Turning a Visionary Idea Into a Sustainable Reality

At Prime 8, we find immense satisfaction in transforming our clients’ innovative ideas into realities. It’s even more satisfying when a concept takes on a life of its own — when our work helps ground a visionary achievement in long-term, sustainable processes.

That’s the experience we had supporting a very special partnership between Microsoft and the Special Olympics. Here’s an inside look at how we made it happen and how it illustrates the kind of partnership we develop with all of our clients.

The Challenge: Cultivating Brand Loyalty and Expanding Inclusivity With a Sustainable Model

For Prime 8, the challenge was to facilitate the needs of both partners: creating brand loyalty for Microsoft and to help Special Olympics expand their offerings and build greater inclusivity into their events. Their mutual goal was to take a visionary idea and build the framework for an annual event that could be staged with minimal effort.

Here’s a breakdown of the challenges involved in the project.

THE CHALLENGES FOR MICROSOFT

• Cultivating brand loyalty

• Identifying a technology-based solution that aligns with Special Olympics' goals and helps them reach a broader audience

• Building a sustainable partnership that empowers Special Olympics to continue making a positive impact beyond the event with or without Microsoft's involvement

THE CHALLENGES FOR SPECIAL OLYMPICS

• Expanding their offerings and becoming more inclusive to attract younger generations

• Finding new ways to engage people with intellectual disabilities who also have physical limitations 

• Adapting to the impact of COVID-19, which led to the cancellation of in-person events and social isolation for athletes

The Solution: A Perfect Partnership for an Epic Event

The solution to the challenges lay in the strategic collaboration among the key players: Microsoft, Special Olympics, and Prime 8. 

Microsoft’s extensive experience in making video gaming inclusive and accessible to all players, including those with disabilities, made them the ideal partner for the integration of gaming into the Special Olympics experience.

In 2018, Microsoft sponsored the U.S.A. Special Olympics games in Seattle. As a part of that sponsorship, one of the elements they brought to those games was an e-Sports gaming competition using the Xbox gaming platform. This initial gaming event garnered an outstanding response.

However, it was the unexpected turn of events in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of in-person events, that prompted a swift shift to virtual experiences. That’s where Prime 8 came in.

In response to the changing landscape, the Prime 8 consultant team in collaboration with the teams at Xbox and Special Olympics organized another successful event where all athletes competed in the iconic Forza car racing Xbox game. The enthusiastic reception and growing excitement from both organizations reinforced the need to formalize and expand the program, and Gaming for Inclusion was born.

Gaming for Inclusion aims to promote inclusivity and empowerment for people with both intellectual and physical disabilities by providing them with opportunities to engage in competitive gaming. 

Event planning consisted of three parts: 

Special Olympic Athlete Tournament: Special Olympic athletes compete against each other in an e-Sports gaming competition. The winners of this tournament proceed to the next stage.

Celebrity Showcase: The winners of the athlete tournament then compete with celebrity athletes, such as NFL players, WWE wrestlers, NBA and WNBA stars, among others. The celebrities participate as players in the gaming competition.

Shoutcaster Training Program: Special Olympic athletes were trained to become shoutcasters. Similar to sports announcers, shoutcasters provided commentary and analysis during the gaming competition. Three athletes were chosen to become shoutcasters at the games, where they sat with the professional shoutcasters from Xbox and shoutcast the live-streamed event. The program enhanced the overall experience of the event while it exposed the athletes to potential career paths in gaming.

PRIME 8’s ROLE

The Prime 8 consultant team was called in to:

• Coordinate logistics for all events

• Ensure effective communication and collaboration between Microsoft, Special Olympics, and other involved teams

• Develop and execute a marketing campaign to drive demand and attendance for the event

• Ultimately hand off event management responsibilities to the Xbox team and Special Olympics, while maintaining oversight as the lead strategist for the marketing campaign

The Results: Scaffolding for Sustainability

The results of this visionary project were extraordinary. The celebrity showcase event, with over 500,000 viewers tuning in, won the Corporate Community Impact Award at the 2021 Sports Humanitarian Awards presented by ESPN. 

With this project, Special Olympics achieved its objective of staying relevant and inclusive to a new generation, showcasing its mission of empowering individuals for a lifetime through sports. Planning for Gaming for Inclusion is underway for 2023 with intentions to make it an annual event. 

At the same time, Microsoft successfully demonstrated its commitment to helping nonprofits achieve more with technology. By providing a scalable and accessible gaming platform with XBox, it created a positive impact for Special Olympics, showcasing its commitment to fostering connections for people of all abilities.

Prime 8's role in achieving these results was pivotal. Our consultant successfully operationalized the core ideas, developing essential scaffolding and infrastructure to ensure the events' sustainability. By creating project plans, providing event naming and branding training, and preparing readiness materials, Prime 8 laid the foundation for a rinse-and-repeat approach. This allowed for future events to be executed efficiently, effectively managing costs and simplifying processes.

The end result was a remarkable achievement that has had a lasting impact. Prime 8's collaboration with Special Olympics and Microsoft exemplifies our commitment to turning visionary achievements into tangible, sustainable processes. 

As we aspire to achieve similar success with all our clients, this project serves as a shining example of how intelligent implementation and strategic partnerships can create positive, long-lasting impacts on diverse communities.

What Can Prime 8 Do for You?

Are you looking to build the strengths and sustainable processes that will take your organization into the future? Talk to Prime 8 about how we can collaborate with you to base visionary achievements on sustainable processes. Connect with us to discuss your vision today.