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Belch: Advertising and
Promotion, Sixth Edition
IV. Objectives and
Budgeting for Integrated
Marketing
Communications Programs
IMC INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE 7-1
7. Establishing Objectives
and Budgeting for the
Promotional Program
Video Games Attempt to Go Mainstream
in the United States and Europe
In a market where many advertisers are slashing their
budgets,the video game industry is taking just the opposite
approach. The industry has unleashed a billion-dollar
bombardment of IMC communications designed to
make Mario the plumber and Munch the Gabit household
names as common as Harry Potter or Britney Spears.
The objective of the marketing blitz is to transform
the video game from a niche market to as common an
activity as watching television or going to the movies.
Sony (PlayStation2), Nintendo (GameCube), and
Microsoft (Xbox) have all recently redesigned their
video games in an attempt to penetrate as many living
rooms as possible while ushering in the next generation
of digital entertainment.
While the immediate objective is to sell units, the
industry’s long-term goal is to change the image of the
products from a teenage game to family entertainment.
The products have become much more sophisticated
and have the added capabilities of playing DVD movies
and CDs and connecting to the Internet. And, while
growing the market is one goal, Sony and Nintendo are
also attempting to protect their market shares in the
$20 billion market from newcomer Microsoft.
The IMC programs will be as innovative as the products
themselves. Traditional advertising media will play
a minimal role, while ad messages on soda bottles, in
have as their marketing objectives expanding distribution and sales of their product in
certain market areas. Companies often have secondary marketing objectives that are
related to actions they must take to solve specific problems and thus achieve their primary
objectives. IMC International Perspective 7-1 provides an example of how companies
invest to pursue multiple objectives.
Once the marketing communications manager has reviewed the marketing plan, he
or she should understand where the company hopes to go with its marketing program,
© The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2003
fast-food restaurants, and on college campuses will be
commonplace. High-tech trucks and vans equipped with
games will tour the United States to allow trial. Nintendo
will host Gamecube parties throughout the country,
while Sony will employ Britney Spears and Snoop
Dog at its events. Not to be outdone, Microsoft is taking
its rigs on the road to 40 cities to throw “Xbox
Bashes.” In all, the companies will use multiple print
ads, street marketing teams, college marketing teams,
events, sponsorships, TV ads, and the Internet.
The budgets are outrageous as well! Consider that
Microsoft ($500 million worldwide) and Nintendo and
Sony ($250 million each in North America, and Nintendo
at total of $475 million worldwide) will spend
five times as much in 2002 as Coke did in 2001 to
advertise Coke and Diet Coke. Sega spent over $10 million
in the first quarter alone!
Meanwhile, the blitz is hitting Europe as well. The
first advertising by Microsoft broke during the
Olympic Games, followed by a larger TV campaign with
the product launch date in March. A direct-marketing
campaign followed, using a database supported by the
playmore.com website (fondly referred to as the company’s
“brand experience” website) as well as 7,000
prelaunch demo units in department stores. Additional
brand advertising will also follow the introduction of
individual game releases.
The battle for brand share will be intense—maybe
more intense than the games themselves. For example,
Microsoft has already dubbed its positioning as “positive
and inclusive,” as opposed to what it calls PlayStation2’s
“dark and exclusive” strategy. Then again,
maybe PlayStation knows something. As noted by one
industry observer, “The industry has more casualties
than successes.”
Sources: Ravi Chandiramani, “Microsoft Xbox Adopts ‘Positive’
Brand Positioning,” Marketing, Jan. 24, 2002, p. 1; Kenneth Hein,
“Videogame Manufacturers See 0 Ceiling on Selling Season,”
Brandweek, Mar. 18, 2002, p. 13; Alex Pham and Greg Johnson, “Console
Industry Taking the Game to a Different Level—Mainstream,”
Los Angeles Times, Sept. 10, 2001, p. C1.
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