WORK FOR HALF TERM
Using all the research you have done (on your own product, market segmentation, games market, SWOT analysis, ASA) to inform the construction of three types of marketing
1 x DIRECT ADVERTISING
1 x INDIRECT ADVERTISING
1 x PROMOTION
The definitions for all three of the above are quite vague. The specification, however, gives the following examples for the 3 categories:
Direct advertising such as:
• trailers/posters
• television/radio commercials
• sponsorship
Indirect advertising such as:
• feature articles
• guest appearances on chat shows
Promotions:
• competitions/sponsorship
• merchandising
The description for Direct and Promotion are easily understandable.
Indirect is a bit trickier to get your head around - the best way to look at it is marketing that doesn't explicitly target an audience DIRECTLY - it's marketing that a consumer discovers.
This could be feature articles about the game, it could be something more creative, perhaps a viral campaign.
1) Brainstorm ideas of what you could do for all three marketing types (keeping in mind your research)
2) Evidence your creative thinking and process on the blog - perform extra research into other marketing campaigns if necessary.
Then select your strongest ideas and do the following:
Drafts and proposals for 2 adverts (TWO)
Drafts and proposals for 2 promotions (TWO)
(These drafts can take any form just as long as the ideas can be seen and presented)
HAVE THESE DRAFTS READY FOR PEER FEEDBACK AFTER HALF TERM AND EVIDENCE YOUR PROCESS ON THE BLOG
WORK FOR 22/05/13
SWOT ANALYSIS
Write up and perform a SWOT analysis for you marketing campaign.
Here's an example SWOT analysis for Batman: Arkham City.
RESEARCH THE ASA & ISFE
IF YOU WANT THE CAP CODE ON YOUR BLOG HERE IS THE WORD PRESS EMBED CODE:
[slideshare id=21662431&doc=capcode0712-130522035234-phpapp02&type=d]
Research the
Interactive Software Federation of Europe and produce a relatively concise post outlining the history, purpose and role of the organisation.
Go to the Industry Facts page of the ISFE website -
look at the statistics - and cut and paste of any data you believe could be important for your marketing campaign. This will add to your market research - BUT ONLY IF YOU WRITE A PARAGRAPH UNDERNEATH THE DATA EXPLAINING WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED.
WORK FOR 20/05/13
FINISH MARKET RESEARCH ASAP
- Present the information in a clear and interesting way (graphs, pie charts, infographics)
- Analyse - what have you learned from it, how will it help you achieve your marketing objectives
Consider fans of your genre (sci-fi, fantasy, supernatural etc)
Are there forums, online sites, communities that could be targeted (especially literature fans)
Look at Richard Bartle's gamer demographics (Killer, Socialisers, Achievers, Explorers).
Which one of these would play your game? What types of marketing would attract them?
WORK FOR 16/05/13
TARGET AUDIENCE RESEARCH
This process is very important as it will inform and influence your promotion choices for your marketing campaign. You have to know your audience in order to target them effectively.
As always you must use a combination of PRIMARY and SECONDARY research.
Your starting point is the list you created for you MARKET SEGMENTATION. Last lesson we identified the following:
Fan of the games genre (sci-fi, fantasy etc), Richard Bartle's game types, Casual vs Hardcore, Social games (Facebook), Indie Game fans, text based game users, story driven game fans (Adventure/RPG). Twine users.
You can research and consider ALL of these groups or choice a selection. However, you must justify this choice.
THE AUDIENCE AREAS YOU MUST CONSIDER ARE THE FOLLOWING:
SECONDARY RESEARCH: TWINE USERS/COMMUNITY
These are the people who make games similar to your product and the obviously target audience.
The whole point of research is to understand the following of you audience in terms of demographic (age, nationality, gender), cultural references, media intake, references, online use.
What your trying to find out about is who are these people who play and make these games? What is the etiquette, reference points, language of the community? And at the heart of it how could you get them interested in your game?
PRIMARY RESEARCH: 15-20 YEAR OLD MARKET
Design a form of primary research to survey whether 16-18 years olds would be interested in playing Twine games and your games.
The research must figure out whether it is worth your time and effort to aim marketing to a younger audience in order to introduce new consumers your product.
YOU MUST DO THE ABOVE RESEARCH AND CARRY OUT ANY OTHER TARGET AUDIENCE RESEARCH THAT WILL HELP YOU ACHIEVE YOUR MARKETING OBJECTIVE (so this may mean researching other parts of the market segmentation).
WORK FOR 15/05/13
TASK 1
Think about the branding for your development team.
Have the name and logo reflect your development style and game style.
Something that might appeal to a potential target audience.
Interesting design and logo.
EVIDENCE ANY PLANNING ON YOUR BLOG - MAKE THIS 'WORK IN PROGRESS' SO FEEL FREE TO TWEAK THE DESIGN AT A LATER STAGE
TASK 2
Start a post called 'POTENTIAL MARKETING OBJECTIVES'
Begin to mindmap/think about what you want to achieve with your marketing campaign.
TASK 3
Mind map a rough market segmentation that you could potentially target
PREZI is a useful bit of software to illustrate your work. (ask Conner how to use it).
WORK FOR 13/05/13
Start a new post - call it Markeing for (whatever you game called): PRODUCT
Tag it Unit 04 AO2
TASK 1
Upload your Games Design Document
TASK 2
Write a 250 word 'sell' for you game that must include the following:
The basic information about the game
What value the consumer will get from playing this game
Why they should play this game rather than others
TASK 3
With your partner brainstorm all the unique selling points of your game. (FIRST FIND A DEFINITION OF Unique Selling Point)
You must document this process in a creative way - A4 paper - scan it in, use a tablet to handwrite in Photoshop etc WE DON'T WANT A DRY LIST.
TASK 4
Create a name for your games development/publisher
Create a Twitter account
Not essential but you could create a logo and some branding for your company.
OBJECTIVE FOR UNIT 04 AO2
One marketing plan to be produced
Marketing plan:
Identify product
Describes aims of a new campaign
Reviews current situation
Identifies target audience
Identifies the potential market (niche, local and national or global)
Describes advertisements and promotions
Gives schedule
Identifies ways to sample audience or consumer feedback
Identify official research bodies that provide information for advertisers: about user group profiles, about popularity of products.
PEGI
Interactive Software Federation of Europe (ISFE)
Legal and ethical constraints identified: including the role of the ASA and other official bodies controlling advertising