Game gives ads a female slant

Game is to kick off its first marketing campaign targeting women as it bids to woo more females into its stores over the crucial Christmas trading period.

The computer games retailer is investing 20 per cent of its multi-million pound marketing spend this Christmas on targeting women, who may not know as much about the products they buy as gifts.

Game is also promoting specific titles that are likely to be a hit among female gamers. The retailer is launching its ad campaign in partnership with software giants Microsoft and Codemasters, which are releasing two big games aimed specifically at women and children.

Codemasters is behind the computer game version of ITV smash show Pop Idol for the PlayStation 2, PC and GameBoy Advance SP, while Microsoft is releasing Grabbed by the Ghoulies for Xbox.

The ad campaign will run in national newspapers and women's magazines.

Game marketing director Anna Macario said: 'These two products are perfect to kick-start our first push to these demographics. These are exactly the kinds of campaigns that we need to raise the awareness of games among a wider audience.

'We'll be reaching a total of 15 million females in a very short, concentrated space of time, with each campaign reaching about 50 per cent of our target market.'