Kinect and Windows Phone 7 marketing to cost Microsoft $1 billion+

Ever wondered how much it costs to market two high-profile tech launches in the same year? Well, if you’re Microsoft looking to tout your new range of Windows Phone 7 devices and Xbox 360 motion-controlling Kinect kit, you’re looking at roughly a cool $1 billion.

It’s a figure Austin Power’s arch-nemesis Doctor Evil would be proud of. Split in two, that amounts to roughly $400 million on the smartphones and more than $500 million on Kinect. That’s nearly £649,525,000 to us English folk.

Kinect in particular has quite an extravagent launch planned. Cross brand tie-ins with Burger King, Pepsi and Kellogs are all lined up, a mjor television ad campaign that will involve the Disney channel, Nickelodeon and spots between hit shows such as “Glee” and US talent show “Dancing with the Stars”, as well as a rumoured involvement from directorial maestro Steven Spielberg.

This is in addition to over 7,000 midnight game store openings to conincide with the launch stateside.

“Kinect is the largest, most integrated marketing initiative in Xbox history, bigger than [the Xbox 360’s] launch,” said general manager of global marketing communications at Xbox, Robert Matthews. “We are going to be spending millions to launch this globally.”

Here’s hoping it pays off.

Via: All Things Digital / New York Post