our
audlence.
xbox360 ls deslgned Lo be Lhe besL console ln Lhe markeL wlLh Lechnlcal capablllLles LhaL
far surpassed Lhose of compeLlLors. As such, Lhe maln lmage LhaL Lhe xbox porLrays ls LhaL of
compeLence. A few common paLLerns emerged from our research. llrsL of all, a couple of
games domlnaLe gamers' mlndshare. lL was hlghllghLed LhaL people play xbox a loL of Lhe Llme
wlLh frlends. Many people polnLed Lo hlgh-quallLy graphlcs and easy connecLlvlLy, and
descrlbed Lhe producL as fun and exclLlng. We found lL lnLeresLlng LhaL many people we Lalked
Lo seemed Lo have made Lhelr purchaslng declslon based more on Lhe games avallable for LhaL
console and Lhe overall experlence Lhey would have, raLher Lhan on Lhe brand of MlcrosofL.
1here were a few gaps" LhaL were ldenLlfled based on our analysls. Cne was LhaL whlle
xbox seemed Lo LouL Lhe aLLracLlveness of lLs onllne communlLy Lhrough xbox Llve ln maklng
new frlends, many players dld noL feel connecLed Lo lL, and ln facL, many seemed repelled by lL,
repeaLedly complalnlng of an aggresslve" and annoylng" culLure LhaL fosLered Lrash Lalklng"
lnsLead of frlendshlps. 1he second ma[or gap we ldenLlfled was Lhe value proposlLlon. Whlle
MlcrosofL seems Lo markeL xbox as a good value proposlLlon based on Lechnlcal compeLence,
hlgh graphlc quallLy, and exLras ln varlous servlces, many cusLomers dld noL see Lhe xbox as a
good value proposlLlon, ofLen complalnlng abouL Lhe hlgh prlces and feellng as Lhough Lhey
were belng nlckeled and dlmed" for every addlLlonal servlce, feaLure, or plece of conLenL.

x8Cx: 88Anu Auul1 !Aln | erez-8orges | 1hornLon | vlllegas | Zuckerman
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ln general, we lmaglne xbox's ldeal LhaL Lhe brand experlence map would always end on
a hlgh noLe, and mlnlmlze Lhe lncldence of poor experlences and feellngs. 1hey hope Lo
achleve Lhls by maklng Lhe producL easy Lo seLup and use, free of errors and bugs, and maklng
compelllng gamlng conLenL for Lhelr audlence. Powever, noL every aspecL of Lhe experlence ls
poslLlve, accordlng Lo Lhe people we surveyed for our volce guldellne. Consumers Lended Lo
experlence unhappy emoLlons ln varlous sLages of Lhe process, from purchaslng Lo seLup Lo
gameplay and communlLy lnLeracLlons. unforLunaLely, some of Lhese experlences are noL ones
LhaL MlcrosofL can easlly conLrol, as many of Lhese lssues are relaLed Lo Lhlrd parLles raLher
Lhan xbox. lor example, user error, unfrlendly communlLy lnLeracLlons, or problems wlLh
games made by Lhlrd parLy developers all may be unfalrly aLLrlbuLed Lo xbox, whlch ls slmply
Lhe dellvery mechanlsm.
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lf our brand were Lo have a volce lL would be probably closesL Lo LhaL of 1ony SLark, also
known as lronman." Pe ls lncredlbly smarL, exhlblLlng Lechnlcal compeLence and lngenulLy. AL
Lhe same Llme, he ls smooLh, suave, and perhaps a blL Loo cool for school." Pe ls fun and
parLles a loL, buL many people also may be Lurned off by hlm-elLher because Lhey feel
lnLlmaLed, or because he has a raLher bombasLlc personallLy. Compared Lo lLs large, hulklng
predecessor, Lhe deslgn of Lhe new xbox ls sllm, sleek, and raLher undersLaLed-perhaps Lo
make lL more appeallng and approachable for a broader audlence.
