Webbed Wonders

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Equal parts powerful messaging and creative execution gird this BBC spot promoting SuperPower, a series looking at the history of the internet. Watch it at YouTube.

‘Wackiest Viral Marketing Campaigns’

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Writing for ABC News, Dalia Fahmy compiles a short list of wacky viral video campaigns from Geico, Blendtec blenders, Stride gum, Long John Silver restaurants, MSI computers, and possibly Reebok. With the latter, apparently recent videos of star athletes working out naked, one of which got air time on ABC’s own Jimmy Kimmel Live, are turning out to be a sneaky sneaker campaign. Check it out at ABC News.

Where The Money Goes For MMO Games

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Industry Gamers features data released by Gamesindustry.com from its Today’s Gamers MMO Focus report. The study breaks down how MMO gamers in the US, UK, France, Germany and Benelux territories spend their money, in a market estimated at $4.7 billion in 2009.  Industry Games features two graphs worth of data along with a link to the full report. Check it out at Industry Gamers.

Analyst Report Projects PS3 Will Beat Wii

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Strategy Analytics Connected Home Devices has projected that Sony PlayStation 3 will catch up in sales to win this game console cycle, eventually beating current leader Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Xbox 360. Industry Gamers reports on data released by the firm from its report Taming the Waves: Games Console Life Cycles and Platform Competition. The report says PS3 will benefit from being a viable console five years after Nintendo has released a successor to Wii. It forecasts lifetime global sales for PS3 will ultimately reach 127 million units, with the system along with rival HD console Xbox 360 both maintaining growth until sometime between 2012 and 2014. In comparison, the report expects Wii sales to peak next year, and for the system to ultimately sell 103 million units worldwide over its lifetime. For this year, Strategy Analytics has projected console sales will dip by nine percent to 47 million units. It projects sales between the three current generation consoles to break down as 17.5 million units for Wii, 14 million for PS3 and 10.5 million for Xbox 360, with legacy system PlayStation 2 adding 5.5 million units. Strategy Analytics principal analyst David Mercer, who authored the report, said 2011 will be the year when new systems will need to be introduced to maintain category growth. But he added that traditional volatility in the cyclic console market may be moderating as platforms add home entertainment and social networking services.

Modern Warfare Ad Agency Handed Guitar Hero Account

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Activision has forgone an official agency review in handing over its Guitar Hero account to TBWA/Chiat/Day, reports Ad Age. Activision chief creative officer Brad Jakeman said the decision was principally based on the outstanding work TBWA did for the Call of Duty sequel Modern Warfare 2. The game’s campaign has become one of the biggest entertainment launches of all time. Guitar Hero creative was being handled by Crispin Porter & Bogusky, the agency responsible for the string of star-studded Risky Business spoof spots for games from the series including Guitar Hero 5 and Band Hero. Activision’s media buyer Mediaedge:cia is unaffected by the transition. Ad Age says Activision spent $84 million on advertising in the US in 2009, $5 million more than the year prior. The publisher’s account is now expected to be split between TBWA handling Call of Duty and Guitar Hero titles while a second agency, Droga 5, handles the rest. Read more at Ad Age.

Tweet While Racing, Legally

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Game maker Bizarre Creations, the studio responsible for Microsoft’s Project Gotham Racing, Geometry Wars, and the upcoming title Blur, has turned white hot on social media. MCV reports that the studio is integrating Twitter functionality into Blur, a multi-console racing game being released by Activision this May. Bizarre Creations studio head Ben Ward said the game will have a web API built into it that transmits in-game messages as XML feeds for web sites to post. With Twitter integration, users can opt to have messages they transmit in-game show up as Tweets online. Ward said Blur is the first game to have this level of social network integration. He also called social media a view to the future of marketing, citing its ability to get a game title massive exposure and spread product messaging through word-of-mouth as having advantage over traditional marketing and PR. Read more at MCV.

Godly Sum For God Of War Development

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God of War maker Sony Santa Monica has put a godly price on developing the upcoming sequel in the series for PlayStation 3. Edge-Online reports that the studio s director of product development John Hight pegged the price of making God of War III at $44 million. Hight revealed the sum in an interview with Giant Bomb, saying that it was right within budget. Edge-Online says much of the spend went towards growing the team to more than four times the number of developers who worked on the original God of War for PlayStation 2. Read more at Edge-Online.

Oscar Night Recap

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If you missed the Oscars last night, ABC and the Academy Awards are recapping the winners along with some highlight video clips at the awards web site. Check it out at Oscars.com.

Fave Film Taglines, Per Adweek

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Writing for Adweek, Tim Nudd compiles a list of 66 movie marketing taglines from the past 30 years. Nudd says some level of prodding is expected for some of his inclusions and omissions, and sure enough the comments section is already a great amendment to the list. Check it out at Adweek.