Xbox signs deal with We7 to reach key online audiences for Christmas
Microsoft has teamed up with new ad-funded free music download service, We7, to increase awareness of Xbox 360 and promote key titles in the run up to Christmas. The deal will see Xbox utilise We7’s unique ad grafting technology to get directly into the ears of consumers downloading tracks and albums from www.we7.com, targeting their ads by the genre of music as well as by location, age and gender.
The We7 campaign is part of a wider Christmas strategy from Xbox which includes TV advertising, and will run from 26th November until Christmas day. As well as raising brand awareness for Xbox 360, the campaign on We7 will use the power of music to demonstrate Xbox 360’s strong portfolio of games to appeal to a wide range of audiences, from the latest blockbuster games for the key 16-25 male audience to ‘Fun for Everyone’ – a range of family games suitable for everyone 3 years+.
Stephen McGill, Head of Gaming and Entertainment, Microsoft UK says of the deal: “There’s a natural affinity between music and gaming which We7 allows us to explore in a unique and effective way using a mix of traditional display ads alongside the new audio grafting techniques. We’ll primarily use this campaign to target our key demographic – 16-25 year old males – but as We7 has a varied user base we plan to broaden our focus to a wider family audience too.”
The We7 innovation allows advertisers to digitally reach an audience using the traditional formats of MPU’s and Skyscrapers but the audio segment uniquely goes with the consumers onto their iPods or other MP3 players reinforcing the message in an intimate and highly acceptable manner.
The range of audio ads has been created by Music4 and the 20 second ads use the same memorable backing track that appears on the TV campaign.
Steve Purdham, CEO, We7 adds: “We7 offers a platform to entertain and engage, benefiting both the consumer and the advertiser. We are thrilled to be working with such a leading consumer brand as Xbox as it feels like the perfect fit for our site.
“Since signing our first deal in October, we’ve seen significant interest from the Advertising community to our new innovative model and we expect to make more announcements of We7 adoption in the run up to Christmas as well as in 2008.”