Lionsgate Promotes Film Release with Xbox LIVE Campaign

Seeking to promote the release of its new action thriller, Lionsgate Films turned to the power of gaming with a unique and relevant Xbox LIVE ad campaign.

The Challenge
Seeking to build brand awareness and drive ticket sales for the release of its action thriller, "Punisher: War Zone," among the young, male gaming audience aged 18-34, Lionsgate Films needed to come up with creative way of reaching this elusive demographic.

The Creative Solution
Lionsgate Films turned to the power of gaming, where it could message to an engaged audience while providing high-definition, immersive content. In collaboration with Xbox LIVE, Lionsgate designed an ad campaign that leveraged the film's action thriller content through rich-media ads, branded themes, gamer pics and videos.

The Results
The campaign produced the following results:

• Purchase intent saw increases as high as 70 percent.
• Ad recall as high as 59 percent and a 135 percent lift in unaided brand recall.
• Tying the Xbox brand to the campaign elevated brand perception by 61 percent.
• The ad drove 68 percent of survey respondents to visit the sponsored area of the Xbox LIVE campaign, resulting in over 127,000 downloads of the film's content.

Xbox LIVE commissioned a study with Interpret Research to recruit 800 gamers, who were then divided into two groups: a control group (white) and a test group (green). The control group was not exposed to the campaign, whereas the test group had the opportunity to be exposed to the campaign. Both groups answered an online questionnaire that measured their awareness and opinions of the brand. Gamers who saw the ads said that the presence of the ads:

Xbox LIVE delivers strong brand awareness and drives impressive purchase intent for opening weekend ticket sales. In addition, brand association with Xbox LIVE campaigns elevates the value of the film in the eyes of gamers and influences them to see the film in theaters.
 
To find out how an Xbox LIVE campaign can increase your sales, contact your sales representative today.