Star Trek: Video-game Marketing Campaign

Star Trek: blog task 

The five most significant aspects of the Star Trek campaign & why they were important in creating a buzz about the game.

• June 2011 - E3 announcement and teaser trailer - it is important because it initially establishes the existence of the game and generates discussion and curiosity about the game
• June 2012 – E3
  Website and Twitter feed launched
  Updates on Facebook
  Game enemy (Gorn) announced
  Gameplay footage posted online
  Game producer Brian Miller interviewed - Important because it creates the social media access for target audiences or 'Trekkies' to gain further game information and get involved with the social aspect of promotion. Gameplay footage proves as convincing, informative and boosts discussion.
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  December 2012

  Trailer posted on Paramount website

  Release date announced - Important in creating a buzz because it creates anticipation for the game's release and gives further information on the game.
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  February 2013

  
  

  Retailers post circulars online

  ‘Making of’ video released

  UK launch event at the Science Museum - Events appealing to the target market and further reference from game retailers will develop a mass buzz because the game becomes more publicised and acknowledged. 
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  March 2013

  Official advert released

  Pre-order promotional boxes arrive in stores

  Game co-promoted TV and radio adverts - Preorders enable a mass generation if immediate sales pre-release as well as broadcast adverts to promote the videogame further. 

Teaser trailer

 - the teaser trailer of Star Trek will appeal to its target audience because of its selective inclusion of scenes which are action-packed and feature popular weapons and characters from the film.

Xbox teaser trailer 

- the XBOX teaser trailer uses cross-promotion with XBOX to appeal further to XBOX owners as they will assume the game to specialised for their owned console.

Full trailer 

- the full trailer released in April 2013 presents a narrative of the videogame cinematically, associated with known Star Trek references which the audience will recognise. 

Comedy trailer with William Shatner

- The comedy trailer features former acting star of the Star Trek films from many years ago. The audience recognises this figure and according to the 'Blumer & Katz - uses and gratifications theory', the audience will immediately develop a personal relationship with William Shatner. The trailer provides a comical hence entertaining aspect which will engage the audience and yet inform them with the references made to Star Trek. This is an effective form of entertaining celebrity endorsement. 

• These trailers collectively gained nearly 200,000 views. 

• The Star Trek videogame publisher developed the marketing campaign over such a long time to generate a continuing interest via curiosity about the game - creating a buzz.

In conclusion, despite of the game being recognised as a failure and a poorly made game, the marketing campaign was fairly successful because of the mass number of pre-orders gained. 

Grand Theft Auto V - Case Study

Name of game: Grand Theft Auto V

Release date: 17 September 2013

Institutions behind the game (game studio/publisher): Rockstar Games & Take-Two Interactive

Gaming platforms it is available on (e.g. PS4, PC, Wii etc.): PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360

Print

1. What print adverts were used to advertise the game? Find examples and post them on your blog.        
2. What key conventions of print adverts can you find on the example you have chosen? Product name? Font? Slogan? Central image? Colour?                                                                                                    The product name in the typical GTA trademark font and colour scheme. The animated cartoon scenes of gangster/violence related images as the central image.
3. Find three reviews for your game that were originally published in videogame magazines. Are they positive or negative about the game? Copy and paste one quote from each review.                                 Quarter to Three - "The primary accomplishment in Grand Theft Auto V isn’t gameplay. It’s character. Grand Theft Auto V believes so strongly in its characters that everything else — even gameplay — is secondary." - POSITIVE                                                                                                                                                                 The Telegraph - "Given the pedigree and almost brutish levels of hype surrounding Grand Theft Auto V, it would have been a surprise if this wasn’t the five-star humdinger that you expected." - POSITIVE                                                                                                                                                                  Trusted Reviews - "Playful and dramatic, satirical, sophisticated and shocking, this is Grand Theft Auto at its very best." - POSITIVE  
4. Did your game feature on any videogame magazine front covers? Find examples and explain why a front cover feature is so successful in promoting a game to its target audience.

A front cover feature on a videogame magazine is successful in promoting a game to its target audience because core gamers will purchase magazines and trust the reliability of the reviews and statements regarding videogames. The fact that a game such as GTAV is featured on a magazine front cover compels the audience even more into purchasing the game because their trusted mag is promoting it.

Broadcast

1. Did your chosen game use a TV advert to promote the game? Embed it from YouTube if it did and explain how it fits the key conventions of a TV advert. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jy7ceLVVgU - This particular TV ad adheres to the key conventions of placing institutional information at the end of the video as well as rapid in-game cut scenes with the assistance of a dynamic voice-over and background music.
2. Is there a game trailer on YouTube? Embed it on your blog and explain why it is effective in promoting the game to its target audience. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkkoHAzjnUs - This game trailer is effective in promoting the game because it dynamically presents the narrative of the campaign mode of the videogame. It is well crafted with beautifully selected shots to give a cinematic feel to the videogame - marketed as a film would. 
3. Can you find any other broadcast features on the game - interviews, launch party events, video reviews, clips of the gameplay on YouTube etc. Write about how they effectively promote the game to its target audience. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7JU0BoX0nQ - This is an interview with the voices of the three protagonists of the videogame's narrative. This forms a personal relationship between the audience and the celebrities and would therefore generate interest. 

