Resident Evil 6 to sponsor 'The Walking Dead'

By Maisie McCabe, mediaweek.co.uk, Monday, 14 May 2012 10:15AM

Resident Evil 6, the upcoming video game release from Capcom, has signed a partnership with Channel 5 to sponsor zombie series 'The Walking Dead' as part of its launch marketing activity.

The Walking Dead on 5: sponsored by Capcom game Resident Evil 6

‘The Walking Dead’ starts this evening (14 May) and the sponsorship will include bumpers across the series' 13 episodes when they are shown on Channel 5 on Monday nights and also when they are repeated on digital channel 5*.

The sponsorship idents were made by Channel 5's in-house team.

The deal was negotiated by WPP media agency Mindshare, and will also include Resident Evil branding on the catch-up service Demand 5 and on Channel 5's website.

To support the new series of 'The Walking Dead', Channel 5 sister newspaper, the Northern & Shell-owned Daily Star, will run a Resident Evil-branded competition to win a zombie experience day.

Agostino Di Falco, partnerships director at Channel 5, said: "'The Walking Dead' attracts a strong young male interest group and this partnership demonstrates how our assets can build awareness and drive anticipation of the game's launch whilst also delivering the best value to Capcom."

Resident Evil 6 will be released in the next few weeks.

Capcom has traditionally used digital advertising to promote its Resident Evil franchise but last year it began using above-the-line media when it held chemistry meetings with a series of ad agencies.

This article was first published on mediaweek.co.uk