Task 1: exemplar response

In task 1 of the exam, you need to demonstrate your knowledge of videogame marketing and promotion. You have 20 minutes to answer the question and need to aim for at least three good paragraphs. It is also essential that you refer to at least two and ideally four videogame marketing campaigns - the four case studies you have researched.

The question will be in a format like this:

1) There are many different ways to market videogames. We think the best campaigns:

• Use all three media platforms (print, broadcast and web)
• Make an emotional connection with their audience
• Use social media to maintain interest in the game following its release

From your work on videogame marketing and promotion, explain how each of these ingredients can contribute to the success of a campaign. Give examples from at least two campaigns. (15 marks)

A sample top-grade answer will look something like this:

Through my research into videogame marketing, I have looked at many campaigns that use a cross-platform approach very successfully. A game such as Grand Theft Auto V – one of the most successful games in the history of the industry – built a stunning marketing campaign that created a huge amount of excitement about the release. The print aspect to the campaign included billboard advertisements across the UK and magazine and newspaper adverts. In addition, the game was on the front of many videogame magazines, an important part of the promotion of a new game. However, perhaps the most impressive aspect of the campaign used the broadcast platform – with the game marketing more like a Hollywood gangster film than a videogame. TV ads, movie-style trailers and a lot more broadcast content available online created a huge buzz about the game in the weeks leading up to release. Finally, the target audience for GTA V is between teenagers to 30-somethings and therefore very likely to use social media, probably through their phone or tablet. GTA V used the brilliantly creative idea of creating a Facebook-style social network within the game called ‘Lifeinvader’. People could then create accounts in Lifeinvader as if they were in the game, sharing content with friends and inadvertently creating incredible word-of-mouth marketing for the game. The overall campaign was incredibly successful with the game making $1 billion worldwide in just three days.

An emotional connection is absolutely essential for a successful videogame marketing campaign. Often this will be through characters or narrative – creating a strong desire in the audience to play the game. However, Wii have developed outstanding marketing campaigns that make an emotional connection with the audience using celebrities and offering an attractive lifestyle. The Wii Party television adverts with the Redknapp family (following on from successful Wii game campaigns featuring Ant and Dec, JLS and more) offer a very attractive representation of happy family life that will offer a strong appeal to the Wii target audience. The campaign idea of showing the audience celebrities in their own homes and with their own families is an extremely clever concept. If we apply the Uses and Gratifications theory (Blumler and Katz) we can see a strong appeal is through the personal relationships that the audience already feel they have with the celebrity and also the personal identity in recognising and desiring the lifestyle on show in the adverts.

Finally, social media is a major aspect of any new marketing campaign. FIFA14 is a brilliant example of how social media can be used to maintain interest in the game and continue the promotion of the brand long after the game has been released. Most videogame marketing campaigns end shortly after the game is released but the FIFA14 Twitter feed and Facebook page continue to be updated daily, commenting on real-world football events such as Champions League games or the Premiership title race. The posts deliberately ask for audience involvement (‘Can Liverpool win their first title in 20 years?’) and mix real-world football news with video content from the game that users have submitted. This user generated content (UGC) is now a major part of videogame marketing campaigns and makes the audience feel like they are part of the game. Of course, when someone posts their FIFA14 goal of the month video to Facebook, it also promotes the game to all of their friends because the post appears on multiple timelines. This keeps the game in the forefront of the audience’s minds which is very important with a game like FIFA – before long, they will be promoting the next release in the series (FIFA World Cup 2014 and then FIFA15 in the autumn).