Xbox: Squadvertiser, 1 [video]

Credits & Description:

Agency: Mccann London, United Kingdom
Client: Microsoft
Product: Xbox / Halo
Entrant: Mccann London, United Kingdom
Title: Squadvertiser
Product/Service: Xbox / Halo
Idea Creation: Mccann London, United Kingdom
Media Placement: Emt/Dentsu Aegis London, United Kingdom
Pr: Edelman London, United Kingdom
Additional Company: Momentum Worldwide London, United Kingdom
Additional Company 2: Mrm Meteorite London, United Kingdom
Co-President & Chief Creative Officer: Rob Doubal (McCann London)
Co-President & Chief Creative Officer: Laurence Thomson (McCann London)
EMEA Creative Director: Sanjiv Mistry (McCann London)
EMEA Creative Director: Jamie Mietz (McCann London)
Integrated Creative Director: Chad Warner (McCann London)
Creative: Jim Nilsson (McCann London)
Creative: Jacob Björdal (McCann London)
Head of Integrated Production: Sergio Lopez (McCann London)
Head of Art: Michael Thomason (McCann London)
Digital Designer: Colin Lee (McCann London)
Designer: Danny Elliot (McCann London)
Planner: Thomas Keane (McCann London)
Senior Project Manager: Clare Mann (McCann London)
Producer: Lois Newcombe (McCann/Craft)
Business Director: Sailesh Jani (McCann London)
Account Director: AJ Coyne (McCann London)
Account Manager: Tom Oliver (McCann London)
Account Executive: Charlotte Walters (McCann London)
Studio Manager: Ellis Faint (McCann/Craft)
Print Producer: Liam White (McCann/Craft)
Artworker: Robert Freeman (McCann/Craft)
Account Executive: Rami Noumaan (McCann London)
Account Executive: Alice Parker (McCann London)
Studio Imaging Director: John Martin (McCann/Craft)
Artworker: Amelie DeRoche (McCann/Craft)
Creative Tech Lead: Andrei Andreescu (McCann London)
Website URL: http://www.squadvertiser.com
The Campaign
Squadvertiser. It’s Halo meets HR. Rather than advertising Halo, Xbox launched a digital tool that let teams advertise for new teammates. With Squadvertiser they could create customised recruitment ads, specifying precisely the candidate they were targeting. These ran as billboards, banners and print to get teams’ needs in front of a wide audience of potential recruits.
Creative Execution
Squadvertiser consisted of two main sections.
One section was an ad creator, which allowed teams in need of new players to create customized recruitment ads, which could then be shared on social platforms or be distributed on Xbox’s own media spaces, such as billboards, banners, magazine and newspaper ads.
The other section was a job board, on which unemployed players could search for Halo jobs matching their skill sets, and then apply directly to the team.
For the first time, Halo gamers could ‘hire’ who they wanted, forming lasting friendships in the process, leading to more Halo being played.
Squadvertiser is used by 9000 gamers daily
Ads have a 17% response rate
Halo 5 became the most-played game on Xbox Live
The issue at hand was that the target audience was faced with an unsatisfactory multiplayer experience.
So rather than advertise the product (Halo), our strategic approach was create something that would make the product better.