I think it’s safe to say that there are marketing campaigns that succeed and others that fall flat. What many underestimate though is the effect that marketing can have on a game, movie or other form of entertainment. When it’s good, it’s good but when it goes bad…it really goes bad. And then there are times when the initial point was to have it go bad because in some strange ways bad is actually good.
I’m sure that was confusing but work with me. There’s an old saying that goes ’any publicity is good publicity’. In some cases it’s hard to argue that it isn’t that way. Dante’s Inferno anyone? In my opinion I think the marketing around Dante’s Inferno has been very effective.
That brings me to my question. Think about your favorite game/movie or your least favorite game/movie. Think about a game or movie that you intend on purchasing or viewing in the near future. Did the marketing help or hurt when it came down to a) finding out about it, b) buying the game or tickets or c) totally wiping it off of your list of games/movies to pay attention to.
What say you?
October 16, 2009 @ 4:58 pm
I LOVE BEES
October 16, 2009 @ 6:10 pm
If a game gets little to no advertising/marketing, it comes across as a budget title. And while reviewers might pick it up as a great “under-the-radar” game, wouldn’t it have succeeded during launch better if it was on all our radars to begin with?
October 16, 2009 @ 6:29 pm
As a game collector, marketing doesn’t have a huge effect on games I’m already going to buy in terms of buying it, or wiping it from my list. Say for example a new game from my favourite publisher/developer (which btw is Square Enix), or the next game in a series I’ve already started collecting. I would buy those games regardless of marketing.
However, the issue of actually finding out about the game is completely different. Square Enix fail to market any game that isn’t from their Final Fantasy franchise very well in the UK/Europe. Just go take a look at their European website, it contains no information on any of their games, apart from a flash banner on the home page revealing SOME of their latest titles. Blue Dragon Plus from Mistwalker also comes to mind. As far as I was aware, it hadn’t even been released outside of the US/Japan. But you can actually get it here, only from one shop though. How is anyone supposed to know that game is even out here!? This is where marketing certainly helps me, finding out about games.
As a final note, from this wall of text (sorry), marketing has definitely HURT my opinion of one publisher/developer… Nintendo. Seeing their DS and Wii adverts in the UK just make me cringe. As an owner of the Wii and DS, I hate seeing adverts about OAP taxi drivers that now play those systems. Nintendo just do not market for gamers anymore =( But you all knew that anyway right
October 16, 2009 @ 6:53 pm
Halo 3′s advertising campaign was really the only time when marketing has influenced my decision on buying a game. The live action trailers and the TV adverts were simply incredible and pulled in someone (me) who had previously had no interest in Halo. I loved every moment of it
Other than that, and perhaps ODST where the same happened, it’s only really my friends persuasive powers or my own experience playing a game that will change my decision on whether or not to buy it.
October 16, 2009 @ 7:40 pm
wow..really great feedback in here!
October 16, 2009 @ 7:59 pm
Bioshock comes to mind. I was stoked for it by reading the premise of it, previews and so on. Then the demo came out and I was completely unimpressed. I decided not to get it. I ended up receiving it as a gift and decided to choke through the first level and see if I could get into it. I never put it down after that. Loved it.
I’d say every aspect of the marketing has to be your “A” game because not every person is going to view all aspects of the ad campaign. If I had not been interested before playing the demo it’s unlikely that I would have opened the game and tried it.
October 16, 2009 @ 8:05 pm
you scratch my back, i scratch yours
October 17, 2009 @ 1:07 am
Like the majority of the people here, I agree that Bungie did an excellent job on promoting their product. It definitely helped that Halo 2 was the game I was having the most fun with at the time, but their ad strategies were downright flawless.
As for future releases, Modern Warfare 2 comes to mind because Activision and Infinity Ward are staying relatively on the down low about what to expect. We already know there’s going to be new weapons/perks, plus the addition of vehicle(s), but that’s pretty much it. The secretiveness of the whole thing also makes the package as a whole way more tempting, and their well thought out TV spots and other media related releases only make people more hyped.
Anyways…Marketing works. If you have the money and the right people conjuring up some ad campaign goodness, you will most certainly be reaching a good portion of your target audience.
October 17, 2009 @ 1:28 am
Halo 3: ODST.
The alternate reality game on Bungie.net got me into the game. Honestly, I play the game for my little green guy. Without him, I do not think that viral game would of had me interested in the game.
Watching that countdown on Bungie.net kept me into it the whole ride(Although, when Microsoft blew the announcement that made me angry). Other than that, I think marketing campaigns always work in some way or another. You always attract someone to your product no matter if it is a game or even dog food. The more marketing the better.
