New Dreamcast Ads to Air

From GameFan, this is your saving grace if you do not like two seconds of in-game footage:

After Space Channel 5, only two ‘In the Box’ ads remain, World Series Baseball 2K1 and Seaman; the new commercials, beginning with NFL 2K1’s this fall, will retain the trademark Sega humor, but will focus on the gameplay and quality of Sega’s wonderful lineup. Sega acknowledges that two to three seconds of in-game action just isn’t enough, and plans to sort out a mix of around 50% gameplay, 50% new ad concept per thirty-second spot. Naturally, the company’s hesitant to reveal its new concept so early, but it’s said to be flexible enough to keep the comedy for some games but approach others straightforward. Case in point–Sega already plans to sell Shenmue more like a movie than an actual game, sporting perhaps a trailer-esque mix of voiceovers, in-game action and cut-scenes.

The NFL 2K1 commercial will mention online gaming in passing, while Shenmue will be promoted like a feature film.

As to how SegaNet and online gaming fit into the marketing equation, well, things aren’t so clear… At E3, Sega promised that its new commercials “will focus around the theme that ‘Opponents are Everywhere,’ stressing the competitiveness of [online] gaming,” but things have changed since then. Now, Sega’s plan is to concentrate on how great and cool its games are, hoping that its impressive software lineup, and not its online capabilities, will reach the widest audience possible. Online games such as NFL 2K1 will hype online play via SegaNet as a selling point, but don’t expect the game’s ads to dwell on the matter and risk confusing consumers. The last thing Sega wants is for gamers to think that their brand spanking new
marquee football title is only playable online.

To drive people onto SegaNet without forcing the service upon them, Sega’s considering producing manual tutorials and how-to movies to be included in specific game GD-ROMs. Ideally, Sega will not only be able to afford TV game adverts, but also general SegaNet promotions. The SegaNet campaign could tout the fast online service, the $200 rebate and the online game lineup, while the game adverts could push the traditional attributes of the titles.

Everything comes back to the money issue, however–namely, how much dough does Sega really have to put the new ads on the air after producing them? In advertising, it’s clearly not just about the quality of the spot, but how many people see it and how often. Sony’s going to inundate the airwaves with PlayStation 2 promos, and Sega will have to go full speed ahead to prevent being overpowered in the ad wars. There’s clearly no proper formula for Sega to follow other than to create a campaign that matches the quality of the product, and then get that campaign on TV as much as possible… What exactly will happen? We’ll just have to tune in to find out!