With the specter of its first real competition in the handheld gaming market looming, Nintendo of America said it is putting $40 million into the marketing effort that breaks today for its newest product, the Nintendo DS.
The game player’s big innovation is its dual screens, one of which is sensitive to touch. Teaser spots from Publicis Groupe’s Leo Burnett in Chicago begin with a blue flash and colored bars that dissolve into static. Two blue rectangles appear, and a woman’s voice says suggestively, “Touch the bottom rectangle. … You might like it.”
Follow-up ads in mid-November will highlight the touch feature, which makes it easier to access items, move characters and navigate menus. “From the time we’re born, we’ve always been told, ‘Don’t touch,’ ” said Rob Matthews, client senior director of consumer marketing. “We believe you should be able to touch the things you want.”
The tag is, “Touching is good.”
The campaign will also include cinema and online ads, a trial tour, some guerilla marketing and an advertorial in Maxim, Stuff and Blender. Publicis’ Starcom in Chicago handles media.
Nintendo in Redmond, Wash., dominates the U.S. market for handheld game players, but Sony Electronics plans to launch its own device, the PSP, in March. “Sony really is the biggest competitor so far,” said Schelley Olhava, an analyst at IDC in San Mateo, Calif., which predicts Nintendo’s market share will top 90 percent in 2004.
“We have an 80-90 percent share, and we don’t intend to relinquish it,” said Perrin Kaplan, client vp of marketing and corporate affairs.
Nintendo last year spent $35 million on ads for its handheld games, which include the Game Boy and Game Boy Advance lines, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus.
Nintendo Hopes DS Has Midas Touch
