Starting next month, Burger King will be selling three games developed for Microsoft's Xbox and Xbox 360 that feature its "King" advertising mascot. "Big Bumpin'," "Sneak King" and "PocketBike Racer"
will be sold in more than 7,500 BK restaurants for $3.99 with the purchase of a value meal. Russ Klein, president of marketing strategy and innovation, says, "We know that the eyeballs in the
increasingly fractured media world are harder to get, and gaming is one of the places they are going." The move follows a three-year push into other emerging media, such as micro sites, mobile phones,
video downloads and text messaging, while spending in traditional media has fallen sharply. While Klein admits that the company's ads, by Crispin Porter + Bogusky, have a point of view that "feels
more male," he says data from IAG show they outperform McDonald's and Wendy's on recall and likeability among 18-34 and 35-49 men and women. BK's core customer "generally appreciates the edge," Klein
says. He also maintains that the "DNA of the Burger King brand tends to be a bit more adolescent and stormy" than its competitors.
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