Did the INTV have a slogan?

[Cebus Capucinis]

Just as the title states, did Intellivision use a consistent slogan in their marketing? I've done some searches and it looks like the most consistent one I can find is "The closest thing to the real thing", but most of the marketing seems to be specifically aimed at the comparisons between the Atari 2600 and the Intellivision. I never saw INTV ads or anything growing up (only Atari commercials ever), so I'm not familiar with their marketing. I'm mostly just curious, but I may be cookin' something up.

[LidLikesIntellivision]

Not the best guy to answer but I think it is: Intellivision, The Intelligent Television.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qepPME6Vd48

[Cebus Capucinis]

Yeah, that's another catchphrase they used really regularly. It seems they used my first one, the Intelligent Television, and "I didn't know!" as one of the big ones in print ads and TV marketing. It seems like Mattel was really the only company out there to not use a "slogan" directly. For Atari, there's "Have you played Atari today?", and the ColecoVision had "Your vision is our vision", even the Odyssey 2 had the slogan of "The keyboard is the key"....but Intellivision didn't seem to have a consistent slogan, which is a little odd given advertising techniques of the time.

[LidLikesIntellivision]

I think an inteligent television wouldn't repeat over and over the same phrase!

That's why Mattel didn't use a consistent slogan on T.V.

 

On the other hand Intellivision is the slogan!

It fits perfectly in a Brazilian saying: "Pra bom entendedor, meia palavra basta."

 

Trying to translate: Half word is sufficient for the one who understands.

[Rev]

Some people think the slogan should be:

 

Intellivision, the controller sucks!

[Cebus Capucinis]

Some people think the slogan should be:

 

Intellivision, the controller sucks!

 

LOL! For me that would be "Intellivision, at least the controller isn't a 5200 joystick!"

[Rev]

LOL! For me that would be "Intellivision, at least the controller isn't a 5200 joystick!"

 

Seriously, I have 2 broken 5200 controllers right now....

[1980gamer]

I think they advertised by NETWORK.

Sports was:

 

The closest thing, to the real thing!

 

Space games had...

After playing Star Strike, Asteroids left me rather flat or something like that.

 

Mixed game ad's had: I didn't know?

 

I can't remember the voice games

[atari5200dude82]

I love the Intellivision and 5200 controlllers. They are comfortable at least in my hands. The worst is Colecovision. It is really akward to hold for awhile and the small knob. The Intv controllers are easy to control with your thumbnail, once you get used to it.

[Cebus Capucinis]

I love the Intellivision and 5200 controlllers. They are comfortable at least in my hands. The worst is Colecovision. It is really akward to hold for awhile and the small knob. The Intv controllers are easy to control with your thumbnail, once you get used to it.

 

Yeah, I was going to go with ColecoVision controllers actually, those things cramp hands like crazy.

 

So aside from the "unnamed E.T. actor" ads and the Intelligent Television catchphrase, there really wasn't anything consistent in Mattel's advertising. I find that really interesting -- I'm taking a case studies in marketing course, and one of the things I was writing a paper about was catchphrases in the video game industry and how most video game marketers instantly look for the quick catch in advertising. Mattel didn't really seem to have that concept, and they sold 3 million consoles. It makes it a bit interesting to think about whether the catchphrase really does make the difference!

[zylon]

I seem to remember "Coming soon!" being used a lot.

[Cebus Capucinis]

I seem to remember "Coming soon!" being used a lot.

 

LOL! Yeah, both INTV and ColecoVision were notorious for that!

[bennybingo]

If I remember correctly, the catch phrase was:

 

 

:grin: :grin:

[zylon]

LOL! Yeah, both INTV and ColecoVision were notorious for that!

That even made it to the "Red Green Show" once.

[Utopia]

I think they advertised by NETWORK.

Sports was:

 

The closest thing, to the real thing!

 

Space games had...

After playing Star Strike, Asteroids left me rather flat or something like that.

 

Mixed game ad's had: I didn't know?

 

I can't remember the voice games

It Talks!

[+DZ-Jay]

Yeah, I was going to go with ColecoVision controllers actually, those things cramp hands like crazy.

 

So aside from the "unnamed E.T. actor" ads and the Intelligent Television catchphrase, there really wasn't anything consistent in Mattel's advertising. I find that really interesting -- I'm taking a case studies in marketing course, and one of the things I was writing a paper about was catchphrases in the video game industry and how most video game marketers instantly look for the quick catch in advertising. Mattel didn't really seem to have that concept, and they sold 3 million consoles. It makes it a bit interesting to think about whether the catchphrase really does make the difference!

 

But, they indeed were consistent. You're just trying to look for a single pattern that encompasses every single advertisement. Mattel was a large conglomerate, used to marketing many different products simultaneously, so they took the approach of targeting their advertisements by category or even by individual campaign.

 

Like some have said above, sports titles had a catch phrase ("the closest thing to the real thing"), but even that was by campaign. When George Plimpton was brought in to do advertising, their slogan was "once you compare, you'll know."

 

For a time, they used "Intellivision. Intelligent Television." However, that was one of their earliest campaigns.

 

Think of it as the way Apple advertises. There isn't a single common thread among all their advertisements ever made. There was the "Think Different" campaign, and the "Mac vs. PC" campaign; then there was the "Siri" campaign. They're all consistent within themselves, but different from each other. This adds variety.

 

-dZ.