THQ Inc. today announced its multi-million dollar, global marketing campaign for the highly anticipated Saints Row, scheduled to release exclusively for the Xbox 360 on August 29. Saints Row is generating record levels of consumer awareness, led by a highly successful pre-order DVD campaign and the release of a single player online demo that consumers are downloading from the Xbox Live Marketplace at a record rate, with 350,000 downloads in the first week. The worldwide advertising campaign, including TV, theater, print and online, begins today with an exclusive sneak peek at Saints Row during the season premiere of The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV.
"We've put significant resources behind the Saints Row marketing campaign, generating tremendous buzz with creative grass roots efforts and the strategic timing of pre-release content," said Bob Aniello, senior vice president of worldwide marketing, THQ. "Our multi-million dollar advertising campaign will continue to fuel anticipation in the weeks leading up to launch and we believe extensive plans for post-launch downloadable content will further establish it as a must-have title this holiday season."
The Saints Row marketing campaign will span all relevant mediums worldwide and include:
- Television ads running in seven countries
- In-theater activity across Europe and Asia Pacific, including on-screen advertising and game kiosk placement for tailored retail and press events
- Print advertising in game enthusiast publications and men's/lifestyle outlets
- Online campaigns targeting the mass-market consumer as well as grass roots viral efforts
- Demo on Live! Marketplace - Saints Row demo went live on 8/1; #1 360 demo ever for one week, with 350,000 downloads, according to Microsoft
- Video vignettes on game enthusiast web-sites highlighting varied game modes
- Online previews based on pre-release versions of Saints RowVaried retail campaigns with multiple global partners
- A pre-order DVD featuring a game demo, "making of," original music tracks and Marketplace icons and themes
- Select retail stores opening at midnight on August 29 for the game's release
- Saints Row bundled with Xbox 360 hardware in France
- T-shirt deal w/ Headline Entertainment placing custom shirts in outlets such as Hot Topic
- A mobile marketing campaign that takes advantage of THQ's Wireless SMS capabilities
- saintsrow.com - daily and weekly updates