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Cur Leam declded Lo creaLe a vldeo LhaL wlll hlghllghL Lhe new engaglng experlences for
Lhe expanded LargeL markeL. Speclflcally, we would llke Lo creaLe brand awareness and equlLy
wlLh casual male and female gamers ages 13-33. 1hls vldeo wlll emphaslze LhaL xbox games
appeal noL only Lo hardcore gamers buL Lo Lhe more casual gamers.We hope LhaL lL wlll serve as
a hlghly pervaslve soclal medla ob[ecL and LhaL ln Lhe currenL slLuaLlon Lhls vldeo wlll have Lhe
x8Cx: 88Anu Auul1 !Aln | erez-8orges | 1hornLon | vlllegas | Zuckerman
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ablllLy Lo creaLe opporLunlLles for brand conversaLlons for boLh consumers and key declslon-
makers aL MlcrosofL.
ln our vldeo, Lhe xbox ls porLrayed as a devlce LhaL allows one Lo parLlclpaLe regardless
of one's aLhleLlc ablllLy, and has someLhlng for everyone." 1he vldeo draws parallels beLween
Lhe proLagonlsL's slLuaLlon and Lhe feellngs of many casual gamers: LhaL Lhey may feel
lnLlmldaLed by playlng wlLh more hardcore, experlenced players, buL LhaL Lhere are experlences
for Lhem, Loo. lurLhermore, by uslng a chlld as Lhe maln proLagonlsL, we hoped Lo convey Lhe
message LhaL Lhe xbox and klnecL are famlly-frlendly devlces.
ln general our launch sLraLegy Look lnLo accounL our cusLomer demographlcs and Lhelr
communlcaLlon preferences. Slnce we are caLerlng Lo a relaLlvely young lnLerneL savvy
demographlc, we declded Lo focus our efforLs on ?ou1ube, lacebook and 1wlLLer Lo geL
LracLlon. We used ?ou1ube Lo launch Lhe vldeo and uLlllze our soclal neLworks on lacebook and
1wlLLer Lo promoLe Lhe vldeo. We belleve our approach wlll be successful because lL wlll uLlllze
humor Lo sofLen xbox's lmage and convey Lhe message LhaL xbox klnecL has someLhlng for
everyone. We also feel by uslng celebrlLy acLors and poklng fun aL Lhe absurdlLy and general
lack of LalenL by excesslve aLhleLe celebraLlons, we wlll provlde an en[oyable and shareable
ob[ecL. We hope LhaL our ob[ecL wlll be shareable because lL offers noL [usL a humorous
experlence, buL an unexpecLed one as well. 1yplcally, many underdog" vldeos show Lhe
proLagonlsL Lrlumphlng ln Lhelr orlglnal goal. Powever, our vldeo adds a LwlsL Lo Lhls, by noL
only havlng our proLagonlsL fall specLacularly, buL also havlng our large aLhleLes gloaL and revel
ln Lhe chlld's fallure, Lo brlng addlLlonal humor Lhrough exaggeraLlon. LasLly, counLer Lo some
of xbox's LradlLlonal adverLlslng LhaL focuses on funcLlonallLy, we hope Lo esLabllsh a greaLer
emoLlonal connecLlon by hlghllghLlng Lhe user experlence. xbox already has a large presence ln
Lhe soclal medla realm, our campalgn ls reach ouL Lo poLenLlal new consumers and Lo spark
Lhelr lnLeresL ln purchaslng an xbox.


x8Cx: 88Anu Auul1 !Aln | erez-8orges | 1hornLon | vlllegas | Zuckerman
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Cur meLrlcs lncluded Lhe number of users who vlew our vldeo, Lhe number of vlewers
LhaL forward Lhe llnk vla ?ou 1ube, number of llkes/dlsllkes, and Lhe commenLs lefL by Lhose
who waLched Lhe vldeo. We lnlLlally seL our meLrlcs aL falrly modesL levels: over Lhe course of a
week we hoped Lo achleve 330 vlews, 130 llkes, 73 forwards, and 20 poslLlve commenLs.
Cur campalgn proved much more successful Lhan we lnlLlally anLlclpaLed. WlLhln a
week, our vldeo had achleved over 3,000 vlews on ?ou1ube. All of our group members posLed
Lhe vldeo on Lhelr lacebook pages, and Lhe posLs garnered many commenLs by frlends and
famlly members. We dldn'L achleve as many llkes" on Lhe ?ou1ube plaLform as we had
hoped-parL of Lhls problem was LhaL whlle we achleved many llkes" on lacebook (our
prlmary vlewlng plaLform) for Lhe vldeo, Lhese llkes" dld noL Lransfer Lo ?ou1ube's Lally.
