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Nintendo Press Release
"REDMOND, Wash., September 24, 2001 - With eight weeks
before the U.S. launch of its innovative Nintendo GameCube™ home
video game console, Nintendo of America Inc. enters the final phase
of its most comprehensive and fully-integrated marketing campaign
ever, with national advertising, non-traditional consumer sampling,
online viral campaigns, partner promotions, retail marketing, and a
major entertainment industry event. The multi-pronged marketing
punch will culminate in a "Cube" Sunday, November 18
launch, coinciding with the beginning of the most important retail
shopping week of the year.
The $75 million launch campaign focuses on what Nintendo does best -
create the world's greatest video games - and will run
simultaneously with dedicated campaigns for five exclusive first-
and second-party games and more than 10 third- party games, for a
total of nearly 20 exclusive titles and 1.1 million systems on store
shelves by the end of year. The campaign targets all gamers with an
emphasis on enthralling and fun game play, and world-class graphics.
"Nintendo GameCube is built from the ground up for one purpose
only - to play games," says Peter Main, executive vice
president, sales and marketing, Nintendo of America, Inc. "Our
extensive campaign has one central strategy - to make it as easy as
possible for players to quickly get their hands on our exclusive,
groundbreaking Nintendo games."
Advertising The heart of the multi-media
campaign starts next month when seven different television
commercials begin airing virtually everywhere - the media buy ranges
from primetime television to MTV to Saturday morning cartoons.
Top production talent for the television creative includes the
director of photography for the motion pictures "Seven"
and "The Beach." The multi-national production involved
shooting, editing and post production work in the United Kingdom,
Italy, France and the U.S. One of the commercials features more than
500 cast members, adding to the epic scope of the television
advertising campaign. Holiday moviegoers will
see Nintendo GameCube commercials on the big screen in November and
December, airing along with blockbusters such as Harry Potter
and Lord of the Rings.
Nintendo GameCube advertising will permeate print media in the next
months, as eight print ads will appear in
magazines ranging from kids and teen publications such as
Sports Illustrated for Kids, to men's magazines such as Maxim and
Stuff. More than 95 full-page print ads will appear in more than 50
publications.
Nintendo GameCube out-of-home advertising will include in-school and
mall dioramas, Channel One Broadcasting advertising, Nintendo
GameCube banners in malls across the United States and more.
Consumer Sampling Nintendo's exclusive Nintendo Cube Clubs kick off
on September 28. Instead of the industry-standard truck tour, Nintendo
will visit 12 cities nationwide and transform lofts, vacant office
buildings and other offbeat venues into fully interactive, hip
clubs, with DJs spinning music, special lighting and more than 32
game play stations, equipped with Panasonic HDTV monitors. The
Nintendo Cube Club Tour kicks off this month in Los Angeles, Chicago
and Atlanta and is sponsored by Stuff Magazine, Maxim, DC Comics,
Yahoo! and GamePro, among others. For free tickets, club locations
and a full tour schedule visit www.nintendogamecube.com.
Internet Outreach The Nintendo GameCube Internet campaign is
anchored by the launch of the official Nintendo GameCube Web site.
The site provides the latest updates and information on the hardware
and games, Nintendo Cube Club tour schedule and free tickets to the
clubs.
Nintendo will use the Internet to ask die-hard Nintendo enthusiasts
what wild and crazy things they would do to get their hands on a
Nintendo GameCube before anyone else. The national "What Would
YOU Do for a Nintendo GameCube? " contest appeals to fans that
will eat a bucket of worms or shave their head in order to win an
early Nintendo GameCube. Visit www.nintendogamecube.com for contest
details. Other fun online activities supporting upcoming Nintendo
GameCube software launches will be featured on dedicated sites such
as luigis-mansion.com, pikmin.com and smashbros.com.
Nintendo will distribute more than 3 million
sampling CDs featuring Nintendo game play footage, links to
the official Nintendo GameCube Web site, downloadable items and
more. These disks will be the same size as the proprietary GCN disk
and will be available through retailers, magazine inserts and other
promotional partnerships, with the goal being to provide consumers
with the opportunity to witness Nintendo games firsthand.
Retail At retail stores in the coming weeks, 10,000 cutting edge
Nintendo GameCube interactives will give customers a chance to
sample the system before launch. Nintendo's strong retail presence
includes point-of-sale materials, banners and other merchandising
indicative of the overall advertising campaign.
Promotional Partnerships The marketing plans also include
multi-million dollar promotional activities with national partners.
Starz Encore Group, the largest provider of cable and
satellite-delivered premium movie channels in the United States, is
teaming up with Nintendo as part of its blockbuster Fall Free
preview.
During the STARZ! and BLACK STARZ! Free
Preview Weekend on October 5-7 viewers will have the chance to win
one of 500 Nintendo GameCube systems along with other Nintendo
prizes.
Dr Pepper and Nintendo are collaborating on a
nationwide consumer promotion this holiday season giving
consumers a chance to instantly win a Nintendo GameCube. Dr Pepper
is supporting the promotion with television advertising,
point-of-sale and special packaging for the 20-ounce and 2-liter
bottles, as well as 12-packs of 12-ounce cans.
A dedicated game play system, Nintendo GameCube delivers new forms
of interactive fun for players and offers the easiest development
environment for game creators. The system's embedded memory,
proprietary optical disc and innovative controller were designed to
optimize the game play experience. Nintendo GameCube is available in
two colors: Jet (black) and Indigo (violet) for a suggested retail
price of $199.95.
As the worldwide leader and innovator in the creation of interactive
entertainment, Nintendo Co. Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and
markets hardware and software for its popular home video game
systems. The systems include Game Boy, Nintendo® 64, Game Boy
Advance and Nintendo GameCube™. Since the release of its first
home video game system in 1985, Nintendo has sold more than 1.4
billion video games worldwide, creating enduring industry icons such
as Mario™ and Donkey Kong® and launching such franchises as Zelda™
and Pokémon®. As a wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America
Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's
operations in the Western Hemisphere."
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