Today’s AFK is a colorful look at the world of Play-Doh and gives us a very creative yet disconcerting look at the non-toxic children’s clay.
From UglyDoggy: Probably the most clever campaign I have ever seen for a product like Play Doh. And the cutest one, in a “Tim Burton” sort of way. These ads talk to parents directly, reminding them -at the same time- about the thousand of possible things you can make with the product but, even more important, it also reminds them about how safe it is to play with it.
Ever since the Nintendo Wii has reached the apex of the video game industry, there have been a lot of companies out there to take advantage by any means necessary.
Now we’re not saying there’s anything wrong with the iGame Family iPod dock, but the similarities in packaging (the clean, white box), pack-in games (which includes tennis and bowling) and even a motion controller are pretty striking.
The company behind the iPod accessory, Elonex, is currently taking orders for the UK market only, and is interested in expanding the game library that fully takes advantage the their dock and controller.
It just seems like a really close call here, but hey, if you’re going to find “inspiration” it may as well be from the market leader.
On a recent Goldman Sachs conference call, Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman was asked about the performance of The Beatles Rock Band. The game has clearly benefited from a lot of mainstream hype, and it would appear that sales of the game have gotten off to a good start.
“It’s been terrific. The sales have exceeded our internal expectations. In the first week we’ve sold about 25 percent of our inventory, and we’ve had tremendous excitement around this game. The reviews have been incredible . . . It really is a work of art. The game delivers in all respects and we think it’s going to have legs,” Dauman said.
Of course, Dauman is doing what any company man would do, but he also noted the $250 premium set is selling extremely well and could be on track to sell out in November.
We knew The Beatles were big, but did anyone expect it to be this big? We’ll find out how big with the September NPD data in a couple of weeks, but the perfect storm marketing push included feature stories in Time magazine, a cover story in The New York Times Magazine and even an appearance on The Tonight Show.
Bethesda, developers of one of last year s biggest games Fallout 3, has been on top of things with five DLC packs that have expanded the game over the past twelve months.
Now Bethesda is giving away a premium theme for the Xbox 360 to those owners of all five DLC packs, as long as they’ve bought the packs before September 22.
We love the idea of giving your audience an extra incentive or a little thank you for being devoted supporters, as those are the folks that really drive your word of mouth. Consider that the next time you need fans to rally a product that needs a little boost.
I have been working with Ron Eagle, Director of Product Publicity at Sony PlayStation, for years and am always amazed at how deep he goes with the shoe projects he is involved with. Once again, PlayStation and Nike have teamed up to create something so very serious. It goes without saying that this is going to be a pair of shoes you either love or hate — there will be few that are in-between. I’m lucky enough to have a pair and I’m going to tell you right now — these joints turn heads — ! So how limited are they Try 24 pairs.
We have pics of the shoes here, and it’s been hitting the blogs pretty regularly for a nice little win-win story for both Nike and PlayStation. It also makes for some great copy from unorthodox sources, like the following quote from Sony’s Eagle:
I was completely blown away — there are so many details, so many different things to look at and yet it’s also very cohesive. The quality of the materials, especially the lenticular, was just crazy. I really love how much the shoe changes in light, the brightness of the colors against the black, and the fact that the left and right shoe have different graphics / colors was just really cool
Shoe collectors may find a pair for a charity auction later this year, and we hope to get our own the[a]listdaily pair sometime soon…
Microsoft and Activision recently announced a limited-edition 250GB Xbox 360 with a copy of Modern Warfare 2, an extra controller and custom artwork on the console itself. Well, the game-branded console train is rolling on with a special Halo 3 ODST Xbox 360 making its way to some markets for the game’s release later this month.
The Halo 3 ODST Xbox 360 comes with the Halo 3 ODST game, the original Halo 3 and markets the Halo Reach beta that comes with every ODST. The console is also covered in special artwork that should have any Halo fan itching to pick one up.
We all know the old adage that sex sells, and the Japanese marketing for the latest Ninja Gaiden really takes advantage of that.
Today’s video of the day features the game s television commercial starring a couple of very engaging stars, as well as the reaction of gamers as they stare at their TVs. Would this ever make it in the American market
From Rolling Stone: They are known to be selective about the projects they get involved with and being able to partner with them in this way is a rare opportunity we are honored to have, [Tim Riley, Activision’s VP of Music Affairs] added. From the mixes featuring their music, to their character models and the amazing Daft Punk inspired venue, the guys have been meticulously involved every step of the way.
Among the 11 exclusive mixes Daft Punk contributed is a mash-up of their Technologic with Gary Numan’s Cars (it s safe to assume Trent Reznor will be rocking that one) and a remix of Around the World versus Young MC’s Bust A Move. In addition to the mash-ups, Daft Punk also provided two megamixes for in-game play.
The music genre s woes have been well documented in the[a]listdaily, with sales down 40 percent year-over-year, well below the industry average which is already contending with weakness.
Jay-Z and Eminem have already lent their brand to the game s upcoming special edition packaging, Grandmaster Flash provides the in-game tutorial, and DJs from DJ Shadow to the late DJ AM provide remixes. We just feel Daft Punk, the French electronic power duo takes DJ Hero from curiosity to must-buy for many music fans.
Just one example of the comments on the news:
“Holy %#$@… no way :D… THEY GOT DAFT PUNK… I HAVE to buy this game now”
Activision must know the cred this brings them, as they’ve recently unleashed a trailer that focuses on Daft Punk s remix of their song Robot Rock with Queen’s stadium anthem We Will Rock You, which we’ve embedded below.
Pepsi bought the rights to one of the awards that will now be known as the Best Performance in a Pepsi Rock Band Video Award, which [was] presented during the live telecast.
The award is the culmination of an ongoing “Rock Band” campaign Pepsi has co-sponsored with MTV Networks’ Harmonix game. Nearly 700 gamers submitted their own “Rock Band”-inspired music video for a chance at their very own Moonman (the VMA equivalent of an Oscar).
As a sign of the modern MTV viewer’s brand savvy, the top-rated entries were from viewers who integrated Pepsi products into their music videos.
The synergy between MTV s cable and gaming groups is on fantastic display with this VMA Award, and while the commercial that showed was a bit convoluted, it marks a breakthrough in branded opportunities on the channel.
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box came out on August 24 and racked up 65K in sales in seven days — not bad for a game marketed largely to female gamers in several TV commercials.
September sales data will be out in a few weeks but if Layton has a strong showing, it could mean the unorthodox marketing paid off. Nintendo created and is running three distinct commercials featuring female gamers with Nintendo DSi systems playing the puzzle game.
