Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
marketing of Games
Marketing of games has grown in diversity. TV and print ads remain popular
avenues; however, the industry has also embraced forms of advertising that take
advantage of other media.
Side industries can benefit from successful games through
merchandising
:
creating and selling items related to the brand, such as clothing, books, and toys.
Viral marketing
Viral marketing is based on how infectious an ad (or the game itself) is. If the
ad is well-made enough, people will pass it along for others to see. Offline, this
phenomenon is known as
word of mouth
.
Most viral marketing shows up as YouTube videos or blog posts. If a game has
gone viral
, it means information about it is flooding the Internet. Comments
can be negative or positive. Many game makers try to get the ball rolling with
a positive viral campaign by posting positive videos or blog posts to see if the
thread will be picked up. This is a bit of a shot in the dark; however, if the prod-
uct is good, then the ads or the game may go viral.
Web presence
Pretty much any game produced and marketed today has some type of presence
on the Internet through an official site dedicated to the game or via other online
avenues like portals and fan sites. These sites help build communities that blog
about the game, share tips for playing the game, and create mods (modifica-
tions) that they share with each other.
These types of online communities tend to be supported by the game makers
by offering discounts on products, sweepstakes, and news about events related
to the game. The more these communities talk about the game and/or create
mods to share, the more interest is developed and maintained, which is in itself
a type of marketing.
marketing to the Demographic
Involving marketing input while a game is still in production is more and more
common these days. Marketing expertise can help influence the look of the
characters, environments, and even gameplay, to help ensure that the product
being marketed will correctly appeal to the demographic(s) it's targeting.
