A simple question: "Why do you play Xbox?". A simple hashtag: #WhyIGame. A simple strategy: Develop video, art, and copy that speak to the shared experiences and emotions around gaming, then use that to drive conversation around Xbox One. Result? Our little hashtag garnered over 38,000 mentions...
There are millions of conversations happening every day about gaming—just look at how fast /r/ gaming moves. Or the comments on a fresh YouTube post. People love to talk about how they game, how to do it better, how it affects them, how it infects them, and that "want" is an energy source that's waiting to be tapped.
Enter Ayzenberg, Xbox, and the #WhyIGame tag.
We started by capturing a series of videos with random Comic-Con show-goers. Each time, we asked them "Why do you game?" and each time we got a different answer. Except the answers weren't so different after the tenth or twelfth interview.
"I play for the escape."
"I like exploring new worlds."
"It just feels good to win."
When we got back to Seattle and Los Angeles, respectively, we got to work on expanding those sentiments. We built out posts about the gaming experience and shaped it toward the Xbox gaming experience. "I like exploring new worlds" became "I like exploring new worlds on Xbox" or "I like exploring new worlds, like Albion."
With Ayzenberg's continued guidance, the conversation was slowly shifting from #WhyIGame to "Why I game on Xbox."
Planned, resonant posts kept conversation stoked over 6 months.
And by the conclusion of the campaign, the #WhyIGame tag had been used over 38,000 times.
