Microsoft Bing was a late entry to a search engine marketplace dominated by a major competitor. Searchers were so conditioned to use our competitor that our competitor’s brand name had become synonymous with the entire search category. Consumers were aware of the Bing brand name but did not see how Bing was any different or better than their current search experience.
Rather than seek out alternatives, it was much easier for consumers to fall into their auto-pilot behaviour and just search the way they always have. This challenge is even more pronounced during the holiday time period. Not only is it a high stakes time of year that sees the heaviest volume of searching, but it is incredibly difficult to cut through the barrage of holiday clutter. This was especially true among Millenials, who are the right consumer for Bing because they want a more personalised and social search experience but they are quite elusive when trying to reach with a traditional brand message.
The brand needed a compelling vehicle to deliver consumers the message that Bing’s uniquely personal experience would help them make holiday decisions quickly so they can spend more time celebrating the holiday season.
At the core of this holiday campaign were four custom videos which featured beloved characters from the 47 year old holiday special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Since Bing did not have an ad agency on roster, we worked directly with one of the only stop-motion production companies that works with the Rudolph license holders and together, crafted unforgettable scenarios that had Bing search at the heart of each story.
One story features Bumble the Abominable Snowman using Bing to learn a fearsome roar so he can properly scare Santa’s elves. Another depicts Rudolph characters using Bing to find suggestions on where to vacation, leading them to a getaway on the Island of Misfit Toys. Two additional spots featuring Rudolph characters rounded out the campaign and depicted the personalized search experience that Bing was trying to convey.
The four spots took about six weeks to produce, during which time the production company, fabricated the puppets and developed the look and feel of the sets, all on spec with the traditional “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” character and environment expectations. Creative touches included collaborating with Bing on developing the scenarios, specialty snow, and building puppet costumes that employed tiny working buckles and shoelaces. Animation of the puppets required the animators to work on twos instead of animating on every frame, in order to achieve the Rankin/Bass “charming style”. The average number of frames shot per day was equal to about one and a half seconds of onscreen performance per animator.
Results
Cinema placements were shown prior to holiday films in more than 245 theatres (nearly 3,000 screens)
Seeded the videos online through paid media and Microsoft owned assets (YouTube, Facebook, MSN) Over 18 million paid media impressions of this unique content contributed to a strong wave of owned and earned media.
Consumers sought out and shared these videos at an amazing rate with 4.6 million views (110 index vs. goal), 600 million of which were earned.
The videos helped spark a public relations wildfire that resulted in over 110 media outlets running news stories with an average Prime index of 130 vs. the 100 average (Prime is a Microsoft measure of public relations impact).
The videos were a significant driver of Bing buzz during the Holiday season, with over 7,000 earned media mentions. Social sentiment for the campaign was uncharacteristically positive (39% vs. 10% typically seen for Bing).
Lastly, the campaign delivered on conveying “Why Bing?” and in differentiating Bing search – key brand perception as a ‘decision engine’ was up four percentage points over control, one of the strongest increases to date in a largely flat metric.