The global pandemic forced us to wipe the calendar clean of all our physical events, indefinitely. As these events served as an essential channel for our thought leadership, brand evangelism, and client/partner relations, we had to quickly find a solution to replace them. It was a massive challenge.

We knew that this solution had to be virtual, but we didn’t want another webinar. We wanted to promote our brand, but we didn’t want another sales pitch. We wanted to create something new, something bold. It needed to help us maintain a connection with our clients and hopefully make some new friends who might not even know about Microsoft Advertising. After a while, we realized we were talking about a SHOW. And so The Download was born.

Our creative goals in developing The Download were to produce a show that:

• Is easy to access from anywhere, on any device, published on channels that foster interactivity

• Helps marketers adapt in an ever-changing environment

• Features marketing content as “infotainment” driven by data

• Tells stories of diversity and inclusivity and shines a light on underrepresented communities

All the behind-the-scenes producers and on-camera contributors to the show are actual Microsoft Advertising employees, not paid talent. This is by design, as it adds to the authenticity of the show and the content development. This is a show for marketers, produced by marketers.

Our strategic objectives were to:

• Create a new storytelling medium outside of in-person events

• Reach and engage with our existing audience of clients, brand marketers and partners across our agency, technology, channel, and supply partner ecosystems

• Reach and engage with brands and advertisers who had not yet discovered Microsoft Advertising

We identified two key narrative themes we wanted to guide the editorial process for each episode:

• Purpose – allowing us to explore themes of inclusion, sustainability, values, diversity, accessibility, and social good

• Unconventional Thinking – highlighting disruption, risk-taking, new markets, innovation, experimentation, and problem-solving

The Download is a magazine style show composed of individual segments. Some examples:

• THE BOT is a crash course in search marketing strategy

• LEVEL UP offers tips & tactics for Digital Marketers

• OPEN PERSPECTIVES drives provocative discussions on Inclusion & Purpose

• THE BIG INTERVIEW is a Q&A with visionaries from the business world

• INSIGHTS provides data-informed Consumer Trend Reports

Each episode begins with a COLD OPEN that establishes the episode’s theme and turns up our creative ambition to engage and entertain our audience.

We developed a sonic identity for The Download (because we hate canned Muzak!), with an original theme song for the show – a modern, energetic, memorable track designed to reflect our global team and audience and set an exciting tone. The lyric “what you want, when you want it” is a nod to the “always on” content we offer to our audiences!

12 episodes over two seasons

997K+ total views

1.6M impressions

12.8K likes

36% of viewers have senior job titles across Marketing, IT, Internet Services, Financial Services, Retail

Audience makeup: 37% 18-24, 36% 25-34

Our top global markets: New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, London, Paris, Berlin, Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Sydney

YoY results from season one to season two:

49%+ in average views per episode

420%+ in likes

46%+ in comments

39%+ in engagement

9%+ in watch time

The Download earns 120x more views than the average of the entire Microsoft Advertising channel

Sample comments:

“A must-watch for everyone in Marketing or Business Strategy. We really enjoyed the Inclusive Marketing interview.”

“Best show about advertising that doesn’t feel like advertising.”

“I think it’s great that Microsoft has this show. It’s fun to watch and I always take away many tips and ideas.”