Xbox's '24 Days of Christmas' campaign boosted holiday sales and brand awareness using programmatic buying and innovative multi-channel strategies.
The holiday season is a high-stakes period for brands, and for Xbox, it presents a prime opportunity to tap into the spirit of gift-giving with its iconic gaming consoles. Penquin's recent programmatic media buying campaign, titled "Unwrap Adventure," was designed to maximise Xbox’s holiday sales and visibility, targeting a wide audience through an array of digital and traditional media channels. With a budget of R4 million and a one-month campaign duration, the objective was clear: create brand awareness around the '24 Days of Christmas' microsite, which introduced an emotive, nostalgia-driven advent calendar to resonate with audiences and engage them through gamification. The microsite also included a competition mechanic, encouraging participants to spin or scratch a bauble to win daily prizes and enter a raffle for the grand prize of an Xbox Series S console. Additionally, the campaign aimed to drive sales with a strategically timed price drop promotion for Xbox consoles, introduced after 10 December.
This case study explores Penquin's approach, from identifying the campaign’s core challenges to deploying an innovative, programmatic strategy across multiple touchpoints, which ultimately helped Xbox cut through the holiday noise and reach its target audience.
The primary challenge for Xbox during the festive season was to effectively target a broad, diverse audience that was constantly on the move. With holidaymakers, shoppers, and commuters spread across various environments, Xbox needed a strategy that could penetrate multiple channels and resonate with an audience already bombarded by seasonal advertising. The campaign aimed to:
Drive brand awareness for Xbox and establish its consoles, namely the Xbox Series X and Series S consoles, as a top gift choice.
Generate excitement for the '24 Days of Christmas' microsite, which featured an online advent calendar designed to evoke nostalgia and drive engagement through gamification and competition. The site aimed to foster festive excitement with daily interactive activities, prizes, and an overall grand prize raffle.
Promote a price drop for the Xbox Series X and Series S consoles to encourage retail sales.
This challenge required a solution as multifaceted as the audience itself—one that could track consumer behaviours, strategically target high-traffic areas, and deliver compelling visuals that would stay top-of-mind throughout the holiday period.
To meet these ambitious goals, Penquin employed a robust programmatic media buying strategy, tapping into advanced data analytics and retargeting techniques to enhance reach and relevance. The strategy was not limited to standard banner ads; instead, it leveraged a full spectrum of advertising channels to reach consumers wherever they were—whether at a mall, commuting, or enjoying seasonal TV content. The key components included:
- In-Mall Media Screens: These screens were placed strategically in high-traffic shopping areas, namely those that already had high-performing and flagship stores for Xbox sales with high foot traffic. these screens offered prime exposure to shoppers already in a purchasing mindset. Creative, holiday-themed visuals promoted both the "24 Days of Christmas" microsite and Xbox’s special price drop, with screens positioned near gaming stores, food courts, and popular sections of the malls.
- Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) Billboards: DOOH ads displayed dynamic content that was rotated regularly to maintain freshness and adapt to changing campaign needs Crucially, we used a strategic approach to the placement of these billboards. We selected sites along routes to our high-performing stores and high-traffic areas to maximise visibility. The goal was to subconsciously expose customers to the price drop on their way to the mall, keeping Xbox top of mind and putting them in a purchasing mindset. Through programmatic buying, the ads delivered holiday-themed messaging and pricing promotions to high-traffic areas, allowing for impactful messaging that reached consumers on the go.
- Static Roadside Billboards: Traditional static billboards were selected for strategic locations along well-trafficked routes, delivering consistent messaging for Xbox and reinforcing the holiday campaign. Programmatic techniques helped to optimise placements, targeting specific demographics with tailored messages to maximise recall and influence purchase behaviour.
- Citilite Rotational Billboards: The Citilite billboard network included 57 sites nationwide, rotated for maximum coverage. We used Citilites as a cost-effective solution to achieve maximum reach and nationwide coverage. This approach also provided flexibility, allowing us to target a large audience in Johannesburg before the holiday season and then shift the campaign to holiday destinations, ensuring we consistently reached our audience. Additionally, the strategy included a staggered rollout of Xbox’s festive pricing. The campaign began with generic holiday messaging, building excitement and engagement in the first week, before spontaneously introducing the price drop after 10 December. This tactical timing ensured the price promotion hit during the peak holiday shopping period, further driving interest and sales Through programmatic buying, these billboards were refreshed frequently to keep the holiday messaging timely and relevant, ensuring that Xbox’s “Unwrap Adventure” promotion reached as many holiday shoppers as possible.
