ERICSSON PRIMES TOMB RAIDER CAMPAIGN
Copyright 2001 www.tombraiderchronicles.com Official Ericsson Press Release

[ May 11th 2001 ]

Keep an eye on newspaper and TV advertising on May 15, Ericsson is to start a new campaign in conjunction with the launch of the film "Lara Croft. Tomb Raider." At about the same time, two websites will be launched, one internal and one external, where employees and the general public can win prizes and learn more about Ericsson, the film and the game.

"The campaign is full of energy, tempo and lively music. I can't find a better word than ‘cool' to describe it," says Dusyant Patel, who has global responsibility for the entire campaign. Most people are aware that Ericsson is placing its products in the film Tomb Raider, which is based on the computer game of the same name. In conjunction with the film campaign, Ericsson is starting its own maketing campaign to make use of the attention surrounding the film. The campaign will be rolled out in the US on May 15 and will subsequently run in about a dozen countries - including Brazil, Taiwan, France and Sweden - for a few weeks in the lead-up to the film premiere. It will feature in newspapers, as TV commercials and in retailers' premises. In the US, for example, more than 37 000 stores will be selling the T20 phone with Tomb Raider accessories. The advertising agency BBH (Bartle Bogle Hegarty) is behind the campaign, which is mainly targeted at young people aged 18-28. The aim is to increase sales of mobile phones and awareness of the brand.

But why is Ericsson investing so much money in an advertising campaign in these times of cutbacks? "We have to keep marketing our products. The fact is that it costs less to produce a global campaign than to mount ten local campaigns. We have also used messages that are universal," explains Dusyant Patel. Two websites are to be available in conjunction with the campaign. On May 11, the internal website will be opened, with the external website being launched on May 15. The sites contain information about the film, the game and the actors, as well as competitions. The first prize in the intranet competition is a trip to Los Angeles, where the winner and a friend will pay a visit behind the scenes at the Paramount Pictures studio. The film Tomb Raider will be shown at 8,000 cinemas in 44 countries. Some 100 million people have played the Tomb Raider computer game.