Marketing Techniques – Videogames

MARKETING is a combination of the following:

ADVERTISING

PUBLIC RELATIONS

PROMOTIONAL EVENTS/ACTIVITIES

Some marketing is directly PAID FOR by the company (above the line) and some is FREE (below the line).

Which of the following are ABOVE the line and which are BELOW? Are any both?

Key Techniques:

„ Creating a Brand Image

„ TV Advertising

„ Sponsorship – especially TV where programmes are sponsored by a specific videogame

„ Print Ads

„ Billboards, Buses, Bus Shelters

„ Magazines – adverts and articles

„ Partnerships with developers and other companies (like MacDonalds/UEFA)

„ Magazine Reviews and Features (where Master Games are pre-released or key personnel interviewed)

„ Word of Mouth

Other less traditional techniques:

„ Internet Sites for new releases

„ Fan-Based community sites

„ Viral adverts

„ Get free Modules if you buy from XXX retailer

„ Downloadable only content

„ Deals with 3^rd Party Developers

„ Internet LIVE accounts such as Xbox360 Live

„ Product sampling

Marketing is all about creating a marketing mix. They use the right strategies and associations using:

Word of mouth Endorsement Celebrity Endorsement Role Models/Trendsetters

Opinion Makers Promotional Events Product Sampling

And they cover a multiple range of medias - so web/internet, television, print etc

TASK: How would you use the above strategies to construct a creative and relatively cheap marketing campaign for the following games:

1. A good parenting game for young parents to be involving role-play/simulations

2. An action/adventure game featuring a central female protagonist, designed to attract teenage girls to gaming

3. A game designed to encourage literacy skills in young children, featuring a new range of domestic pet based characters

4. A non-violent game encouraging boys to develop their team/decision making and lateral thinking skills

5. A platform game themed around ‘life’, ‘family’ and ‘relationships’ designed to appeal to pensioners

Write a brief paragraph outlining your ideas and list some techniques for each idea giving specific ideas ON YOUR BLOG.

This is homework if you do not complete it in class time.