Microsoft Advertising Case Study

Microsoft partners with the Ad Council and TEACH

Marketing ChallengeThe Ad Council and TEACH, an initiative dedicated to

recruiting one million top performing students into the

profession, aimed to elevate the national perception of

teaching and inspire today’s top performing Millennials to

consider a career path in education.

Never far from their screens and always connected, this

audience can be a challenge to reach, as they tend to be

more fickle and have shorter attention spans compared to

other generations. They are big multi-screeners, toggling

between devices throughout the day. According to

Forrester, 83% of Millennials say they multi-screen

(compared to 56% for non-Millennials*).

Solution

Custom Rich Format on Windows 8

The innovative nature of Windows 8 and the significant presence of Millennials, seamlessly brought the important TEACH message to life. An immersive custom experience on Windows 8 Xbox Apps included an expandable ad that both educated the user about TEACH.org and drove home the message that teaching is a profession on the move and is a more fulfilling career choice than ever before. Users were able to take a personality quiz that identifies their passions and encourages them to consider becoming a teacher in a subject that aligns with their interests. Users were also challenged to play games, including a tangram and word scramble, which tested their logic and problem-solving skills – skills necessary to be a great teacher. In addition, there were multiple opportunities to watch PSAs and other videos from the TEACH.org website.

Windows 8 and Xbox 360 Multi-Screen Case Study

Microsoft delivered a high-impact, multi-screen initiative to drive engagement for Make More,

a public service advertising (PSA) campaign created by the Ad Council and TEACH to elevate

the perception of teaching and recruit the best and brightest into the profession.

A multi-screen campaign across Microsoft platforms was

the perfect combination to connect with Millennials and

rebrand teaching as an innovative, fulfilling career. The

campaign included a series of interactive ad experiences

across Microsoft platforms – where Millennials are already

actively engaged throughout the day. To kick-off this pro-

bono partnership, Microsoft donated over 125 million

impressions across Xbox 360, Windows 8, and MSN.

of millennials say they multi-screen*

Xbox LIVE

On the Xbox LIVE platform, Xbox NUads provided deep engagement via gesture, voice or controller experiences. Users viewed the TEACH PSAs and were prompted with an interactive quiz relating to the content of the PSA, answering questions such as, “What was the first thing you wanted to be when you grew up?”

83%

Results:

The multi-screen campaign across Microsoft’s digital

platforms successfully delivered the TEACH campaign

message to a specific target audience in an extremely

authentic way. The ability to reach Millennials within their

preferred environments translated directly into engagement

with the content.

Results were impressive for the Windows 8 for Xbox

experience:

• Expansion rate: 5x higher than norms**

• CTR (from expansion to web): 1.9%

The Xbox NUads piece also reported tremendous results with

a 64% vote rate in the quiz (of those who engaged with the

poll to view possible responses, almost 64% voted).

• 100% video complete (average video length :60+): 31%

The multi-screen campaign across Microsoft’s digital

platforms successfully impacted this audience of potential

educators, engaging young adults while supporting an

important cause.

of those who saw the

Windows 8 ad took

further action

40%

Source: *Forrester 2013, **Microsoft Internal Xbox for Windows data January 2014-March 2014

About Microsoft Advertising

Microsoft Advertising provides advertisers, publishers, and developers with cross-platform opportunities to create meaningful customer engagement

across the Microsoft devices and services people love, including Windows, Windows Phone, Xbox, Skype, Bing, Outlook.com and MSN. This document is

for informational purposes only. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied in this summary.

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