As Dunkin' Donuts, Hill Holliday and Discovery set out to create a virtual feeding frenzy of innovative social and interactive experiences to increase awareness of and drive deeper fan engagement with their multi-platform sponsorship of Shark After Dark (including a special donut!).
A first ever Xbox paid advertiser experience offered value to viewers by providing them additional exclusive Dunkin' Donuts/Shark Week content, and let viewers interact with social content right on their primary screen.
Callouts via social channels and banners prompted Xbox users to engage with this first-of-its-kind co-viewing experience. Through simple voice commands users tuned directly to Shark Week programming on Discovery, and 'snapped' their Internet Explorer browser window housing the companion digital experience to the right hand portion of their primary screen, (with the live programming still playing on the left). Viewers had access to exclusive content such as interactive quizzes, real time viewer polls, and a stream of the #SharkWeek social content, 'Take a Bite, Take a Pic' photo entries submitted by passionate Shark Week & Dunkin' Donuts fans. Content for the elements contained within the Snap experience was curated in real time by the team at HH to relate specifically to what was happening live on Discovery. There was also a built-in feature that allowed fans to download custom-branded shark wallpaper to their Xbox and a shark helmet prop for their Xbox 360 avatar.
Dunkin' Donuts sustained fan engagement beyond a :30 second TV commercial, in the living room, in store, on-the-go, and via digital channels.
This program pushed the boundaries of innovation by tapping into Microsoft's Xbox platform, which was a first ever experience from a paid advertiser.
Nearly 120K people engaged with the Xbox experience, spending an average of 13 minutes with the brand, while over 18K people opted in for more information on the DD Perks program.
The overall campaign increased key persuasion metrics; a 20 point lift in brand favorability and a 22 point lift in visit intent for the 18-49 audience. Those who participated in Dunkin' Donuts Shark Week partnership were also likely to complete other high value actions like visit a DD store (91%) or sign up for DD Perks Loyalty (88%).