Promo - December 2008 - (Page 42)

“PROMO “PROMOLAND” An on-package promotion will let Icehouse fans enter to win themselves as bobble heads , then go online to design their figurines. Geared Up If the holiday season seems a little more apocalyptic than usual this year, blame the makers of video and computer games, who are filling our TV screens with images of invading alien craft that blot out Manhattan, and intergalactic dogfights around the Eiffel Tower. “Gears of War 2,” one of the most anticipated game sequels, ran some of those ad-mageddon TV spots—but went beyond that to generate buzz. Working with game maker Epic and Microsoft’s Xbox 360, digital marketing agency AKQA reached out to bloggers and game media. They sent out large, heavy cogs to these identified influentials; each of the gears was inscribed with a unique code to be entered at a pre-launch microsite, www.gearsofwar.com/lastday. “We wanted to create a tangible item to energize the hard core and seed it into the wild,” says John Jakubowski, AKQA group creative director. “Users could then use the codes to release content on the Last Day site— videos, graphics or audio—that would piece together the story and set up ‘Gears 2.’ ” Most of the 1,000 cogs were mailed out, some cleverly customized like the one embedded in an old book. Others were hidden in locations scattered across the globe from California to London to Budapest. Some of the tags were meant to be used together; AKQA learned from an earlier promotion for “Halo 3” to rely on bloggers to find out who had received specific cogs with the pieces of the access code and publish the info. “If they’re rabid enough, and even if they hate each other, communities will come together and cross-pollinate information for the larger good,” Jakubowski says. The buzz worked, apparently, and “Gears of War 2” sold 2 million copies in its first week of release. But Jakubowski says the bar to engage and energize gamers is getting pretty high. “These hard-core fans are unreal. We would go through creative executions we were convinced would take them weeks to work out, and they had the info in a matter of minutes.”—Brian Quinton Bobbling Heads For those who’ve always seen themselves as bobble heads—thus joining the august company of ARod, Tony Romo and Dwight Schrute—MillerCoors’ Icehouse beer brand is offering the chance to get their necks wobbling. Bobble head wannabes of legal drinking age can join the “Score Your Own Bobble Head” contest by picking up game pieces in specially marked 12-packs of Icehouse beer through Dec. 31. Those packages will contain a game piece for the head, middle or feet of a bobble head figurine. When a player collects all three pieces, he can download a claim form from the Icehouse Web site at www.icehouse. com and mail it in with his game pieces. Icehouse will randomly draw about 1,050 fan names from those submitted. Those winning customers will then be able to visit the Icehouse site, upload their photos or photos of a friend, and customize their figurines with their favorite team colors, sports paraphernalia and pose. “Fans are the heart and soul of any sports team, so the Icehouse ‘Score Your Own Bobble Head’ promotion is a chance for them to show their true colors and take a welldeserved spot on the mantel next to their favorite professional athlete,” says Icehouse brand manager Michael Davitt. The Icehouse Web site also contains links to Icehouse’s “Party Pad” and “Waste Time” interactive sites, where visitors can play interactive games such as Viking Keg Toss and Ice Rally, pimp their photos with exotic backgrounds or females, and investigate the backgrounds and wardrobe preferences of the “Icehouse Hotties.”—Brian Quinton Top 5 Gifts People Want for the Holidays Gift cards or gift certificates 54.9% Books, CDs, DVDs, videos or video games 50.0% Clothing or accessories 49.8% Consumer electronics or computer accessories 38.4% Jewelry 24.5% Source: BIGresearch Consumer Intentions Survey 42 December 2008 / WWW.PROMOMAGAZINE.COM / Promo http://www.gearsofwar.com/lastday http://www.gearsofwar.com/lastday http://www.icehouse.com http://www.icehouse.com http://WWW.PROMOMAGAZINE.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Promo - December 2008

Promo - December 2008 Contents Editor's Note Alternative Viewing UGC Refresher Course KFC Takes Wing Title Sharing the Holidays That Holiday Glow Wish List Commentary Ready to Eat Recession Busters Q&A: A Higher Mark Resource Center The Agency Center Gift Giving Index of Advertisers

Promo - December 2008

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