Transcript games!

Who Needs Publishers?
How Developers Can Launch Their Own Interactive
Marketing Campaigns
Business & Marketing Track
(DRAFT – V.75)
John Lee
My Passions
• GAMES! GAMES! GAMES!
– Game developer 1st, then a business man
– 15 yrs in gaming, but created 1st game in
5th grade
– Finished 1000 games to date
– Nationally ranked VG champion (Thx
Sega!)
• COMMUNITY BUILDING
• Founded a social networking company in 1999
• Conducted research work at Columbia on
social media and gaming in 2003
• G+C=B
• Founded Bardo Entertainment in 2007
– Focused on combining both of my passions
Topic of Discussion
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Interactive Marketing – What it is / What it isn’t
Developing A Marketing Plan
Finding Your Key Influencers
Creating Specific Programs
– Blogger Outreach
– Media Outreach
– Events
– Creating Your Own Blog
• The Power of a Kartel
• Q&A – Saving the Best for Last
What is Interactive Marketing?
• Let’s clarify what it’s NOT
• Interactive Marketing is NOT about building
a presence on every social network
• Yes the HYPE for social networks is huge
– Social networks grown 93% since 2006
– People connect with 18 friends 1-to-1,
and ping +110 people each week
• Are social networks a good forum for
pitching your game?
< 5% visit SNs for “purchase decision
guidance”
< 9% of tweets have “value”
• Not saying you shouldn’t embrace SNs –
Just don’t make it your main focus
Interactive Marketing Definition
• Marketing has moved from a transaction-based
effort to a CONVERSATION
• “Interactive marketing is the ability to address
the customer, REMEMBER what the customer
says and address the customer AGAIN in a way
that illustrates that we remember what the
customer has told us” - John Deighton at
Harvard - 1996
• Interactive marketing is not = ONLINE
MARKETING
• Though the internet does facility interactive
marketing
• Easier to collect customer information,
communicate at lightning speed, and adjust our
message as we go along, etc.
Traditional vs Interactive Marketing
Traditional
• Awareness generation
• One way messaging
• Firm positioning
• Powerful for 1 time launch
• Hype driven
• Mostly Ad Driven - $$$
Interactive
• LOYALTY building
• Full feedback LOOP
• FLUID positioning
• Powerful for brand building
• Emotion driven
• Mostly PR Driven - $
Why It’s Time To Shift:
Competition giving gamers more choices
Recession making gamers more choosy
Internet making gamers more fickle
Step 1: Create Your Marketing Plan Early
• Cover the 3 Pillars: Advertising,
Promotion, PR, (+Business
Development)
• Map out
– Key selling points, and your
core demographics
– Roadmap for asset release
– Tentpole events, and specific
programs
– Budget
• Initial programs should be
designed to test the waters to
fine tune campaign
• Don’t wait til the last minute!
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PROMOTE
ENGAGE
MEASURE
• OPTIMIZE
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THE DETAILS
Managing Marketing Budgets
Finding the Right Media Vehicles
Identifying High-Potential Prospects
Delivering Customized Communications
Creating Customer Relationships
Gaining Consumer Insight
Managing Communications Frequency
Measuring Sales Impact
Measuring Impact Across Multiple Media
Optimizing Communications
Understanding How to Build Buzz
• Establish your TENTPOLE
announcements – What’s
the hook?
• Designed to drive interest
in 1 big POP
• Examples:
– 1st announcement
– 1st playthrough
– 1st showcase on
multiplayer
– 1st TV ad
– A crazy YouTube video
stunt, etc.
Buzz level
TV
Commercial
COVER
Story
Game
Launch
Interaction Converts Awareness Into Loyalty
• Use interactive marketing
to go deeper – Build the
buzz through conversation
• Blogs, forums, podcasts,
events
• ANSWER questions
• Join in the community and
chat with people
• Be like a celebrity doing
the talk show circuit
Buzz level
Step 2: Find Your Key Influencers
• The key isn’t to just talk to
everyone, to pitch to everyone,
to win everyone over
• It’s to FIND the KEY
INFLUENCERS
• They may not actually be the
“high-potential prospects”
• How do you find people?
Case Study: 1 and 10 gamers LOVE Hudson
Key Influencers = Entourage
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Don’t treat your key influencers like ROCK STARS
YOU are the ROCK STAR
Treat them like a privileged ENTOURAGE
They get to get into the EXCLUSIVE CLUB because they hang with you
Go out of your way to take care of your ENTOURAGE, and they will go out
of their way to take care of you
Case Study: The formation of the more hardcore fans for The Elder Scrolls
Your Game Is Their Fortune
Step 3: Focus on High Impact Programs
Blogs Impact On Purchasing Decision
Blog’s Have Major
Impact on
Purchasing Decision
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Decide on a product: 21%
Refine choices: 19%
Support & answers: 19%
Discover products: 17%
Assure: 14%
Inspire a purchase: 13%
Execute a purchase: 7%
CONTENT will
always generate a
greater response
than an ad
Blogger Outreach Strategy
• Reach out to 1 new site each week
– Connect with them, and get to know
people on a personal level
– Get to know the blog’s culture and
demographics
• Make it EASY for them – Create a FAQ,
choice sound bites, a walk through
– Most bloggers write on the side
– Limited time, money, and attention!
• FOLLOW and ENGAGE readers in the
comments section and the forums
• Don’t do 1 big story, do lots of smaller
stories
– Blogs generate 1.5 page views per
session
– But viewer come back frequently
Don’t Just Focus On the Big Blogs
• Small fansites can become a powerful ally - Support the
up and comers
You Gotta WOW Them
• Make your interaction SHINE
• If you were going on a date
with a supermodel, wouldn’t
you at least take a shower,
comb your hair, and wear
nice clothes?