- Radio: We leveraged radio advertising as part of this campaign to drive awareness and encourage listeners to visit our online advent calendar, increasing engagement and boosting entries into our competition.
- Microsite Advent Calendar: The advent calendar on the microsite offered a daily interactive feature where users could spin or scratch a virtual bauble to reveal prizes. This mechanic enhanced engagement by combining the excitement of discovery with the chance to win daily prizes, while also entering participants into the overall raffle for an Xbox Series S console. This approach not only engaged the audience but also strengthened their emotional connection with the Xbox brand during the festive season
- Expresso TV Show Placement: The campaign extended to television with a feature on the popular Expresso morning show, which included product placements and a live unwrapping of an Xbox console. This appearance gave Xbox a unique, personal connection with viewers, adding an element of festive excitement and exclusivity.
By coordinating these diverse elements, Penquin was able to create a cohesive, omnichannel campaign that brought the "Unwrap Adventure" message to life, enhancing Xbox’s visibility across multiple consumer touchpoints and generating excitement around the holiday promotion.
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The Xbox festive campaign yielded impressive results that underscored the power of a targeted, programmatic approach to media buying:
- Brand Awareness: The high level of exposure achieved across multiple channels created a robust brand presence for Xbox..The '24 Days of Christmas' microsite saw high engagement rates as users interacted with the gamified advent calendar, uncovering daily prizes and entering the raffle for the Xbox Series S console. This gamification element created a buzz around the Xbox brand, making the holiday experience both memorable and exciting for participants.
- Sales Growth: The campaign’s focus on Xbox’s holiday price drop promotion drove consumers to retail partners, resulting in a measurable uplift in Xbox console sales during the festive season. The programmatic media buying strategy allowed for targeted reach, successfully guiding holiday shoppers through the customer journey from awareness to conversion.
In-Mall Screens proved highly effective in capturing the attention of holiday shoppers. Their placement in high-traffic zones increased Xbox’s visibility among consumers in a purchasing mindset, directly influencing buying behavior at the point of sale.
DOOH and Citilite Billboards delivered dynamic messaging that aligned with consumers’ schedules, reaching audiences in a timely and relevant manner, while static billboards consistently reinforced the holiday message.
The Expresso TV Show appearance gave Xbox exposure to a national audience, with the product placement generating added excitement and brand engagement during the festive period.
This comprehensive approach, powered by programmatic technology, delivered an agile, responsive campaign that aligned with consumer behaviour throughout the holiday season, maximising reach and impact.
The Xbox Festive Campaign successfully achieved its objectives, positioning Xbox as the ultimate holiday gift and driving meaningful results. By leveraging a mix of data-driven targeting and creative versatility, Penquin was able to make Xbox’s festive promotions stand out across multiple media channels. Notable impacts included:
Enhanced Brand Perception: The campaign positioned Xbox as a must-have holiday gift, reinforcing its brand image as a leader in the gaming space.
Consumer Engagement: High engagement rates across the "24 Days of Christmas" microsite demonstrated the campaign’s effectiveness in drawing consumers into the Xbox holiday experience, encouraging repeat visits and sustained interaction with the brand.
Agility and Responsiveness: The use of programmatic media buying allowed Penquin to adjust the campaign dynamically, aligning content with consumer preferences and market conditions, which ultimately optimised reach and boosted campaign efficacy.
Through this integrated, programmatic approach, Penquin enabled Xbox to establish a strong, memorable brand presence during one of the busiest shopping periods of the year.
The Xbox Festive Campaign is a testament to the power of programmatic media buying in holiday marketing. With a one-month duration and a budget of R4 million, Penquin delivered a strategically coordinated, multi-channel campaign that drove both brand awareness and sales growth for Xbox. By understanding and capitalising on holiday consumer behaviours, Penquin used a range of media channels—including in-mall screens, DOOH and Citilite billboards, and TV product placements—to reach Xbox’s target audience wherever they were during the season.
This case study demonstrates how programmatic media buying can bring flexibility, precision, and impact to holiday marketing campaigns, effectively bridging the gap between digital and traditional advertising. For brands like Xbox, adopting such a dynamic approach during critical periods can elevate the brand experience, drive measurable results, and ultimately deliver a memorable, engaging campaign that resonates with consumers long after the holidays have ended.
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