Before the WAIT campaign launched, awareness for Xbox was minimal with only hardcore gamers being familiar and excited about its arrival. The communication goals amongst Men 15-30 were to drive brand spontaneous awareness of Xbox from 8% to 40%. We achieved 67%. The second objective was to drive traffic to the website during WAIT campaign. We achieved phenomenal traffic flow during campaign. Finally we needed to deliver best & most wanted console scores higher than competitors. This was achieved with scores recording higher than competitors with 52% "We were delighted with the success of the Xbox WAIT campaign. The media team's solution really brought to life the wait message with the WAIT media strategy. Awareness scores were higher than expected, website hits went through the roof and given the success of the recent launch it really has indicated that people did WAIT!" Mike Yanco, Group Brand Manager, Xbox: We understood where Men 15-30 were WAITING, and creatively used outdoor to enhance the Xbox message. ..in traffic jams, at Bus Stops and at Train StationsWhen Men 15-30 were WAITING in Traffic Jams we advertised on the back of buses “ If you think the wait is brutal, you should see the game”. We also advertised on CBD roadside metrolites specifically chosen on busy arteriole routes near major junctions “ Sorry to keep you waiting” When Men 15-30 were WAITING at Bus Stops we advertised on metrolites at bus stops “Wait in Line”When Men 15-30 were WAITING at Train Stations we advertised on a billboard size TV screen in the Sydney underground system “Training Approaching. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Xbox early 2002”WE BUILT AWARENESSWE CREATED INTERESTWE DROVE INTERACTIONWE MADE THEM WAIT Universal McCann, through an understanding of the task at hand and Men 15-30, generated a simple yet highly impactful outdoor idea for the Xbox WAIT Campaign. This idea led to the development of numerous creative executions each tailoring the creative message with the specific outdoor environments. The threat for Xbox given its launch was not until March 2002, was that many potential customers would be taken out of the market over Christmas buying competitor consoles, particularly Sony Playstation 2.

Our challenge was to devise an outdoor campaign that announced Xbox, created intrigue and drove the consumers to find out more through the Xbox website. We needed to sow the seed of doubt that Playstation was old news in an attempt to stop them buying the gaming console at Christmas. Our ultimate challenge was to get people to WAIT until Xbox launch in March 2002.

What makes this submission special is that we employed an outdoor strategy through insights generated on where Men 15-30 were WAITING. The Xbox WAIT creative message was tailored to reflect specific WAIT environments…traffic jams, bus stops, train stationsIt’s a winner because not only was it highly insightful and innovative campaign but the results were phenomenal.

Universal McCann, through an understanding of the task at hand and Men 15-30, generated a simple yet highly impactful outdoor idea for the Xbox WAIT Campaign. This idea led to the development of numerous creative executions each tailoring the creative message with the specific outdoor environments.