Microsoft is taking the term 360-degree marketing rather literally — for the launch of its new gaming and entertainment console Xbox 360 (an extension of their Xbox console).

The company has employed five different agencies, each for its marketing and promotions, each handling a niche aspect of the strategy.

For their creative and advertising duties, McCann Erickson will be in charge, Brand David will handle outdoor events. The Xbox 360 events will be under Percept D'Mark, while Gotocustomer will deal with retail activation.

Finally, the public-relations duties for the brand will be for PR firm Text100.

In an official communiqué, Mohit Anand, country manager, Microsoft Entertainment and Devices Division, India, said: "With each one of them occupying a unique niche in
their respective fields and being reputed for their best-of-breed services, we are confident that this will be an extremely exciting and successful association."

Wall Street, the outdoor division of Brand David, will be handling the outdoor duties for the brand. Mandeep Malhotra, management supervisor, Wall Street, said he cannot reveal too much about the campaign since it is expected to create a lot of noise in the market.

However, he did add that the campaign would be about experiencing the product and its qualities: 1,200 touch points are going to be created around the country for people to interact with the Xbox 360 console.

Wall Street won the account in a pitch process which included other Indian as well as international agencies.

Santosh Desai, President, McCann Erickson India, says that they already had an existing relationship with Microsoft and getting the Xbox 360 creative duties was only a natural extension of that.

Commenting on the fact that more companies are looking more at getting specialised units and splitting up expertise, Desai says, "It is the responsibility of the agency to convince the clients that it has all the answers, yet it does make sense for the clients to pick and choose the best from the class."

According to Desai, full-service businesses as a ratio are going down, with people picking and choosing media partners separate from the creative agency.

The Xbox 360 launched in November 2005 in America, Canada and Puerto Rico, making it the first console to have a simultaneous release across three major regions.

This news message is brought to you by Veer.