Companies hope that the joint marketing effort will spell mutual success.
Nestle announced earlier this week that they had entered into a strategic partnership with Namco-Bandai to pair their Aquapod bottled water with Active Life: Outdoor Challenge for the Wii. Aquapod was unveiled in 2006 as a brand of bottled water aimed at children, a healthy alternative to soft drinks.
The appeal is in combining the game's active playstyle with the healthy image that bottled water has compared to soft drinks. Just as Aquapod bottled water is a healthier alternative to soft drinks, Active Life: Outdoor Challenge can't be played from the couch. Instead, it comes with a mat peripheral upon which players must stand, step, and move in order to play.
This is Nestle's second foray into in-game advertising. Last year they partnered with Konami to advertise the Aquapod brand in the Wii game Dewy's Adventure.
Namco-Bandai also expressed happiness with the joint effort involving their upcoming Active Life title. According to Executive Vice President of Sales, Andrew Lelchuk, the pairing with Nestle has helped them see unnoticed potential. Now, "as [they] first see design documents for a game, [they] … start to think about what kind of partner can be drawn into that game."
A Casual Games Association's 2007 market report claims that "74% of paying casual-games customers were female, and 72% of them were women over 35." Therefore, there may be similar demographics in the consumers that both companies are targeting.
As a part of the promotion, Namco-Bandai will feature a coupon for a pack of Aquapod in the box of Active Life. Beyond that the extent of Aquapod's inclusion in Active Life is uncertain, but Lelchuck added that "we don't want to turn this into a commercial experience; it's not meant to be."
Active Life: Outdoor Challenge will be available September 9 exclusively for the Nintendo Wii.