$10M marketing blitz, 10,000-store launch for Halo 3

By Tor Thorsen, GameSpotPosted Sep 11, 2007 6:32 pm PT

Microsoft sparing no expense to promote and distribute Xbox 360 shooter, including NASCAR sponsorship; Xbox Live Gold free from September 25-27 to allow open-access online play.

When Halo 2 was released in November 2004, Microsoft made much of the fact it generated over $125 million in 24 hours--making it one of the biggest entertainment product launches of all time. With Halo 3's release just two weeks away, the software giant is pulling out all the stops to promote and distribute the Xbox 360 exclusive.

Three of the four nerd food groups.

First, the hype. To date, Microsoft has spent $10 million on a five-stage publicity campaign for Halo 3, as outlined in an article in this week's Brandweek magazine. It began with a TV spot during Monday Night Football last December that was seen by an estimated 7.9 million people on air and a further 3 million on YouTube. Then came the beta test, which saw over 820,000 players take the Master Chief through his multiplayer paces. The vast majority of the players gained access to the test by buying Crackdown, which was bundled with--and buoyed by--a packed-in Halo 3 beta key.

Less high-profile was Project Iris. The "project" was yet another attempt by Microsoft to generate viral buzz for a product via an alternate reality game along the lines of ilovebees.com, which sparked widespread public interest--and press consternation--during the summer of 2004. Possibly because of Microsoft's frequent use of ARGs, including the 360-hyping ourcolony.net, Project Iris generated only a fraction of the interest as ilovebees.com did.

The wax Master Chief assaults Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz, with regrettably nonfatal results.

Phase four of Microsoft's Halo 3 hype offensive was a wave of cross-product promotional synergy normally reserved for summer blockbuster movies. Microsoft struck deals with PepsiCo for a Halo 3-branded Mountain Dew and Doritos, and with 7-Eleven and Burger King for in-store promotions--including Halo 3 Slurpee drinks. Microsoft also took less conventional approaches, sponsoring Linkin Park's Projekt Revolution tour, a Halo 3 NASCAR vehicle, and even a Master Chief figurine at the Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in Las Vegas. According to BrandWeek, it also convinced Pontiac to pony up $5 million of its own money to pay for Halo 3 IMAX events, like the one tonight at San Francisco's formerly Sony-owned Metreon.

As outlined on the official Xbox site, the Halo 3 hype machine's endgame is a fusillade of events surrounding the game's September 25 launch. Though it didn't provide specific locations, Microsoft is claiming some 10,000 retail stores in the US alone will be holding midnight launch events for Halo 3.

One participating retailer is Best Buy, which will also pay for Xbox Live Gold to be free for everyone from September 25-27, allowing anyone to play Halo 3's various online modes, including four-player co-op. Anyone who plays Halo 3 online during the period will be automatically entered into a sweepstakes which will see Best Buy giving away a Halo 3-themed Pontiac, as well as home theater systems and Microsoft points to spend on Xbox Live Marketplace.

Not exactly a Banshee, but it'll do...

From September 28-30, Microsoft will be holding its own Play and Win sweepstakes, which will hand out Halo 3-themed Xbox 360s and Zunes, among other prizes. The company will also be staging its own special, celebrity-studded launch Halo 3 events in New York City, Los Angeles, and Seattle. It will also release unspecified launch-week content on Xbox Live Marketplace to commemorate the game's launch.

To find out whether the multimillion campaign was worth the effort, check back during Halo 3's launch week for GameSpot's full review of the game.

315 Comments

  • Thorned_

    Posted Sep 18, 2007 1:38 pm PT

    every game has immature idiots. ppl jus talk about it more in Halo because more people played Halo. period.

  • dithindious

    Posted Sep 18, 2007 10:31 am PT

    I think that xbox live should have a voice test and if ur voice is too high and your profile has your gender set to male then you can't play online or at least use the headset, that would solve a few problems, jus a few though unfortunantly lol at the fall out boy dig and cant wait to play halo on 4 way co-op!!

  • caboose301

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 6:30 pm PT

    stop spoiling the game for people pos

  • RoC1909

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 1:22 pm PT

    @Absolutezerr

    ABSOLUTELY!!!

