To spread the word about the Wii video game console earlier this year, Nintendo recruited a handful of gregarious, tech-savvy mothers--dubbed "alpha moms"--to share the console with their friends.
Getting the Wii's TV-remote-style controller in the hands of non-gamers is a key element of Nintendo's strategy to broaden its appeal beyond the young men who usually can be counted on to snap up new
game systems.
Nintendo hosted what it described as "organic events" in eight cities--Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, Tonganoxie, Kansas, and Austin,
Texas.
The company hired a consultant to identify three sets of "ambassadors" in each city: a core gamer/loyalist that would sing the praises of the system to other gamers; a large
multi-generational family, where everyone from the kids to the grandparents could take turns with the Wii remote; and an alpha mom, who would presumably spread the word at schoolyards, soccer fields
and her neighborhood.
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