NEWS
RETAIL INTELLIGENCE Head to
www.mcvuk.com for daily market data and news. This week our Retail Biz section starts on p73
High Street ready for Kinect launch frenzy
UK retailers spending millions on marketing Hundreds of midnight openings planned by Christopher Dring
LEADING RETAILERS are planning special Kinect charts and in-store demo areas to celebrate the peripheral’s arrival next month – despite a complete sell-out nationwide. GAME has already been running Kinect evenings in many of its stores, which the firm says have given it an edge over its rivals. “What I think is most important is generating a level of noise around the format in-store,” said GAME trading director Adam Davis. “Every time we show the product to people in stores we get a reaction. That demonstrability is absolutely key, and we are the only guys I think that is doing that. And that has given us a real advantage in driving pre-orders better than anyone else. “From our perspective we are very lucky to have such a good relationship with Microsoft. This means we are still able to maintain taking pre-orders even now, and we are pretty confident of getting more in time for launch.
“I think we are one of the only retailers to really evangelise Kinect, and we’ve
MS: ‘Day but more
Early allocations are gone by Michael French
THE FIRST batch of Kinects are all accounted for, but Microsoft says more stock is coming, and quickly. Speaking to MCVthis week Xbox’s GM for UK & Ireland Neil Thompson claimed the company will have sold ‘hundreds and hundreds of thousands’ of Kinects by year’s end. “In terms of allocation I
can’t meet the demand every single retailer has asked of me for day one,” he said. “But I do think we have a healthy launch volume, and more importantly, as we go through the Christmas season. We are going to see
done it with the constraints we have in terms of square footage.”
Asda also believes it can
be a ‘destination store’ for Kinect, with 200 midnight openings planned. “Here at Asda we are treating the launch of Kinect like we would a new console,” said Asda buyer Alastair Islip.
“This means front-of- store displays, in- department takeover, above the line marketing plans and lots of in-store theatre like standees, posters, floor stickers, and so on. We have
[CONTENTS] Inside this week’s MCV 12
MEDIA & MARKETING Spotlight on Rock Band 3plus a look at what critics say about Fallout: New Vegas
4 October 29th 2010 21
dedicated space in the Asda Entertainment department in over 330 of our stores, including a new Kinect software chart. We have also produced Asda training videos to educate our colleagues on what Kinect is and how it works.
“Clearly Kinect is a very
mass-market product and we pride ourselves on being great at speaking to a broad cross-section of people. We really believe we can be a destination store for Kinect and have put a lot of work into making Kinect a huge success at Asda.”
Asda already has its Kinect ranges –including a dedicated chart –positioned in stores, ready for November 10th
“ KINECT:
LAUNCH GUIDE 10-page special on Microsoft’s innovative new game controller for Xbox 360
22 New man by Ben Parfitt
We are treating the launch of Kinect like we would a new console.
Alastair Islip, Asda
AS THE studio prepares to play a major part in Kinect’s arrival, producing one of the key launch games, UK outfit Rare is welcoming a new boss this week. Microsoft veteran Scott Henson has become the new studio manager the reknowned UK developer. American exec Henson takes charge immediately and expects to complete a move with his family to Birmingham by the end of November.
NEXT OF KIN Kinect
mastermind Kudo Tsunoda explains the vision for 360’s new device
43
LONDON GAMES CONFERENCE PREVIEW
Six-page guide to the trade’s most forward-thinking games event
www.mcvuk.com
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