XFINITY tapped BuzzFeed to activate hard-to-reach millennial university students to increase awareness and consideration of its products and services during key back-to-school timing. The goal was to highlight XFINITY as the ideal internet and cable provider for students moving to off-campus housing.
XFINITY partnered with the leading millennial publisher (BuzzFeed) to establish credibility with its consumers, drive cross-platform scale where students are naturally spending their time, and showcase how XFINITY's products and tech can fit into students' lives. Using data, insights, and editorial leanings, XFINITY and BuzzFeed developed a content strategy focusing on two key millennial themes: storytelling & utility.
BuzzFeed & XFINITY created a "hero" social video Parents and Kids Compare Their College Experiences that highlighted the influence of technology on the millennial generation's university experience versus that of their parents in generations past. The unscripted video cleverly related to college students and their parents to connect with key purchase decision makers on an emotional level, while organically showcasing the functionality of the X1 set-top box, XFINITY user-interface, voice remote capabilities, and entertainment offerings.
XFINITY also leveraged Nifty (one of BuzzFeed's top lifestyle/DIY platforms), to inspire students to incorporate XFINITY into their lives. They created 2 tips/hacks videos for university students hosting off-campus gatherings on a budget - "Movie Night Popcorn Bar" and "Themed Mason Jars." Each video leaned into the proven Nifty format, while featuring meaningful branding and product integrations to position XFINITY as the ultimate product that powers memorable and entertaining off-campus experiences.
Lastly, they created a portfolio of interactive articles and quizzes around XFINITY messaging that ladder up to the co-branded videos and campaign themes (Would You and Your Parents Be Besties In College, 11 Struggles Your Parents Had in College That You'll Never Know, and Take This Quiz and We'll Teach You a Useful College Hack).
All content was distributed across BuzzFeed O&O and key social media platforms (FB, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, etc.).
The campaign achieved viral cross-platform scale across college students, with 16.6M+ total content views, organically exceeding goals by over 4x. The campaign also broke engagement and brand interaction benchmarks - along with 200K total comments/like/shares, BuzzFeed drove thousands of direct click-throughs to XFINITY purchase pages. According to research, the content lifted XFINITY purchase intent by 3.3x industry benchmarks. It also decreased competitor consideration by over 10%. BuzzFeed also drove best-in-class lifts in opinion that "XFINITY makes it easier for me to do the things I love." In fact, 35% of consumers agreed that BuzzFeed's native videos were the best ads they've ever seen from XFINITY… and, thanks to this program, BuzzFeed continues to be one of XFINITY's highest drivers of sign-ups outside pure acquisition partners.
