Ad Effectiveness
Ad Effectiveness Study
Case
XboxStudy:
360
Xbox 360
Taco Bell revs up
Xbox LIVE® appetites
Marketing challenge
The Xbox LIVE audience can always ‘refuel’ with a quick and
tasty bite as they go about their days of gaming adventure.
Taco Bell, with its’ menu of mouthwatering meal options,
wanted to drive awareness and sales in Canada. They turned to
the Xbox LIVE platform to reach their target customers and
provide them unique opportunities to engage with the brand.
Solution
The Taco Bell team designed a Branded Destination Experience
(BDE) on Xbox LIVE where gamers could:
 Locate a Taco Bell store,
 Watch exclusive content - videos changed every week
including a Halo 4 tie in,
 Download themes and avatar props,
 Enter the ‘Get a pin to win’ sweepstakes
The first prize winners took home a custom purple Xbox 360
console with Kinect. Other prizes included the Halo 4 game,
4000 Xbox LIVE points, Kinect Sports: Season 2 and 100 Xbox
LIVE points.
The campaign flight was from July 2 - September 4, 2012 and
included Xbox.ca and MSN.CA.
Additional media support
Taco Bell also ran Banner and Video ads on online sites like
YouTube, WWE among others. Through Facebook ads, fans and
users could share the promotional details with their friends and
comment on prizes won. And their Television creative
integrated Xbox games and images from Halo 4 (and other
Avatar items); 30 and :15 second spots were used to promote
the drive to store and that Taco Bell can bring customers over
12,000 prizes from Xbox.
“Taco Bell is a bold, renegade brand that’s firmly immersed as a
pop-culture icon. To be successful, it was essential that we created
a custom experience that would delight, engage and reward Taco
Bell fans within the Xbox LIVE community,” explains David Vivenes,
CMO, Taco Bell Canada. The challenge of unlocking secret clues
and points to earn Taco Bell food rewards, custom Taco Bell
branded Xbox consoles, Taco Bell gifts – and even sneak previews
of upcoming blockbuster games, all created a spirited, salesdriving promotion that brought the marketing hot sauce and
reflected the essence of our brand.”
Ad Effectiveness Case Study: Xbox 360
Results
The overall campaign delivered 17.5 million impressions and
there were close to 44,000 PIN entries. The time spent in the
BDE averaged 3 minutes 16 seconds which exceeds the
Canadian average.
The campaign produced excellent lifts across key brand metrics
such as recommendation and consideration. And most
importantly, lifts in store visitation.
The Taco Bell creative was well-liked, 84 percent of those who
recalled them thought “the ads looked cool” while 79 percent
agreed “the ads fit well within Xbox LIVE.” These ad diagnostics
results are the highest observed to date in international
research.
The BDE generated excitement and engagement. One-third of
those that recalled the ads clicked on them. The main draw for
click-through was cited as the ‘Get a pin to win’ sweepstakes’
though the Halo 4 videos were the more frequently used
feature.
 Positive change in opinion also translated into lifts in
consideration and recommendation: 60 percent more of
those who recalled the ad said they would “definitely” or
“probably” consider purchasing the brand and 88 percent
more said they would “definitely” or “probably”
recommend the brand to others.
The campaign also increased agreement with all of the Taco
Bell’s key brand attributes. The largest lifts came around the
statements “Has ads I can relate to”, “Is a brand I trust”, “Is a
brand for people like me” and “Serves quality food”.
Nearly 40 percent reported taking a post ad action; 14 percent
visited the restaurant and 11 percent visited to obtain the PIN,
the net restaurant visits were from 22 percent of viewers.
Post-ad actions
14%
11%
14%
14%
Told friends
about Taco Bell
ads on Xbox
LIVE
Went online to
find more info
on Taco Bell
12%
BDE activities of Taco Bell campaign viewers
40%
Watched the Taco
Bell Halo 4 TV spot
34%
Entered the PIN
received at a Taco
Bell restaurant to
enter the instant
win contest
26%
Used location finder
to find a nearby
Taco Bell
17%
Downloaded
exclusive Taco Bell
theme
Most Xbox LIVE users interacted with the BDE using the
controller (83 percent), though one-in-five (17 percent) used
only gestures and/or voice commands.
The campaign resonated well with the Xbox LIVE audience
which was reflected in consistent and positive shifts on key
brand metrics, including:
 Unaided awareness saw a lift of 65 percent proving the ads
kept the brand on people’s minds.
 Store visitation – Those who recalled the Taco Bell ad on
Xbox LIVE were more likely to have visited Taco Bell in the
past three months (51 percent past three month visits, vs.
30 percent among the non-recall group).
 Exposure to Taco Bell’s Xbox LIVE ads led to significantly
more positive opinions of the brand. Twenty-six percent of
those who recalled the ad reported Taco Bell was “very
good” or “excellent.” This resulted in a phenomenal 117
percent lift over the non-recall group.
Visited a Taco
Bell restaurant
Visited a Taco
Bell restaurant
to obtain a PIN
for contest
Visited Taco
Bell Facebook
page
Conclusion
The Taco Bell campaign on Xbox LIVE drove interest in their
brand, further solidified their brand attributes and best of all led
people to action. They engaged with their ads, were more open
to consider the brand and many visited the restaurant.
Research Methodology
Xbox LIVE worked with Ipsos ASI, to recruit 400 male and female
Xbox LIVE members aged 18–49. Both test and control groups
were fielded simultaneously while the campaign was live. Group
assignment was determined by recall, those that recalled the ad
on a self-reported basis were placed into the test group, and
those who did not recall the ad were placed in control group.
Recall was tested by showing respondents a screenshot of the
exact creative running on Xbox Live. Each group answered an
online questionnaire that measured their awareness, opinions,
and engagement with the brand. Analysis and ad effectiveness
evaluation was conducted by comparing Xbox LIVE members
who recalled seeing the ads to those who were in control group.
In addition, engagement and post ad activities were measured
by using only those that recalled the ad.
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