AIDA exercise: marketing a new game

You will be allocated one of the games below and have to come up with a 10 minute marketing plan in a pair. Remember, you need to create an emotional connection with the audience. Plan the following:

Task 1
Summarise who might play the game and what platform they will play it on. Give it a title.

Task 2
Use AIDA to plan a 10 minute marketing campaign for the new game:

A: How will you create marketing materials that attract audience attention to the game?
I: How will you generate audience interest?
D: How will you stimulate audience desire to buy the game?
A: How will you promote audience action?

Task 3

Write up your notes on your blog and be prepared to share your ideas with the class.

The games:

Game 1
Side-scrolling platform game, in which a red bug has to avoid the accidental and deliberate actions of larger animals and insects in order to survive.

There are 50 levels of play, with an increasing variety of friends and dangers. The red bug can jump, attack, and fly if it eats enough energy-giving nectar from the flowers along the way.

Game 2
Role-playing adventure and survival game, with elements of puzzle gaming.

The main character is the son of a wizard, but does not yet know the extent of his own powers. He needs to unlock information from a variety of locations using the help of the creatures and people he meets, in order to access the magic within him. Not everyone gives up their secrets easily. The newly found magic will help the fledgling wizard to protect the realm from a series of mortal enemies.

Downloadable content (DLC) provides other characters for up to 4-person play.

Game 3
Classic sports and fitness suite of games. The player can choose from a range of celebrity sports opponents for one-on-one coaching when they’re not feeling competitive, and for one-on-one or team competitions.

Currently available in four different packs: winter sports, racquet games, Olympics, and dance. All include at least five different individual games with a choice of celebrities for each one.

Game 4
Tactical RPG game, in which a crew who have crashed on the red planet have to work out how to survive in this new and hostile world. Energy, water and food are in short supply unless the crew can work out how to tap into local resources. They have competitors for the limited stocks but also have skills and knowledge to trade.

What should they do first to ensure their chances of survival are highest?

Game 5
Brain training games that allow the player to map their progress on a chart, and compare their progress with others online. They can choose specific people, by logging in through Facebook and other social networking sites, or be allocated a group of anonymous brain trainers who will compete for a month.

Game 6
Casual game. The player must select the best pieces from an ever-changing selection to complete a bridge over increasingly uneven terrain. Pieces can be rotated, flipped or even cut in half, to fit the growing structure.

The player must be careful as some pieces are booby-trapped and will explode if handled incorrectly. Optional game play includes selecting only pieces of a specific colour or texture, or working against the clock.

Game 7
Co-op RPG game, based on classic American TV series ‘Alias Smith and Jones’. As those who remember the series will know, Smith and Jones are two outlaws who are trying for amnesty by staying on the right side of the law. A series of encounters encourage them to stray back into crime, but the two must work together to outwit the bad guys, stay alive and stay legal.

Game 8
Extreme sports challenge game, bringing skateboard, BMX and scooters into the same locations. Players can choose their mode of transport and the level of difficulty. Can be played individually or split screen as two player game. All locations are based on real places across the world, loved by extreme sports fans.

Game 9
Music game. Players use a special microphone to pick up their own musical sounds, and play along to a series of tracks. They can use any musical instrument, or sing, and the game will interpret the notes they produce and check them against the original track. Their ability to play / sing in time and in key will be assessed for each song. Play can be in rehearsal or gig mode. In gig mode, the higher the score, the better the venue for the next gig.

Expansion packs of new songs are available.