- Create excitement pre-launch of GameCube, thereby increasing both awareness of the launch and affinity for the brand- Promote the pre-launch CubeClub tour around the UK- Elicit user registrations for relationship marketing purposes Our strategy focused on entertainment - enabling us to add value to the target group’s lives within a highly relevant environment.The EMAP deal was a central plank of the pre-launch & launch activity and was designed to create a meaningful relationship with our target group – rather than just advertising to them.

We therefore sought to tap into reader/user loyalty towards the individual EMAP titles. To this end, the portal is displayed within the frame-set of whichever site users have clicked through from – giving the impression that they have not left their chosen site.

Each property selected covers a specific entertainment area; each medium fulfils a specific role in the communication.The different EMAP properties selected were as follows:- The Box (TV music video channel)- FHM (online and print – the leading men’s lifestyle magazine in the UK)- Empire (online and print – leading film title)- MixMag (online and print – highly successful magazine for clubbers)- MaxPower (online and print – magazine focusing on the appeal of cars to young men)- Kerrang (online and print – leading rock music magazine)The role of each medium was identified in the following way:- TV: build affinity with a targeted group via playful association with their music channel of choice - Magazines: build reach across a range of titles which are leaders in their field - Online: drive frequency of communication with the same communities of interest as the magazines – an impossibility in print, where circulation is monthly.

The online portal is managed and regularly updated by EMAP. It houses weekly prize draws to incentivise registration and regular interaction with the brand. Prizes include tickets to gigs, clubs and cinemas, as well as experiences such as Monster Trucking. All are sourced by EMAP. Registered users are alerted to new competitions via SMS and email.Competition participation also exposes users to news of the CubeClub promotional tour as well as previews of TV ads and product information. Nearly all prizes are for two or more people – encouraging viral communication.

Our innovative rich media ad campaign, using units most commonly called Eyeblasters (Enhanced DHTML), also directs traffic to the portal. It is currently averaging a click-through rate of 14%.Only by partnering with a single, uniquely well-placed and collaborative media owner, could we have delivered such an integrated and differentiating pre-launch campaign. We had the vision to see this and the passion to implement it. The media team conceived and implemented this campaign, managing content fulfilment through our selected media owner partner.

We highlighted the propensity of our 16-24 year-old target audience to (a) build their lifestyle around entertainment and (b) fulfil their entertainment needs via a range of media channels.

This led us to strike a ground-breaking, cross-media partnership with EMAP’s stable of youth brands, covering TV, magazines and internet. The EMAP deal was a media first.

It pushed media owner/advertiser collaboration to new heights, involving not only the co-operation of the different properties’ sales staff, but also unprecedented collaboration between their fiercely independent editorial teams.It was also a highly strategic exploitation of a single media owner’s stable of properties – and was meticulously planned to maximise the unique attributes of each medium and to make relevant interventions into our target group’s diverse entertainment repertoire.Some of the pioneering aspects of the delivery are as follows:- EMAP’s music TV channel, The Box, was re-branded as The Cube for one week- EMAP created and will maintain a unique online entertainment portal for Nintendo- EMAP’s editorial teams provide bespoke content for the Nintendo portal, as well as editorial links to it- Existing content from each participating EMAP property is also selected and housed under the Nintendo umbrella- Innovative advertising formats are being used extensively on the participating online sites - EMAP has also facilitated a dialogue with registered users of the portal via email and SMS

The media team conceived and implemented this campaign, managing content fulfilment through our selected media owner partner.

We highlighted the propensity of our 16-24 year-old target audience to (a) build their lifestyle around entertainment and (b) fulfil their entertainment needs via a range of media channels.

This led us to strike a ground-breaking, cross-media partnership with EMAP’s stable of youth brands, covering TV, magazines and internet.