A recent Pizza Pizza promotion that allowed consumers to order pizza directly within the Xbox environment, generated more than 1 million impressions over a two-month period. The campaign, which ran in February and March, marked the first time Canadian consumers could purchase an item on-screen after clicking an Xbox ad unit.
The ad promoted a dinner and a movie deal in partnership with Cineplex. By waving their hand, Xbox Kinect users could click on the ad, prompting a Pizza Pizza page explaining the offer to launch in a separate browser (Xbox 360 users without the gesture-based Kinect could simply click the ad using the controller). According to Microsoft, which owns Xbox, the ad delivered a click through rate of 0.5% and 10% of consumers who clicked on the ad made a purchase.
Pizza Pizza chief marketing officer Pat Finelli said the brand has been advertising on Xbox for more than five years, both through in-game ads appearing as billboards in hockey and racing games and through Microsoft’s inventory of Xbox display ads. This year Finelli said Pizza Pizza asked Microsoft how it could take it to the next level on the Xbox platform.
Finelli said he’s constantly looking for new, innovative ways to reach customers on interactive platforms, especially as people are spending less time with traditional media. “If they’re not listening to radio, television or print, [gaming] is what they do. You’ve got to be in that channel, whether it’s on an iPhone, an iPad or an Xbox game, to reach these people who are pizza-eating customers.”
Though Finelli declined to say how many purchases were made, he said the campaign delivered similar results to the online, display ads Pizza Pizza runs and that he intends to run the promotion again next year. “I was happy with one million impressions. That was very, very good for a campaign for the March period,” he said.
The introduction of Internet Explorer 9 to Xbox late last year created new opportunities for brands to include e-commerce in their Xbox initiatives, said Eyal Zilnik, Microsoft’s sales solutions executive for interactive advertising and gaming. “What that means for the consumer is that once you’ve peaked [their] interest, you’re not asking them to leave the device they’re currently on, the one that has excited that and has told them about the offer.”
“Instead of going to their PC or pulling out their phone or tablet, they click on a button on the ad unit and order it automatically. It’s all seamlessly integrated on the device they are on.”
In April Pizza Hut launched a similar initiative in the U.S., creating its own Xbox Live app that allows consumers to purchase food through their gaming console. Pizza Hut’s app, however, is a more long term play at targeting Xbox gamers. The brand’s app allows consumers to create repeat orders they can quickly purchase without having to leave the gaming environment.
