KIA Gaming Campaign Drives Results

During one of the most challenging economic periods for carmakers, Kia sought a way to deepen engagement with their brand to a targeted demographic. Microsoft Advertising provided a rare advertising opportunity that combined mass audience, interaction and engagement in an environment that drove results.

The Challenge 
The carmaker set a goal to increase brand engagement with the Kia Soul while targeting a young male audience aged 18 to 34. They needed a way to break through the clutter of traditional advertising while immersing users in an HDTV entertainment experience.

The Creative Solution
Microsoft Advertising designed a multi-faceted campaign that engaged users through in-game ads in popular titles such as Guitar Hero, NBA LIVE, Skate 2 and MLB. The campaign included an event sponsorship on Xbox LIVE that enabled Kia to deliver free, highly relevant coverage from E3, the video game industry’s biggest event of the year.

The high-profile sponsorship also included a custom microsite on Xbox LIVE where gamers could download and stream Kia-branded content and enter for a chance to win a sweepstakes grand prize on Xbox LIVE. And for the first time, the audience could also win by texting a code that was broadcast through in-game ads.

The Results
Sweepstakes entries totaled more than 78,000 through in-game ad texting and Xbox LIVE downloadable gamer pics. There were 139,000 downloads of Kia-branded content shared among the 300 million friendship connections on Xbox LIVE. Event coverage click-through rates (CTR) averaged 13 percent, resulting in 63,225 minutes viewed of Kia pre-roll video. In-game ads were viewed for over 8,500 hours.

Conclusion
A comprehensive gaming solution of in-game ads combined with an Xbox LIVE campaign yielded excellent results. For almost every metric, lift scores were even higher for gamers exposed to Kia Soul ads in-game and on Xbox LIVE demonstrating the performance of Microsoft’s Xbox console advertising model. The results prove gamers value being reached in a relevant way complementary to their lifestyle.

To learn more about creating your own gaming campaign, contact your sales representative today.