E-media

1. Visit your chosen game's official website. How does it attract and maintain the interest of its target audience? www.rockstargames.com/V/ - Dynamically designed visuals and interesting videos embedded to entertain.  
2. Are there any creative or interesting aspects to the game's official website? - The website allows you to virtually enter the life of the gamer as they are in the videogame playing as any 3 of the protagonists.
3. Does the game have a YouTube channel? - https://www.youtube.com/user/RockstarGames
4. Can you find any examples of user-generated content on YouTube that players have created and uploaded from the game? Embed any examples on your blog. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L94bxLL2Ol0 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A9I0xKDJCs , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOJHpft4vwg
5. How does user-generated content such as gameplay videos help to promote the game? - This poses a 'word of mouth' promotional method to result to widespread recognition of the videogame as it gains more views and subscribers via entertaining methods of video generation. 
6. How many 'likes' has your chosen game's Facebook wall had? - 1.2 million likes 
7. What is your chosen game's Twitter hashtag? -   #GTAV
8. How did the campaign use Twitter to promote the game? -   The campagin involves publishing gameplay with questions for audiences to answer and interact with. 
9. Can you find any other creative uses of e-media to promote the game? This might include hashtags, competitions, Instagram, user-generated campaigns or anything else that is designed to draw attention to the game.        -  User generated campaigns include the formation of weekly video uploads to achieve goals within the game. 

Pre- and post-release

1. What was the game's release date? 17 September 2013
2. What is the earliest reference you can find to the game before the release date? Was it announced at a gaming conference (such as E3)? How did the publisher get a potential audience excited about the forthcoming game? 2011 - 

   Grand Theft Auto V Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkkoHAzjnUs

3. How did the institution promote the game after it was released? --- The institution relied on 'word of mouth' and UGC to promote the videogame. The institution encouraged users to upload in-game footage of their online achievements and introduced competitions for the players to engage in, resulting in prizes as a reward. 
4. Does the game have any way of making the publisher additional income post-release (such as in-game purchases)? --- The release of multiple DLC packages for additional exclusive in-game content.

Other

1. Who do you think is the target audience for this game? Make up a potential target audience demographic and explain why you think it fits the game. What psychographic groups would be attracted to this game? - Males aged 15-30 - Mainstreamers, escapers. 
2. What else can you find from the marketing and promotion of your chosen game? A launch event? Stories appearing in newspapers? Celebrity endorsement? Scandal or controversy? - Lots of controversy regarding the sexual content and excess violence. 
3. How does the campaign make an emotional connection with the audience? What is the audience appeal of the advertising campaign? - the cinematic presentation of the videogame with different lifestyles from 3 different protagonists appealing to differing psycho-graphic groups. 

Phone and tablet gaming

Phone and tablet gaming: tasks

1.             How much money is Candy Crush Saga estimated to make each day from its users?

Worldwide, Candy Crush Saga is estimated to make £610,000 ($1,000,000) per day from its users

2.             How does it make this money?

“by nudging addicted players into paying more to get gizmos that help them progress through difficulty levels.” – Players purchase in-game add-ons

3.             How many people are estimated to have installed Candy Crush?

225 million unique monthly users. Appdata, an analyst of iOS and Facebook applications, estimates that Candy Crush Saga has 137 million active monthly users alone, topping charts

4.             Where do people play?

“They can start a game over breakfast on their laptop while scrolling through Facebook. They can then play it on their phone on the train to work, where they can switch on their tablet and continue their game where they left off.”

5.             When was the game released?

Candy Crush Saga displaced Bejeweled, a similar matching game originally developed 12 years ago. April 2012: Candy Crush released on Facebook

6.             When did it reach 500 million downloads?

November 2013: Reaches 500 million downloads worldwide

7.             Who is the typical Candy Crush gamer?

The typical Candy Crush Saga player is a woman aged 25-45.

8.             What percentage of gamers have spent money on Candy Crush, buying in-app purchases etc.?

25% of players have spent money on Candy Crush

9.             What percentage say they are addicted to the game?

30% say they are addicted to the game

10.          What is your own experience of playing Candy Crush? Have you played it? 

I have not and do not intend to.

"How women blow £400,000 a day playing Candy Crush, the most addictive online game ever"

This article suggests that the target audience is targeted precisely and effectively by King as Candy Crush Saga fits in flexibly within the lifestyle of a middle-aged woman. 

Statistics and facts of phone and tablet gaming

• Smartphones and tablet gaming 
• will take 27.8% of 
• the global games 
• market in 2016. 
• Up from 17.4% in 
• 2013

• The fastest growing KPI behind the growth of the smartphone and tablet games market 
• is the absolute number of paying gamers.