No problem :) Yeah - this tour is something I'd never heard of before and it's a real shame Sega never thought to roll it out (groan) around the world. I wonder where those armoured vehicles are now and whether they've still got the Dreamcasts inside haha!
I worked on this promotion many many years ago! The reason you probably never heard of it was because of the positioning - we were targeting the hard core gamer, not the mass market - those that were the influencers....the nature of the Mobile Assualt Tour was secret and exclusive....only those "in the know" .... So even back then it wasn't overly advertised - that would have been "uncool" - we would show up in a major market and gamers would find us...good memories, great team of creative, smart marketers! Thanks for the video....BTW I have one of very few MAT vests...!
Wow - thanks for commenting Riley, that sounds really cool. No wonder very few people have heard of the MAT! I now have the sticker pcwzrd sent me proudly adorning the wall in my games room!
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
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A cool Youtuber by the name of PCwzrd13 recently got in touch with me after I lamented on Twitter that the fish/human simulator Seaman/Caution Seaman never received a PAL release. Sensing my soul-crushing sadness at the lack of a blue-boxed version of everyone's favourite fish 'em up, he very kindly offered to send me his spare copy all the way from the good ol' US of A...an offer I gladly accepted. To be honest, I totally forgot about our conversation but a week or so later the game arrived on my door mat, and included in the envelope was a promotional sticker for a Dreamcast event that I'd never heard of before: the Mobile Assault Tour...
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Naturally, I was a little confused as to what this sticker was referring to, but before I could launch my own mobile assault on Google, PCwzrd13 contacted me again to explain what the sticker was alluding to Apparently, the Mobile Assault Tour was a US advertising and promotional campaign held by Sega to raise awareness of the Dreamcast in major cities around the country. Nothing unusual about that right? Well, how about if I told you that Sega employed the use of armoured trucks with Dreamcasts stuck to their sides? Here's the man himself, PCwzrd13 explaining this intriguing campaign in his own words:
"People complaining about the lack of noise in Sega's Dreamcast promotional campaign can stop their whining. The Sega Dreamcast Mobile Assault Tour has been announced, and if it's everything Sega claims it will be (and why shouldn't it be?), the word "Dreamcast" is going to be echoing endlessly through the red, white, and blue skies of our beautiful nation as early as August 23rd. Here's the deal on what Sega has cooking. Starting August 23rd, and continuing on for 22 weeks, the Mobile Assault Tour will strike more than 39 cities, including New York Los Angeles, Boston, and San Francisco (what about Redwood City, Sega - have you forgotten your roots!?). The tour will begin its assault on each local market with the arrival of the six-ton, 46 foot "assault" truck (pictured at the top of this article)"
- IGN
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I certainly can't remember Sega Europe doing anything this high profile in the UK - the most impressive thing I ever heard about was them sponsoring one of Chris Eubanks' big rig trucks and painting a big blue swirl on it. Oh, and there was that Mitsubishi Lancer that had Dreamcasts in the boot or something...which obviously helped shift a gut-load of consoles. Or not. Thanks again to PCwzrd13, and feel free to check out his nicely-named channel, Dreamcastic or read more about the Mobile Assault Tour at IGN.
"The Mobile Assault Tour"
5 Comments -
Thanks for the shout man! How did this tour not lead to a billion Dreamcast sales?! The PS2 didn't have any ATVs or armored trucks! lol
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
No problem :) Yeah - this tour is something I'd never heard of before and it's a real shame Sega never thought to roll it out (groan) around the world. I wonder where those armoured vehicles are now and whether they've still got the Dreamcasts inside haha!
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
The ultimate Dreamcast collector's items right there! Hahaha!
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
I worked on this promotion many many years ago! The reason you probably never heard of it was because of the positioning - we were targeting the hard core gamer, not the mass market - those that were the influencers....the nature of the Mobile Assualt Tour was secret and exclusive....only those "in the know" .... So even back then it wasn't overly advertised - that would have been "uncool" - we would show up in a major market and gamers would find us...good memories, great team of creative, smart marketers! Thanks for the video....BTW I have one of very few MAT vests...!
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Wow - thanks for commenting Riley, that sounds really cool. No wonder very few people have heard of the MAT! I now have the sticker pcwzrd sent me proudly adorning the wall in my games room!
Wednesday, October 22, 2014