This month, Microsoft unveiled its latest ad formats for its Windows 8 operating system. In this blog post, Stephen Ki, Vice President for Global Agencies & Accounts at Microsoft Advertising, looks at the latest Windows 8 in-app ad camapigns, from brands including All Saints clothing, Mercedes-Benz USA, Vans Shoes, MasterCard and Dell.
Brand: Microsoft, All Saints clothing, Mercedes-Benz USA, Vans Shoes, MasterCard and Dell | Sector: Clothing, Finance, Computing | Country: US | Partner/agency: Microsoft | Objective: brand awareness, consideration and purchase | Format: Mobile, Display, Video
Agency: BMB
Brand: All Saints
Publisher: Vice
This prototype created by BMB fuses the hip and edgy brand identity of All Saints clothing with the beautiful aesthetics of a traditional fashion shoot or TV spot. Within the Windows 8 app, the user is presented with a range of different perspectives on a decadent, Byzantine banqueting scene. On clicking, a full screen window opens up with 180 degree scrolling screen that reveals all of the bohemian guests – including artists and musicians – modelling items from the latest All Saints clothing range. The scene juxtaposes elegant photography in the foreground with a dark, lush background, oozing chic and style. For added cool, the sound effects follow the scrolling screen, moving from the left earphone to the right and vice-versa inline with the ad’s motion. ‘Hot spots’ – represented by All Saints’ skull logo – encourage deeper exploration and a path to purchase.
Agency: Razorfish
Brand: Mercedes-Benz USA
Publisher: Top Gear
Mercedes-Benz USA was looking for a creative way to bridge the gap between the January announcement of the Mercedes CLA, a new model targeting a younger demographic, and the vehicle going on sale in September. To reach this audience, Mercedes engaged with director and social star Casey Neistat to create a series of films and a TV spot, which will air in the fall. To keep the CLA top of mind, we worked with Razorfish to create an engaging experience that takes advantage of how Casey is documenting his creative process using social platforms. This new execution seamlessly aggregates and arranges real-time content from multiple social channels (Instagram, Facebook and YouTube) to create an interactive, immersive and shareable narrative to keep consumers interested and engaged until the model is available in the fall.
Agency: Rooster Worldwide
Brand: Vans Shoes
Publisher: Skype
Vans is a brand known for youthful and creative self-expression. Working with Vans and Rooster Worldwide, we built a concept campaign on Skype that takes advantage of Skype’s unique ability to connect people in rich ways. The concept would give two Skype callers the ability to simultaneously design a Vans-branded skateboard park while they’re on a Skype video call together. As a reward, the Skype callers are taken on a video ride of their park with a Vans Pro skater. The park also becomes a landing page for Vans to merchandise its latest shoes and show video recaps of Vans Pros in action. Skype users could then share the Vans content and videos with their friends.
Agency: UM
Brand: MasterCard
Publisher: Bing Travel
The MasterCard Priceless Cities campaign allows cardholders to access curated dining, entertainment, travel and sport experiences. By collaborating with MasterCard and UM, we developed a Windows 8 in app solution designed to encourage consumers to tap into the Priceless website using their mobile devices. The unique experience leverages contextual data to ensure the Priceless offers are relevant and based on location, user input and the content within the app. Through the multi-touch ad unit, users can choose their customized Priceless Cities experience – before a full screen takeover allows for further exploration into their personal offers.
Agency: VML
Brand: Dell
Publisher: Bing Sports
Dell wanted to bring to life the many ways its supercomputers, storage technology and data management power the world around us. The company’s partnership with the Caterham Formula 1 racing team provides a compelling angle to tell Dell’s innovation story. Through this ad experience, consumers can virtually enter a 3D control room for the Caterham team. In the 360-degree control room, consumers can explore via touch, mouse or rotating their tablet and see how data effects the performance of the race car. Gameplay enhances the experience as users can adjust the race car’s ride height, rear wing angle and tire pressure, then test run the race track and share their results via their social networks.
