Task 1 exemplar: today's question

I have written an exemplar answer for today's Task 1 question. This was typed so there is probably more than if it was handwritten but you still need to be aiming for the detail in this answer for your Task 1 response. A reminder of the question:

There have been some superb videogame marketing campaigns over the last few years. We think the most memorable campaigns:

• Feature marketing material on a variety of media platforms (print, broadcast and online)
• Use imaginative methods to reach their target audience
• Offer alternative marketing strategies before and after the game is released

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)

Exemplar answer:

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to apply for this position - I'm confident I have the skills and knowledge you require to market this videogame.

Using all three platforms is essential for a successful videogame marketing campaign. For example, the GTA V marketing campaign was a slow-burning success that resulted in the game making its $300m production budget back in pre-sales alone. A long time before the release date, announcements at the E3 gaming convention and teaser trailers made sure anticipation built up amongst fans of the earlier games. The use of print material such as gaming magazines was also built into this with interviews and ‘sneak previews’ of the game while still in development. Once the major release day approached, a huge international cross-media marketing campaign was launched with billboards featuring characters from the game, TV ads that mimicked Hollywood film trailers, and significant social media promotion. Arguably, it was the success of GTA V’s viral marketing online that really captured the imagination and caused such a hype surrounding the release. Amongst many other creative online approaches, the campaign offered the audience to create ‘Lifeinvader’ profiles – a parody of Facebook – that meant the lines between the game world and the real world were blurred and users could almost feel they were ‘inside’ the game. In the run-up to the release, it meant users felt part of the game before they even owned it – a brilliant example of creative marketing.

Another game that uses imaginative methods to reach its target audience is Planetside 2. The successful MMOFPS sci-fi game attracts slightly different strands of its main target audience by inviting them to join a certain faction (or army) when they sign up to play the game. Each faction (such as the New Conglomerates) appeals to a different aspect of the audience’s values and beliefs, picking out key words such as ‘Duty’ or ‘Freedom’. This allows the game to market to slightly different psychographic groups – such as aspirers, reformers or mainstreamers. All three of the trailers marketed the key aspects of the game using trailer conventions such as in-game footage, voiceover and dramatic music. The different factions then allowed the game to target different audiences depending on their political beliefs and individual motivations – thus making it more likely that the audience feel like they ‘belong’ in the game. Like GTA V, the more involved and at home the audience feel in the game, the more likely they are to invest time and money in it. For Planetside 2, a game that is free to play but then offers monthly subscriptions, this feeling of belonging in the game is absolutely crucial.

FIFA14 is a part of the hugely successful EA football franchise that has been running for years. One of the reasons the game is so successful is the use of different marketing strategies before and after the release of the game. FIFA14 ran a major international marketing campaign in the weeks leading up to the release (and shortly after it) produced by advertising agency W+K Amsterdam (who also produced previous FIFA marketing campaigns). The cross-media campaign featured Lionel Messi dressed in casual clothes driving a van with hundreds of people behind playing FIFA on their sofas with the brilliantly simple slogan ‘We are FIFA14’. The TV ad was particularly effective, with celebrities such as Drake and Gareth Bale playing FIFA14 on their sofas behind Messi’s van alongside ‘regular Joes’ of different ages, genders and ethnicities. Like GTA V and Planetside 2, they make the audience want to feel part of the game (hence the casual clothes for the superstars and the slogan ‘We Are FIFA14’.) This major marketing campaign was obviously a key reason for the success of the game. However, after the release of the game the marketing doesn’t stop, with Twitter and Facebook accounts updated daily with references to real-world football events such as the Premiership title race and Champions League matches. Mixed in with this is user-generated content such as ‘Goal of the week’ where players send in YouTube clips of their best goals and FIFA14 shares it online. This ongoing marketing means the buzz surrounding the game continues even after the game has been released and maintains momentum leading up to the next release of the game (which is currently FIFA World Cup 2014 and then, later, FIFA15).