Game marketing lessons from retailers

Ubisoft Montreal/Target Column originally featured on MediaPost

There’s a recent trend among video game retailers that’s worthy of note for brand marketers. For a while now, retailers such as GameStop have been offering exclusive extras for their customers. These premiums were typically small tchotchkes, small inexpensive trinkets. But now we’re seeing this trend extend into the realm of downloadable content.

I recently returned from a vacation to Italy, where I saw the Palazzo Medici — an exquisite palace built during the Renaissance by Florence’s resident ruling family. If I want to access the Palazzo in Ubisoft’s upcoming game “Assassin’s Creed 2,” I’ll have to purchase the title from GameStop. This is hardly the only instance of this type of promotion. Read more.