Nintendo Marketing

[London Geezer]

Did anyone think Nintendo advertising campaign was somewhat low-key?

Check this out,

My boyfriend (to anyone who still didn't know, don't come out with "OMG I NEVER KNEW YOU WERE..." posts thankyouverymuch, i mean i've been around almost 4 years on here...) is a promotions guy, and just got this job for Nintendo to promote Nintendogs. The job consists in him and a group of people going into UK Uni camps with REAL puppies (AWWW CUTE...) and show the students how to play the game, while they play with real puppies.... Gonna be 2 weeks of them going round different cities' Universities and just get paid to play with real puppies and just be silly with students... If they don't get shot or knifed it will be great!!

Now how cool is that!!

If this is too off-topic let's move this somewhere else. Don't think it is, it's about Nintendo and the general view people have that their marketing campaigns are usually smaller than Sony's and Microsoft. Personally i'm seeing a lot more Nintendo commericals on TV than Sony and especially MS.

 

[Guden Oden]

Nintendo marketing campaign? What's that?

There's almost zero videogames marketing over here. Really, just about the only exception is the odd EA sports commercials on TV, but otherwise... Zippo. In the past, nintendo had such a dominating position I guess they just didn't need to do it (and there just weren't any commercial TV channels here during the NES era, and even partway into SNES actually).

These days, I don't know why we don't see anything, considering video games is supposed to be such a huge industry and all. Guess they rely on word of mouth, online websites and such to do the marketing for them.

Your hubby going to unis with puppies to promote nintendogs sounds... Well, crazy really. Amazingly weird. I don't think it sounds like a very good idea, but I'm sure some marketing suit got a fat paycheck for coming up with that 'original concept'. Bah.

 

[London Geezer]

Nintendo marketing campaign? What's that?

There's almost zero videogames marketing over here. Really, just about the only exception is the odd EA sports commercials on TV, but otherwise... Zippo. In the past, nintendo had such a dominating position I guess they just didn't need to do it (and there just weren't any commercial TV channels here during the NES era, and even partway into SNES actually).

These days, I don't know why we don't see anything, considering video games is supposed to be such a huge industry and all. Guess they rely on word of mouth, online websites and such to do the marketing for them.

Your hubby going to unis with puppies to promote nintendogs sounds... Well, crazy really. Amazingly weird. I don't think it sounds like a very good idea, but I'm sure some marketing suit got a fat paycheck for coming up with that 'original concept'. Bah.

As i said, i see a lot more Nintendo commercial on TV than anyone else. I see lots of EA ones, some Sony ones, and pretty much no MS ones.

But yeah, the whole idea of the real puppies is just shocking, when he told me i was like WOW CAN'T WAIT TO TELL EVERYONE ON B3D!!!!

 

[rabidrabbit]

No, this is about you and your boyfriend(s)... again. Not about consoles


Yeah, that Nintendogs promotion does sound weird... I mean universities... puppies... Nintendo, shouldn't they go to kindergatens or somewhere where I'd think such promoting would be more at home.
I can't help but think of the poor puppies, 2 weeks touring must be hard for them... tell your bf to treat them good.

 

[London Geezer]

Yeah i did wonder about the logistics of the whole thing... i mean, where are the puppies kept during the night? and i guess they have a schedule, some kind of shift pattern to feed them and walk them...

Very weird...

 

[Phil]

Are they really puppies? Maybe they're using Aibos...

 

[YeuEmMaiMai]

what does your sexual preference have to do with nintendo marketing?

advertising is pretty much over for PS2 and NGC since the next gen stuff is out (xbox 360) I see a lot of PS2 commercials for games like jaz and dexter racing and ratchet and clank. I have not seem a NGC commercial other than the typical cross platform ones in quite some time........

 

[London Geezer]

what does your sexual preference have to do with nintendo marketing?

Uhm... nothing...? Would you have preferred i said my "girlfriend" got a job with Nintendo??

Are they really puppies? Maybe they're using Aibos...

Hehe conflict of interest? I think Aibo's would have been so much cooler!! Besides, they don't eat, smell or shit on you!!

 

[Phil]

Hehe conflict of interest? I think Aibo's would have been so much cooler!! Besides, they don't eat, smell or shit on you!!

Heh, agreed! Though now that I think of it, if Aibo were a Nintendo product, I think that would be quite a killer marketing approach. I've never seen an Aibo in action live (I'd love to).. I'm sure that would be quite a looker.

 

[Guden Oden]

Actually, I think nintendogs would absolutely appeal to uni kids. Not to the hardcore FPS bunch perhaps, but I wouldn't be surprised if girls in particular were to find this title rather interesting. Don't forget that the accursed tamagotchi was embraced by many age groups, not only pre-schoolers and such. This title is definitely similar in concept.

*Edit:
That said, I just don't think using live puppies to do the promotion is a particulary bright idea. Doesn't PETA, or the UK equivalent, usually have something to say about publicity stunts like that?

 

[Shifty Geezer]

In the UK Nintendogs is sanctioned by the National Canine Defence League, and the advert is voice-overed by popular naturalist Bill Odie. They've definitely got 'offical approval'. And dogs have been used in UK adverts for donkey's years, from the Dulux dog to the irrepressable Andrex Puppy (who I'm suspicious is either being given growth retardant hormones, or isn't the same dog they started out with...)

