Tiger Woods’ Strange New Nike Ad

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There seem to be two things dominating all media right about now; one is the iPad and the other is Tiger Woods’ return. The latter has been emphasized by a very strange new Nike ad, which features Tiger’s father talking to the golfing legend about personal responsibility. It’s a weird marketing strategy, which some are already calling “brilliant” while others are just entirely creeped out by it. Either way, it’s gotten tons of buzz, and that’s half the battle in marketing. Check out the video below.

Super Street Fighter IV’s Incredibly Stylish Ad Spot

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A lot of TV commercials for video games today can often provoke “meh” reactions from gamers, but Capcom’s latest ad spot for Super Street Fighter IV showcases some beautiful artwork for one of the publisher’s most beloved properties. The commerical utilizes visuals from the game and combines it with music from hip-hop producer Just Blaze. And Capcom made the smart decision to complement this commercial with a series of print ads designed in a similar style. These ads are appearing in several game mags now. It’s a solid strategy, and gives the overall campaign fluidity and cohesion. Check out the new ad below.

Crysis 2 Teased In Times Square

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Now this is some interesting marketing. Publisher EA and developer Crytek have unveiled a teaser trailer for Crysis 2 on the big screen in New York City’s Times Square. The original Crysis is known as one of those games that really pushes PC graphics, and fans are eagerly awaiting the sequel, which will be set in New York and will be the first Crytek game built on the new CryEngine 3 development engine. Check out the trailer below, courtesy of GameVideos.

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Microsoft On ‘Building A Thriller’ In Alan Wake

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Announced back in 2005, Remedy Entertainment’s Alan Wake has seemingly been in development forever. Now the game has gone gold, and Microsoft Game Studios needs a solid marketing attack to ensure its success. This new trailer shows off never before seen footage of the “psychological action thriller” and positions the title as “setting the bar for cinematic story-driven action.” We’re not so sure how effective the trailer really will be since the narrator sounds like he’s broadcasting a game of curling at the Olympics rather than hyping up an exciting new video game.

Sam Gets Serious

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The Serious Sam franchise has a loyal hardcore following of shooter fans, and this latest game, Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter, which is remade using Serious Engine 3, is a perfect example of the game’s old-school Doom-like gameplay. Croteam knows its audience well, and Majesco and Devolver Digital are helping the studio sell the game to its base with this new trailer.

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Ad Age’s Top 20 YouTube Ads

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There’s no doubt that the web and video sites like YouTube have had a major impact on brand marketers’ advertising strategies. As Ad Age {link no longer active} explains, “No more are TV ads simply foisted on the public. Increasingly, brands and agencies are focusing less on what is being skipped on TV and more on creating ads people really want to watch. YouTube is a daily referendum on the world’s video, and increasingly ads are part of that mix. Not only to ads build TV-sized audiences on YouTube, these are audiences that actively seek out the content, giving brands incredible engagement with consumers.”

Ad Age was particularly impressed with Evian’s “Live Young” (the “rollerskating babies,” see below), which never appeared on TV but has been passed around and watched more than 71 million times over the past year.

Here are the top 20 spots Ad Age has selected.

EA Sports’ Peter Moore Backs Tiger Woods

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Tiger Woods is set to make his return at the Masters on Thursday after a four-month hiatus from golf. Despite the controversy surrounding the golfer’s personal life, publisher Electronic Arts has steadfastly remained by his side even while other sponsors have distanced themselves or pulled back completely. Now EA has released its Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online game, and EA Sports boss Peter Moore was featured in a CNBC interview to discuss his company’s support of Tiger, the business model for the online title and more. Check it out below.

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Bizarre Creations’ Action-Packed Blur Trailer

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As we said recently concerning Disney’s upcoming racer Split/Second, the racing genre can be a tough market to crack. There are some established franchises, and oftentimes a lot of the lesser known titles get lost in the exhaust fumes. It’s a good thing then that Activision Blizzard’s Blur is being developed by a studio with an all-star racing pedigree. Bizarre Creations is best known for the critically acclaimed Project Gotham Racing series on Xbox, and their success with that franchise is precisely why Activision acquired the studio. Now Activision has just released the previously exclusive to beta players multiplayer demo on Xbox Live, so all gold members can download it and check it out. Demos, as we all know, are often a great way to fuel marketing efforts too.

Blur is set to launch on May 25, and you can now watch a brand-new trailer on the game’s official Facebook page (there was no embed code, so please click through to watch) {link no longer active}.

Namco Debuts Clash Of The Titans Game Trailer

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While Clash of the Titans has been tops at the box office, that hardly guarantees that a video game based on the property will fare just as well. Namco Bandai will publish the video game version later this summer, and we question the timing of this release. Had the company been able to release the title within the first few weeks of the movie’s debut, we’d be more optimistic. As it stands now, by the time the game ships, the buzz around the movie will have died down, and critics will simply make statements about how this mythological action game pales in comparison to God of War III.  Hopefully, some creative marketing efforts can help out the game’s chances. Here’s the first trailer, courtesy of GameTrailers.

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HP’s iPad Challenger Emerges

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The entire web/tech/electronics industry is completely consumed with Apple’s shiny new iPad right now, but other computer manufacturers aren’t going to just stand by and let Apple take the tablet market all by itself. HP is probably the biggest threat, and new details of its Slate device have just leaked out. According to Engadget, as reported by Mashable:

“The base version of the HP Slate will retail for $549, which includes 32 GB storage, 1 GB RAM, a 1.6 GHz Atom processor and an 8.9-inch multitouch screen at 1024 x 600 pixel resolution. A 64 GB configuration will be available for $599.This pricing scheme puts HP s tablet device at a higher starting point than the iPad s $499 base configuration, but you d be shelling out that extra $50 for twice the storage (32 GB vs. 16) and arguably some other valuable features. Both versions will also include an SDHC card slot, USB port, two cameras (one external 3-megapixel and one front-facing VGA for videoconferencing usage), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, support for 1080p video playback, a dock connector for power, audio and HDMI out to your TV, and a SIM card slot for optional 3G connectivity. Both devices will also run Windows 7 Home Premium with a custom HP touch-optimized user interface. Battery life is reportedly five hours a cause for concern given that the iPad s battery lasts 10 hours.”

Speculation points to a June release date. In the meantime, check out the newest promotional video:

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