Action Man final combat

Reports a case study of the award‐winning Action Man Final Combat campaign for Christmas 2003; the 36‐year old Action Man toy is the flagship brand of Hasbro, but was in decline and lacked “talkability”. Shows how the TV campaign used an interactive vote campaign which allowed children to direct the creative end of an Action Man advertisement story themselves, the result of the vote being given a heavily publicised TV programme. Outlines the other aspects of the campaign, which involved a Kids’ Immersion Day, other media including the Actionman.com website and a comic, and cooperation with leading retailers: the result was that 100,000 children became involved in the brand strategy, and Action Man regained the top spot for boys’ toys.