Edit : Oh, I guess you were talking about the OP campaign which was flagged as read for me so I've only just caught it. As long as the puppies are treated all right no-one will have any qualms.

 

[YeuEmMaiMai]

Actually, I think nintendogs would absolutely appeal to uni kids. Not to the hardcore FPS bunch perhaps, but I wouldn't be surprised if girls in particular were to find this title rather interesting. Don't forget that the accursed tamagotchi was embraced by many age groups, not only pre-schoolers and such. This title is definitely similar in concept.

*Edit:
That said, I just don't think using live puppies to do the promotion is a particulary bright idea. Doesn't PETA, or the UK equivalent, usually have something to say about publicity stunts like that?

I got that game with my DS and it seems to fun if you like interactive games. I playt it at work when I have nothing else to do.......

 

[Jon Brittan]

Purely on the Nintendon marketing front, they've really started to go all out to sell Gamecube over here this Christmas. This weekend pretty much every third advert I've seen on TV has been for a bundle package Gamecube + game (lots of new Mario sports it would appear).

Conversely (and I know they've almost certainly got no stock until well after Christmas, but...) I've not seen a single public advert for X360 over here yet and launch is two weeks away...

 

[London Geezer]

Purely on the Nintendon marketing front, they've really started to go all out to sell Gamecube over here this Christmas. This weekend pretty much every third advert I've seen on TV has been for a bundle package Gamecube + game (lots of new Mario sports it would appear).

Conversely (and I know they've almost certainly got no stock until well after Christmas, but...) I've not seen a single public advert for X360 over here yet and launch is two weeks away...

Same here, if it weren't for the "preorder an X360" posters outside electrical stores, i wouldn't even know that X360 is being released. No TV commercials, no Tube adverts, nothing... In fact, i wouldn't even know what games are coming out for it if it weren't for these boards and the vastest majority of people don't browse internet forums.

 

[rabidrabbit]

I almost missed the xbox360 demo kiosks in two of local largest retailers. The other was tucked in a narrow corridor beside the old xbox kiosk, so that if there was someone playing, there would be no room to go past in the corridor. In addition it is placed so you don't really see it from anywhere else in the shop, but you must accidentally bump into it if you visit the xbox shelves.
In the other store it was better visible, but somehow orphanaged in a place where I almost missed it even when I especially looked for it.
One kid was playing the other kiosk, and two kids the other, both were running CoD2. The other kiosk did also have the attention of a family with a two kids, but to me it seemed the father was more excited about it than the kids (pointing at the kiosk sayink "Look at that!".. and the mom "Is it smaller than the old one??".. the kids were more like "meh..." )

In stores there really is no other advertising for xbox360, but small decals announcing preorders. Don't know, but I think the colouring of the kiosks is a bit too bland, they kinda get lost in the busy storefloors. If the other advertisements folow the same bland white/pale green scheme, I don't wonder if I've missed most of the store ads.

Here too, there's been quite a lot of Nintendo ads on TV recently, I think more than PS2 ads even. Nintendogs especially.
xbox and xbox360 TV (and print) ads are virtually nonexistant, also the PSP TV ads have become few and far between.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I've yet to see any PSP TV adverts (not that I watch a huge amount of TV). I've seen a couple of Nintendo adverts, including the Nintendogs bundle ad (which is actually a Woolworths advert I think, so may not be an official Nintendo advertisment). Haven't seen anything at all on XB360. It may as well not exist the amount of coverage it's getting. In two weeks time it'll launch here and there's still no demo kiosks near me and no advertising that I've seen. Though it may all be targetted at 'yoof' culture, MTV etc., so highbrow types like me won't catch any as I watch the wrong programs.

 

[fearsomepirate]

I just saw an ad for NFS: MW, and at the end, it said "Now out for GC, DS, and GBA" with no mention of X360, Xbox, or PS2. Kinda weird.

 

[Ali-G]

I've seen lots of those over the last 12 or so months fearsomepirate, its always EA games as well. Some of them I've seen show the game and then a big moving GameCube logo at the end of the ad (full screen size) with no mention at all of PS2, XBox ect.

About Nintendogs, that's very well advertised here in the UK from what I've seen. Its at the start and each break of every dog based show on TV (of which there are a few I think) and I've also seen some independent ads for it as well.

 

[Crusher]

I've seen the NFS:MW commercial, and a few other commercials in the past for games that were on GCN, but I haven't seen a commercial for an actual Nintendo system in years. Then again, I don't watch Pokemon/Dragonball Z/children's programming, so I might just not be in their market focus.

 

[Jon Brittan]

I've seen the NFS:MW commercial, and a few other commercials in the past for games that were on GCN, but I haven't seen a commercial for an actual Nintendo system in years. Then again, I don't watch Pokemon/Dragonball Z/children's programming, so I might just not be in their market focus.

I hadn't seen adverts for a Nintendo system for ages either (bar the Nintendogs/DS advert which really is quite prevalant over here right now), but as I said above, this weekend suddenly there were Gamecube + Game bundle adverts galore across the channels regardless of what shows were on.