Content area
Full Text
Call it kismet. While almost a year's worth of planning preceded the unveiling of their co-branded gaming units at department store apparel floors, a fall 1998 promotional partnership between Tommy Hilfiger and Nintendo of America sparked from simultaneous flashes of inspiration. Around the time Tommy Hilfiger childrenswear president Todd Howard was asking his promo shop to look for a company to create a Hilfiger videogame he'd envisioned, Nintendo's agency Westcott Marketing was sending out a mailing to generate promo interest among hot brands that appealed to Nintendo's demographic. Included in the batch: Tommy Hilfiger.
Howard doesn't recall seeing the mailing-his agency, Zag Wear, had put in a call to Nintendo independently.
Both companies liked the fact that while they shared a demo of young boys, an alliance could get each into a new channel, department stores for Nintendo, toy and electronics stores and anywhere else that sells videogames for Hilfiger's boys division. "It's non-traditional exposure for both of us," said Westcott's president Mark Westcott. "Where Tommy sells clothing is not where Nintendo sells its products. But we're going after the same consumers."
Determining there was enough of a bond, Howard, designer Tommy Hilfiger and Zag Wear president Judd Karofsky flew to Nintendo headquarters in Redmond, Wash., to meet Westcott, Nintendo marketing vp George Harrison and ad and promotions director Erick Soderstrom. After laying their ideas on the table at that initial meeting, the execs rolled up their sleeves and began ironing out specifics. Considering that Hilfiger had launched a snowboarding apparel line, they decided that the 1080(deg) Snowboarding game, set to launch six weeks prior to the promo, would prove a neat fit. They decided on a 1998 back-toschool program, coinciding with the heated apparel-selling period.
Howard brought to the table a little independent market research with his target demo of 6- to 12-year-old boys. "My son and all of his friends played the game," he said. "At the time we were doing this there was no question I was the coolest dad in...