Sainsburys: £26 MW2 put us on the map

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has established Sainsbury’s as a major player in games, claims the supermarket.

The retailer celebrated the impact of the game’s launch during its 2010 Entertainment Conference, highlighting the event as one of its most successful ventures in the past twelve months – thanks to its 26 price point.

We priced it very aggressively, but we also set it up as a very big event by giving it TV advertising and a lot of store space,” said Sainsbury’s games manager Gurdeep Hunjan.

The important thing about this release for us is that it put Sainsbury’s and games on the map. Ever since then, Sainsbury’s has continued to perform really, really well in the games category.

Call of Duty was a key catalyst to that. We’ve now got over 100,000 new video games customers that we can sell to and support in a range of different ways.”

Hunjan explained that the success of MW2 led the Sainsbury’s business to take games more seriously, giving his team access to more floor space and marketing resources.

Entertainment marketing manager Sheetal Meakin added: Call of Duty signified a massive step change in how Sainsbury’s perceived entertainment.

This is where we came to the forefront of the business’ mind. Our market-leading price caused a big buzz in terms of PR and press publicity, which we’re very proud of.

People were queuing for hours before the store opened on launch day – I believe that hasn’t happened since World War II, when people were queuing up for their rations.”