Difference between revisions of "Kids Go HoJo with Sega"

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Kids Go HoJo with Sega was a unique summer promotion, born from a venture between Sega of America and the American chain of hotels and motels Howard Johnson's^[1] which runned from May 24th through September 6th 1993, and subsequently from May 27th through September 5th 1994 and from May 27th trough September 4th 1995^[2] in all Howard Johnson Hotels and Inns across the United States of America and Canada.

Sega provided Howard Johnson Hotels and Howard Johnson Inns with Sega Game Gear portable video game consoles and a library of video game titles for guests to play at no charge, free VHS cassettes like Sega Game Gear Tips Volume 1 and Sega Game Gear Tips Volume 2, which contained hints and tips for several Sega Game Gear games and a collectible series of Kids Go HoJo Sonic the Hedgehog FunPacks which contained puzzles, games, booklets, and toys to amuse children while they were traveling. In addition, children could sign up for a complementary membership in the Kids Go HoJo Fun Club and get a special membership gift, most precisely, a free subscription to Sega Visions magazine, worth a 14 dollars retail value. All Howard Johnson Hotels and Howard Johnson Inns were equiped with life-size cutouts of Sonic the Hedgehog displayed in the lobby for souvenir picture-taking.

The summer promotion was supported by a 3.500.000^[3] dollars advertising campaign, including national television, radio and print, as well as local promotional activities. It was created by American Marketer Michael Berreth^[4]^[5] of Irvine-based advertizing agency Strottman International Inc.^[6]^[7] and won a CSPA^[8] Award of Excellence for Best Traffic-Building Promotion, with Howard Johnson's becoming a leader in mid-level lodging segment due to 9% increase in room sales.

Promotional material

Howard Johnson's Sega Game Gear Game Tips Vol. 1 US Video

Howard Johnson's Sega Game Gear Game Tips Vol. 2 US Video

US TV advert

Print advert in Sega Visions (US) #12: "April/May 1993" (1993-xx-xx)

Print advert in Sega Visions (US) #18: "April/May 1994" (1994-xx-xx)

Print advert in Sega Visions (US) #24: "May 1995" (1995-xx-xx)

Gallery

Photos of a Kids Go HoJo FunPack

SegaGameGearGameTips Vol 1 VHS US Box Front.jpg
SegaGameGearGameTips Vol 1 VHS US Box Back.jpg

External links

References

[https:.2F.2Fen.wikipedia.org.2Fwiki.2FHoward_Johnson.2527s-1] ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Johnson%27s

[https:.2F.2Fwww.nytimes.com.2F1995.2F05.2F07.2Ftravel.2Fpractical-traveler-hotels-offer-deals-and-toys.html-2] ttps://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/07/travel/practical-traveler-hotels-offer-deals-and-toys.html

[Press_release:_1993-02-18:_NEW_HOWARD_JOHNSON_KIDS_GO_HOJO_WITH_SEGA_VIDEO_GAME_FUN_PROGRAM-3] Press release: 1993-02-18: NEW HOWARD JOHNSON KIDS GO HOJO WITH SEGA VIDEO GAME FUN PROGRAM

[http:.2F.2Fmichaelberreth.weebly.com.2Fabout.html-4] ttp://michaelberreth.weebly.com/about.html

[http:.2F.2Fmichaelberreth.weebly.com.2Fpress--awards.html-5] ttp://michaelberreth.weebly.com/press--awards.html

[https:.2F.2Fweb.archive.org.2Fweb.2F20010520171726fw_.2Fhttp:.2F.2Fwww.strottman.com:80.2Fhistory2.html.23sega-6] ttp://www.strottman.com:80/history2.html#sega (Wayback Machine: 2001-05-20 17:17)

[http:.2F.2Fstrottman.com.2F-7] ttp://strottman.com/

[https:.2F.2Fen.wikipedia.org.2Fwiki.2FColumbia_Scholastic_Press_Association-8] ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_Scholastic_Press_Association

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[2]

[3]

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@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 Sega provided Howard Johnson Hotels and Howard Johnson Inns with Sega [[Game Gear]]  portable video game consoles and a library of video game titles for guests to play at no charge, free VHS cassettes like [[Sega Game Gear Tips Volume 1]] and [[Sega Game Gear Tips Volume 2]], which contained hints and tips for several Sega [[Game Gear]] games and a collectible series of '''''Kids Go HoJo''''' [http://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_the_Hedgehog Sonic the Hedgehog] '''''FunPacks''''' which contained puzzles, games, booklets, and toys to amuse children while they were traveling. In addition, children could sign up for a complementary membership in the '''''Kids Go HoJo''''' ''Fun Club''  and get a special membership gift, most precisely, a  free subscription to [[Sega Visions]] magazine, worth a 14 dollars retail value. All Howard Johnson Hotels and Howard Johnson Inns were equiped with life-size cutouts of [http://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_the_Hedgehog Sonic the Hedgehog]  displayed in the lobby for souvenir picture-taking.
-The summer promotion was supported by a 3.500.000{{intref|Press release: 1993-02-18: NEW HOWARD JOHNSON KIDS GO HOJO WITH SEGA VIDEO GAME FUN PROGRAM}} dollars advertising campaign, including national television, radio and print, as well as local promotional activities.
+The summer promotion was supported by a 3.500.000{{intref|Press release: 1993-02-18: NEW HOWARD JOHNSON KIDS GO HOJO WITH SEGA VIDEO GAME FUN PROGRAM}} dollars advertising campaign, including national television, radio and print, as well as local promotional activities. It was created by American Marketer Michael Berreth{{ref|http://michaelberreth.weebly.com/about.html}}{{ref|http://michaelberreth.weebly.com/press--awards.html}} of [[wikipedia:Irvine, California|Irvine]]-based advertizing agency '''''Strottman International Inc.'''''{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20010520171726fw_/http://www.strottman.com:80/history2.html#sega}}{{ref|http://strottman.com/}} and won a ''CSPA{{ref|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_Scholastic_Press_Association}} Award of Excellence for Best Traffic-Building Promotion'', with '''''Howard Johnson's''''' becoming a leader in mid-level lodging segment due to 9% increase in room sales.
@@ Line 50: / Line 50: @@
 ==External links==
 *[https://www.wyndhamhotels.com/hojo www.wyndhamhotels.com]
+*[http://strottman.com/ strottman.com]
 ==References==