Ride to reinvigorate Tony Hawk

Activision believes a mix of motion-senstive controls and family-orientated marketing will bring new life to Tony Hawk.

Sales of recent entries in the series haven’t matched up to earlier titles – but the publisher is dedicated to return the IP to its former glories with Tony Hawk: Ride and its bundled skateboard peripheral.

Tony Hawk: Ride is set to reinvigorate the franchise as it introduces a new exciting skateboard peripheral to the market,” brand manager Natalie Giles told MCV.

It’s a very social experience, which offers players the chance to recreate tricks like the pros with their friends and family. We are committed to making this title a family favourite.”

To achieve this, Activision has prepared an extensive marketing campaign to raise interest in Ride ahead of its December 4th release.

This will start with a strong four-week online campaign targeting the core audience of 9 to 14 year-old boys, with online ads supported by an aggressive PR campaign.

TV ads will run for three-weeks from December 1st, demonstrating the skateboard peripheral. A wider audience will be also be able to try out the board themselves at a variety of consumers events until mid-December.

Most notably, Ride will be sampled at the London Freeze and Metro Ski and Snowboard shows, as well as appearing as part of Activision’s nationwide tour of shopping centres.

The game will also be supported by comprehensive trade activity, with a range of POS made available to retailers and in-store demos arranged at key outlets.

Retail demand for Tony Hawk: Ride in other launch markets has been high so far,” Giles added.

Retailers have confidence in the product proposition due the unique social experience which both the game and the peripheral offer.”