Modern Warfare 2 loses brand awareness without CoD name

Modern Warfare 2 has lost a sizeable lump of brand awareness by dropping the Call of Duty moniker, tracking firm OTX has told Gamasutra.

Apparently, Infinity Ward and Activision may have damaged retail chances by up to 20 percent with the move.

"Up until the beginning of May, OTX had been tracking the title as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. More specifically, we asked a representative group of gamers in the U.S. whether or not they had heard of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," said OTX's Nick Williams.

"At that time, approximately 40 percent of all gamers in the U.S. claimed that they had heard of this title."

He continued: "However, once it became clear that Activision was positioning the title as Modern Warfare 2, OTX removed 'Call of Duty' from the consumer survey, and the awareness levels dropped to 20 percent. In other words, the Call of Duty brand association essentially doubles the awareness for the game. That is quite a remarkable statistic."

More through the link.