    One of the MAIN reasons I DO NOT play games online is because of all the immature idiots. With Halo 3 being the huge hit that it will, it's only going to get worse. Frankly, I was thinking that if I did a little gaming from midnight of launch until the afternoon, I would get some decent players since all the 'kiddies' should be in school. But as you mentioned, their parents will probably give them the 'day off' since we all know that parents these days are some of the worst and believe that gaming is more important than school.

  • jwg13

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 12:23 pm PT

    Halo 3 is gonna suck. How can they kill Miranda Keyes and Sargent Johnson? Of course Master Chief lives. He goes back to sleep in a chamber like the one they woke him up from in Halo 1. They gotta keep him alive for the next Halo game. I love how people really think this will be the last Halo game from Bungie.

  • linkyshinks

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 12:09 pm PT

    This dervative crap cannot be real can it?, I know it's Bungie but still I find this hard to believe.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_vW6RHy8FM&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecubed3%2Ecom%2Ftopic%2F25375%2F

  • playstation_wii

    Posted Sep 16, 2007 7:38 pm PT

    Halo 3 is going to be awesome!

  • nickythenewt21

    Posted Sep 16, 2007 2:19 pm PT

    Wow! Talk about marketing!

  • solidsnake2050

    Posted Sep 16, 2007 12:17 pm PT

    Wait, wait...... wait..... Best Buy is paying Microsoft to allow EVERYONE with halo 3 to play it online for free from sept. 25-28?!?! how much money did they have to drop for that??

  • munkiesinflight

    Posted Sep 16, 2007 11:45 am PT

    I pre ordered my copy and can't wait to play it...

  • HeroicNmaster

    Posted Sep 16, 2007 9:33 am PT

    i know im getting it at midnight!

  • sephiroth_4

    Posted Sep 15, 2007 7:40 pm PT

    too many friggin games!

  • azone12

    Posted Sep 14, 2007 4:20 pm PT

    overkill much

  • dancing_OGRE

    Posted Sep 13, 2007 1:42 pm PT

    I think the three day gold trial is a great Idea to get more people online. 4 player online co-op and sharing saved films is going be amazing. I think loads of people will realise the great competition and fun of online play their missing out on. More people with gold means better games and more money funding updates.

  • Homerj

    Posted Sep 13, 2007 1:29 pm PT

    Like Halo really needs marketing...I think its all the corporate partners that are really getting the positive benefit from the marketing (ie riding coat-tails as it were).

  • NinjaMunkey01 posted Sep 13, 2007 12:22 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    NinjaMunkey01

    Posted Sep 13, 2007 12:22 pm PT (hide)

    since nearly everyone outside the us dosent watch nascar they should have put advertising into the world cup scince they are doing the qualifying bit now. England won against russia yay! and scotland won against france that was funny. MS really wants this to sell, but they seem to be trying tooo hard, as if they do not have enough preorders already. And until now I have never heard of mountin dew, sounds discusting. who wants to drink dew?

  • Absolutezerr

    Posted Sep 13, 2007 10:07 am PT

    $10 million? How much do they expect this to help? All it will do is destroy the Halo online community further.

    "Mommy, the master chief is on my slushie, get me this game or I'll scream REALLY LOUD!"
    "Ok, dear."

    And on sept. 25, I'll be playing Halo online, and I'll hear little Timmy telling me to go f*** myself in his high-pitched voice, while his stupid parents stand by and say, "Isn't that cute. Our son knows what f*** means."

    At least there's a mute button now. I just want to finish the fight. Online is a plus, which hopefully won't be ruined by little kids who try to sound like big black men this time around.

  • masterchief1994

    Posted Sep 13, 2007 8:05 am PT

    that is one nice car......

  • dbeddow

    Posted Sep 13, 2007 6:58 am PT

    I want the painting on the wall behind the car (the car too). That would look F..in sweet in my game room

  • trickyspider

    Posted Sep 13, 2007 4:06 am PT

    woot woot!!! datz halo aiite.... i want dat car.. sik machine

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