lurLhermore, beyond our lmmedlaLe flve-person Leam, we had many frlends reposL Lo Lhelr
own pages. Whlle Lhls was poslLlve, Lhls meanL we had Lrouble Lracklng Lhe commenLs and
llkes" beyond our group. 8eLween ?ou1ube and Lhe number of flrsL level" llkes" ([usL from
our group own posLlngs) on lacebook, we esLlmaLe we achleved approxlmaLely 163 llkes" for
our vldeo wlLh only 1 dlsllke, and 73 commenLs. AddlLlonally, our vldeo was reLweeLed 12
Llmes lncludlng MC Pammer, Lhe ubllc 8elaLlons ulrecLor for 8lng and a former C4 1v sLar,
Laura loy, and a blg Lech blogger from AusLralla, Long Zheng. lurLhermore, we also posLed a
blooper reel" from Lhe shooL, whlch we dld noL publlclze as much, buL sLlll proved popular,
wlLh over 300 vlews.
Lven more encouraglng was LhaL our vldeo reached many of Lhe Lop execuLlves wlLhln
MlcrosofL and xbox. Leveraglng our conLacLs, Lhe vldeo made lLs way Lo Lhe ubllc 8elaLlons
ulrecLor for 8lng, Lhe Senlor ulrecLor of ubllc 8elaLlons for xbox, Lhe Soclal Medla Manager for
xbox, Lhe Ceneral Manager of MarkeLlng for xbox, and Lhe Senlor ulrecLor of Medla for xbox.
We hope LhaL our vldeo lnsplred some lnLeresLlng dlscusslons and ldeas for Lhe xbox MarkeLlng
Leam.
x8Cx: 88Anu Auul1 !Aln | erez-8orges | 1hornLon | vlllegas | Zuckerman
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MosL of our campalgn ran falrly smooLhly. Powever, whlle we cerLalnly beaL our
expecLaLlons for Lhe vldeo, we are pesslmlsLlc as Lo lLs vlrallLy poLenLlal. We belleve Lhls ls
because lL sLlll has a commerclal-feel" Lo lL, and Lhe vldeo ls noL sufflclenLly amaLeur-looklng"
or professlonal-looklng" Lo appeal Lo a broad audlence. We dld noLe a flaLLenlng of our
vlewershlp curve posslbly aLLrlbuLed Lo Lhe exhausLlon of our exLended soclal neLwork or
perhaps Lhe resulL of llmlLed resources and Llme commlLmenL Lo compleLe a full campalgn.
AnoLher lnLeresLlng resulL from our campalgn was our lack of peneLraLlon wlLhln Lhe 13-17
demographlc, parLlcularly slnce our sLyle of humor should have resonaLed wlLh LhaL afflnlLy
group. 1hls however, may have been largely a funcLlon of our soclal neLworks, as mosL of us do
noL have many frlends ln Lhls age range. Also, our maln vlewlng plaLform, lacebook ls resLrlcLs
underage users. We also were hoplng Lo geL exposure on Lhe offlclal xbox lacebook page,
Lhrough group members' conLacLs. 1hls dld noL happen, and was llkely noL spread beyond more
Lhan a few degrees beyond our group's soclal neLworks. We made a few mlnor ad[usLmenLs Lo
Lhe keywords for our vldeo afLer launch Lo allow lL Lo be beLLer plcked up from search englnes.
lf we had Lo do lL dlfferenLly, we would probably have planned ouL Lhe vldeo a blL beLLer, whlch
would have allowed us Lo geL Lhe shoLs we needed Lo achleve a more professlonal look. We
also could have reached ouL Lo fan communlLles Lo see lf we could leverage Lhelr fanbase
neLworks.
Movlng forward for Lhe xbox brand, we recommend LhaL xbox conLlnue Lo markeL Lhe
brand Lo boLh hardcore gamers and Lo casual gamers. lL musL be careful, Lhough LhaL Lhe
markeLlng for Lhe casual gamers noL come across as Loo femlnlne or Loo chlldlsh, so as noL Lo
allenaLe core gamers, who Lyplcally are grown males, and are MlcrosofL's mosL proflLable
cusLomers (Lhey purchase Lhe mosL games and oLher lLems, as opposed Lo Lhe xbox console,
whlch ls sold aL a loss.)

x8Cx: 88Anu Auul1 !Aln | erez-8orges | 1hornLon | vlllegas | Zuckerman
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x8Cx: 88Anu Auul1 !Aln | erez-8orges | 1hornLon | vlllegas | Zuckerman
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x8Cx: 88Anu Auul1 !Aln | erez-8orges | 1hornLon | vlllegas | Zuckerman
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