Wii UK Sampling Tour Kicks Off – Details Inside

“Because of the seismic shift (Earthquakes? It’s tin helmets time, lads! Paranoid. Ed.) in gaming and entertainment that Wii represents, sampling is key to the overall marketing campaign in helping people to understand Wii and just what it can do. Nintendo’s aim with Wii as with its handheld DS console, is to expand the gaming population and appeal to people who have never thought about picking up a games console at all. As a result the focus for the sampling is on key mainstream and family events and destinations from shopping malls including Bluewater Shopping Centre, Birmingham Bullring and Sheffield’s Meadow Hall to events including The Good Food Show, Ideal Home Exhibition and Glasgow’s Irn Bru Carnival.

The sampling will take place in two different ways. Firstly, taking its cue from the above-the-line strategy (Say what now?), the Wii will be shown off in a series of modular room sets that have been created to look like the living rooms, bedrooms and homes of people from across the UK complete with TV’s, sofas, bed and all assorted paraphernalia. The release describes this creative sampling technique whereby “people can simply walk into the room (which only has two walls for access and visibility) sit down and play away.

“The second sampling mechanic is a series of portable ‘busking units’ that enables much more reactive and tactical sampling. These units can simply be unloaded quickly and easily wheeled to their destination, used for a short time and then move on.”

“The central PR platform at the hub of Wii’s media relations strategy is a Nintendo house which again will reflect different rooms and ways to play Wii.”

Nintendo UK’s Marketing Director Dawn Paine had the following to say about the sampling campaign, “With each passing year, video gaming has become a more exclusive experience. The complexities of some of the newest games have alienated those who used to play games with their entire families. Wii changes all that. Nintendo has created the most inviting, inclusive video game system to date. Thanks to our unique controller, anyone of any age or skill level can pick up and play games on the Wii console and it’s key that we message this in all our communications”