• Shine checklist
– Yourself and your pitch
– Your Environment
– Your Product
This Is NOT WOWing Them
This Is NOT WOWing Them
Create the Right Environment
BAKE COOKIES – 50% improvement!
Interaction “SHINE” Also Applies to Online
• Keep a positive attitude - don’t
get caught up in flame wars
• When commentary gets ugly,
don’t jump in right away to
defend yourself – Give your fans
a chance to defend you first POWERFUL
• Don’t “sell” your product, pitch
from the heart
• But don’t get too casual - The
focus is not your life story and
issues
• Develop a list of instant answers, so that you don’t share incorrect
information, or reveal anything that’s still under wraps – Share this
list with everyone who is communicating online. Don’t just cut and
paste – shape into your own voice
More Tips Working With Online Media
• Meet them IN PERSON
• Live demos - Make the demo fun –The
enthusiasm of the person demoing the
game and the entourage is what sells the
game
• Big sites only cover you a few times, and
want the exclusive
• Use smaller sites to share info constantly
• Make sure they get the story right
– Fact checking, fixing errors - Hit or Miss
• Create a PRESS ASSET section online Easy access to screenshots, FAQs, videos,
logo
• Get a MEDIA KIT. They are FREE. Tons of
good industry data.
Go Beyond the Virtual World
• Engage people in real life!
Plan events!
• Have gear ready 2 go
– Podcast and video
equipment
– Digital camera
– Laptop and software
• Broadcast event worldwide
• Conduct after 6pm
meetings
The After 6pm Meeting
Take Advantage of Smaller Events
DToids NARP
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Get great coverage at gaming events for less than a
few $K
Always looking for great games to showcase
Sponsorship opportunity: [email protected]
Event Planning Takeaways
• Don’t just give away
swag – Make people
work for it by interacting
with you
• Booth Babes? Ho
Hum… Bring on Board
Escorts who know out to
woo your customers
• Work with others
developers to share
costs
• Take advantage of
smaller events
- Cost effective and
personal
Why Go It Alone?
• How many have a website/blog?
• How many have traffic of
+ 10K a month?
+100K a month?
+1 mil a month?
• Don’t build your online presence
in a vacuum
• Empower your fan base to create their own fan clubs for you
– Exclusives, Club 10K, Press asset access
• Write for existing gaming blogs and convert their fans to your fans
• Form or join a net ring for a subject matter related to your
company/game
• Case Study: The formation of The Kartel
The Godfada Says
Join
Or form your own!
What’s The Kartel?
A combination of different groups for common action
The Kartel Concept
Work With Others To Build A Fanbase
• TheKartel.com is a new
gaming community portal
• Designed to connect
Game Developers
Game Publishers
Impact Players
Gamers
Key Influencers
BLOG
FORUM
SOCIAL NETWORK
WEB RING
CONTEST MANAGEMENT
EVENT PROMOTION
No Need to Reach Out to
100’s of Social Media Sites
The Kartel
Brings Together Gamers Into One Spot
• Content is not consumed in isolation
• Experienced as part of a CONNECTED
CONVERSATION: 75% of web surfers
read more than one blog per session
• Gamers have one convenient spots to find
all the info they want about different game
developers
• Quickly start a fan club
• Instantly connect with lots of people
• Then have them spread the word with
their own blogs and fan clubs
• Have you ever wondered why automobile
companies set up shop right next door to
all their competitors?
The Kartel
The Benefits of Joining Together
• The Kartel manages all the
ADMIN STUFF
• Fosters a lively place where
gamers contribute in a
POSITIVE away
• Built in rewards and loyalty
program
• Earn karma points for
contributing to community and
keeping things lively
• Fans can then get exclusive
goodies with those points in
the SWAG VAULT for FREE
Case Study:
How to Tap into a Centralized Community
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SEGA NERDS example
Sega fans for nearly 8 years
Nearly 3000 blog postings
Most game companies would kill for this
type of loyalty!
• Overall effort was “home grown”
• Overall community is more active than
internal efforts at Sega
• But this is as big as it can get
– Limitations with hobby mentality
• How do you take it to the next level?
Sega Nerds Takes It 2 The Next Level
• SegaNerds.TheKartel.com
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Single Sign In Registration
Photo Gallery
Reward and Loyalty Points to earn Sega Swag
Community Blogs
Cross Linking With Other Sites
Promotion on Main Site
Polls
Mood Status
Module based gadgets which can be easily added
Friend system
Live chat system
24/7 hosting, security, and moderation
Prizing fulfillment
RESULTS:
+50% traffic in 3 months
+50% more time to focus on content and
community building
Final Notes
• Reach KEY INFLUENCERS
– Build your entourage
– You take care of them, they will
take care of you
• Focus on HIGH IMPACT programs
• Engage in CONVERSATION
• Don’t go it alone – Form your own
KARTEL or join one
• COSTLY? No. Does require HEART
& SOUL
• Let the rich guys woo a girl with
diamond rings and fancy yachts
– Your strategy
• Write her a hit song
• Paint her a portrait
• Cook her a meal
THX 4 UR TIME!
Q&A TIME
John Master Lee
[email protected]
Go Out And Build Your Army!
Want to dig deeper? Feel free 2 contact me!
• John Master Lee
• [email protected]
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How to quantify and measure online buzz for your game
Where to get great interactive market research data
Specific case studies for game companies and games
Additional interactive marketing strategies – Email, sweepstakes, forum
management, demos
If you need more help
• We build communities, fan clubs, and loyal followers
• We launch interactive promotional campaigns
• We create interactive apps online
• We build interactive apps for mobile (iPhone, Palm, Blackberry)
• We manage events and promotions