Montana leaves its tag in Sony's award-winning B-Boy

***wraggster*** · October 2nd, 2006, 16:19

Hive, the wholly owned strategic communications subsidiary of leading independent in-game advertising specialist IGA Worldwide, has developed a product placement campaign for Montana, the spray can of choice for graffiti artists, in Sony Computer Entertainment Europe’s hotly tipped breakdancing release B-Boy.

Available on PlayStation2 and PSP, B-Boy has been developed by FreeStyleGames, one of the UK’s leading independent studios, and has already picked up major accolades at this year’s E3 show including ‘Best Music Game’ (PSP and PS2) and ‘Most Innovative Game’ (PSP).

The game has been created in collaboration with DJ Hooch and international hip-hop legend ‘Crazy Legs’ from the Rock Steady Crew, who also features as in-game host.

With the success of the game riding on its authenticity, Hive worked closely with Montana to ensure that the brand’s product and values were incorporated sympathetically into the game environment.

“B-Boy represented a great opportunity for us to reach our target audience via an innovative advertising platform,” said Ruedi Glatz, CEO at Montana. “In this instance not only are there obvious synergies between our brand and the game but we felt that the method itself speaks volumes about our values – by using in-game advertising now we’re reinforcing our brand as innovative, forward-thinking and challenging mainstream thinking.”

In real life the spray paint specialist sponsors a graffiti team of five internationally renowned artists, known as the MONTANA WRITER TEAM. Original artwork by Montana’s team has been included in the game environment to further enhance its authenticity. The spray cans appear throughout the game helping to recreate a realistic hip-hop environment.

“This is a great example of a best practice in-game advertising campaign - Montana's spray cans are incorporated seamlessly into the game – and testament to Hive's experience and in-depth understanding of the gaming world," said Chris Lee, commercial director at FreeStyleGames. “Not only do well-executed product placement campaigns such as this one help the advertiser to reach an increasingly fragmented audience, they enhance the gamer's experience through a genuine and authentic representation of real world brands.”

“Working with both the games developer and the advertiser, we’re the guardians not only of the brands we represent but perhaps more importantly the gamer’s experience,” said Rachel Normal, MD at Hive. “It is critical that prospective players from the hip-hop community view the game as a sympathetic representation of their world, otherwise people simply won’t play. We’ve really enjoyed getting under the skin of B-boy culture to develop this campaign to ensure that the visuals enhance rather than disrupt the game play.”

B-Boy is due to be launched on October 6, 2006 on PlayStation2 and PSP.

**dejkirkby** · October 2nd, 2006, 16:22

Sounds like a great game and all, but breakdancing? Very Pretty Fly for a White Guy stylee, huh?

**Hungry Horace** · October 2nd, 2006, 18:47

sounds to me like a big spiel about what is essential an advert in a game.

why would we want this? even more, why would i want to read about this on DCEmu?? i guess news has been a bit slow these last few days! i dont much like having more "product" jammed down my throat, so i'm really not gonna get excited about it happening in games. It's the same reason i dont watch much TV.

what's wrong with "Whammy Burger" or "Pony" or other such comedy substutions?!

edit ... and any quote that uses the word "synergies" - you know is just a bunch of buzz-word nonsense!

**MaxSMoke** · October 2nd, 2006, 18:53

Isn't graffiti, by description, is the act of illegally defacing property, right? It's like a crime, or something, right?

It's all well and good that some people in the world feel the need to commit petty crimes as an act of rebellion, but it's not really a legitimate art form or a cultural phenomena. Maybe they should make a game on Mailbox smashing next? If somebody did legitimate art with a spray can, it would be called Spray Can Art, not graffiti.

And the only people that spin it as something artistic and noble are immortal marketing executives, looking to cash in and make a quick buck off their shallow, stereotypical idea of what urban culture is. In other words, Getto Exploitation.

Well we're seeing alot of sell-outs looking to make a quick buck off the stupidity of buisness-suit culture, is anybody really looking for such a derivative game? The last fun game with graffiti in it was Jet Set Radio.

If we wanted Exploitation games, we could play Def Jam, 50 Cent's shooter, or even GTA. At least they are stylized and interesting rip-offs of urban decay and suffering, exploiting the poor for the unfulfilled dreams of havoc by the middle class. This is just lame marketing fluff. A half hearted grab at the allowance money of insulated middle-class dopes looking for a dose of stereotypes. Here's a hint, if they use the words "Street Culture" in the Ad, then whatever you're seeing is NOT "Street Culture". Ok?

And BTW, Krylon is the choise of paints for "Graphitii Artists", 'cause it's cheap and sold everywhere!