October 17, 2009 @ 1:42 am
Now that I have read a few comments, I would also have to agree with the first comment by Jonathan. Some games do not have budgets that allow major marketing that other games such as Halo 3 and Call of Duty receive. This limits games to only a demo of the product to market it. This also ruins the game as the game wasn’t previously marketed and not many people would be interested in the demo in the first place.
Also with games being over marketed when all of the details are spilled by the developers is bad too. I do remember a game(Although not sure on it’s name) that was heavily marketed thus making the initial reaction to the game go down dramatically.
If you have a perfect balance of marketing you will have a very successful product. Companies should take a good portion out of their budget to make for marketing alone to promote their game.
October 17, 2009 @ 5:58 am
The one piece of marketing that sticks in my mind, was just how awesome the Far Cry 2 trailers looked last year.
I held off buying the game, but folded when the price tumbled massively, after a month or so on sale.
That game was excellent in principle, but was a huge disappointment.
October 17, 2009 @ 9:28 am
I am a huge fan of ARGs and marketing def has an effect on my purchasing decision. The best ARG I have participated in was for the Nine Inch Nails album “Year Zero” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Zero_(game) . In my opinion this and the marketing for The Dark Knight were two of the best examples that came to mind! Both of these ARGs immersed me into their world with phonecalls, websites, emails and most importantly swag. ARGs are the wave of the future and I’m glad to see that a company finally “gets it”.
Go 51.
October 17, 2009 @ 10:10 am
There appear to be three categories of marketing that can influence a purchase:
1) The No Brainer: It seems like the guaranteed “good” games that are going to sell like hotcakes get some great and imaginative marketing campaigns to back them. The games are going to sell well (Halo series) regardless of advertising dollars. But I do see how those dollars help sway those folks who might be on the fence about purchasing the game and/or console. Money is well spent by the marketing department to further the hype.
2) The Steamer: No matter what you throw at this “turd”, it’s still going to be a “turd” and people can smell it a mile away. When we the consumers start using terms like, “over-hyped” prior to launch, then you know you have a stinker on the horizon. The marketing departments involved with helping these projects have no chance of success. If the game sells well, and the feedback is awful, then the developer is screwed for the next project. If the game doesn’t sell well, then the developer is screwed for the next project.
3) The Silent Killer: There are incredible games that get made on shoestring budgets with no money available to “hype” them after the game is finished. These games sell well through word-of-mouth, but could “blow up” if there was a way to get the message out to the masses. A lot of folks never played Metal Arms: Glitch In The System on the original Xbox, and missed out on an incredible experience. If this game had been marketed, it could have been huge! I bought the game on a whim, but can’t fathom how many people would have purchased this game if there was some wide-spread campaign to back it. These are the games that can use a creative marketing company to help them and the ones that I want to know about. I already know about the “no brainers” and “turds”. Tell me about the “silent killers”.
October 17, 2009 @ 11:58 am
For me marketing doesn’t play a big roll for me. :/
If I see a game, i’ll research it myself to decide whether or not i’ll buy it. Marketing only works for me if it is a game I know I want because it pushes me to preorder instead of waiting for it to become cheaper.
October 17, 2009 @ 2:40 pm
Marketing for Modern Warfare 2 has made me into a “raving fan”. I talk about it to all my friends, and also some random people. I think it has to do with the whole hype building process. I started following Twitter and am pretty much just a twitter stalker, hoping Fourzerotwo will update more info about the game. His blog has very little activity leading up to launch though, and that is a little disappointing. I think it is the thrill of the unknown factors in MW2 that have me so hyped. They release little tid-bits at a time, keeping me on my toes hoping for more juicy info. I bet they have a whole time-line set up, with a well thought out releases of information on certain dates, just enough to keep my interest. This along with the very cool Monster Energy drink promo they are doing is working on me. I have bought four 4packs of that and every one has been a winner. (2 themes and 2 map packs).
I think with marketing a game you must know who you are marketing it to, and also be honest about what the game is. Shadowrun is a good example of poor marketing. If I had not been a beta tester I wouldn’t have known this game was a counter-strike style game. Microsoft could have done a much better job marketing this game. They hardly ever pointed to its strengths, and just marketed the “magic + guns” aspect when it was actually a hardcore FPSers dream game. A lot of people were very let down when Shadowrun came out because they were hoping for a some sort of campaign. Even most reviews were negative. But the core game was good, if not extremely polished. People bashed that game hard, and it was difficult for me because I loved it.
Thinking of Shadowrun, and Modern Warfare, I think a beta is a great marketing tool. If the game is fun, a lot of people beta testing it will brag to their friends about it, and in turn create the hype.