Software giant Microsoft Corp. last week said it will support its push into the videogame console arena with a $500 million marketing blitz for Xbox set to break later this year. Xbox will hit retail shelves Nov. 8.
While details of the massive campaign (it’s bigger than the one Microsoft ran for Windows 95’s rollout) are still being kept secret, they include fourth-quarter tie-ins with Irvine, CA-based Taco Bell and South Beach Beverage Co., Norwalk, CT, according to Microsoft group manager of console gaming and national consumer promotion Cindy Spodek-Dicky, who spoke last week at PMA Star Power in Los Angeles. Plans also call for a national mobile tour, which Spodek-Dicky says will be “a total immersive experience.” GMR Marketing, New Berlin, WI, handles.
Xbox will retail at $299. Redmond, WA-based Microsoft has committed some $10 billion in marketing support over the next five years, Spodek-Dicky says.
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