Xbox

Driving European Sales

Online Ads Production Manager

Reimagined the digital production of over 20,000 online ads seasonally for Xbox Europe, promotion flagship games such as Halo, Gear of War, and Forza with a budget exceeding £10 million.

Challenge

In 2010, Xbox launched an aggressive digital marketing strategy across Europe to drive the growth of the Xbox 360 and secure its competitive edge against Sony and Nintendo.

Central to this effort was the success of first-party games, requiring an extensive digital advertising campaign to engage diverse audiences across the region. Meeting these objectives involved the creative design, production, and publishing of over 20,000 ads across key markets, languages, and digital channels. Each ad needed to resonate with local audiences while adhering to specific platform standards

Key challenges included:

Execution of High-Volume Campaigns
Thousands of ads needed to be published across multiple digital channels, including display networks, social media, and streaming platforms, to promote Xbox’s first-party games effectively.
Multi-Territory & Multi-Lingual Campaigns
Campaigns required localisation and cultural adaptation for Europe, ensuring relevance to regional audiences while maintaining consistent messaging and branding.
Diverse Platform & Publisher Requirements
Each platform had unique specifications for ad formats, sizes, behaviours, and compliance standards, requiring meticulous coordination to ensure all ads met technical and publisher requirements across Europe.

Response

AKQA, renowned for its award-winning digital campaigns for Xbox called upon Adeeb Khan to lead the orchestration of a bespoke production process that would simplify the production of complex Xbox advertising campaigns across Europe.

Transformation & Value Creation

A revolutionary structured and centralised process empowering Xbox to seamlessly meet the demands of multi-territory campaigns, ensuring timely delivery, unwavering consistency, and precise financial alignment.

Multi-Territory Campaigns
Successfully launched multi-lingual campaigns for major Xbox titles, including Gears of War 3, Halo 4, Forza Horizon, Kinect Sports, and Dance Central, delivering cohesive brand experiences across diverse European markets.
Streamlined Online Ads Orchestration
Architected and deployed a bespoke production system that centralised specifications, publisher standards, and ad server requirements, enhancing consistency and operational efficiency across European markets.
Campaign Reporting & Tracking
Implemented real-time reporting systems, providing actionable insights on campaign progress and significantly improving stakeholder transparency and accountability.
Financial Estimation & Monitoring
Developed tools for accurate financial estimation and real-time budget tracking, ensuring campaigns stayed financially aligned with Xbox’s objectives.
High-Quality Excellence
Spearheaded technical and QA processes to ensure seamless campaign launches, adhering to strict publisher standards and achieving consistency across languages and territories.
Production Leadership
Orchestrated the efforts of a 17-member cross-functional team, fostering collaboration across design, localisation, and technical domains to deliver high-impact campaigns on time and to specification.

Conclusion

This engagement reinforced Xbox’s digital presence across Europe, optimising the production and delivery of large-scale campaigns for first-party titles. Through a bespoke production framework, dynamic budget tracking, and rigorous quality assurance, the project achieved consistent, high-quality advertising across diverse markets. This structured approach enabled Xbox to effectively engage audiences and maintain a competitive edge in the European gaming industry.

Skills & Expertise

Strategic, leadership and technical competencies applied to this engagement.

  • Data & Insights
    • Data Analytics & Insights
  • Experience Design
    • Interaction Design (IxD)
    • Prototyping & Wireframing
  • Operations & Process Optimisation
    • Operating Models
    • Operational Performance & Reporting
    • Process Optimisation & Efficiency
    • Profit & Loss (P&L)
    • Project Management
    • Resource & Capacity Planning
    • Risk Management
    • Service Delivery & Performance Management
    • Workflow Automation
  • Sales & Marketing
    • Digital Marketing (SEO, Social Media, Email, PPC)
  • Technology
    • Front-End Frameworks
Platforms & Systems

Platforms, systems, and technologies involved.

  • Adobe Flash
  • Google DoubleClick