Pro Opinion: Marketing of Sleeping Dogs

This found-article gives a glimpse into Square Enix's marketing, or lack there of, for their popular action-adventure game of Sleeping Dogs, as well as a suggestive opinion. I would be chuffed to mention that the article's author, Guy Blomberg, is a  respected videogame Public Relations Practitioner within Australia, and event organizer of the upcoming PAXAus in 2013.

This article is cited from YUGstar.com (the writer's personal blog/website), and is entitled "How do you market a sleeping dog?"

In three weeks, the game Sleeping Dogs will be released in Australia. I’ve had a few chances to get hands on preview time in the last few months, and I can honestly say I’m genuinely excited to play it when it’s finally released.

Prior to actually playing the game though, I had very little interest in it. Originally it was to be the third title in the True Crime series before being cancelled by Activision then acquired and rebranded by Square Enix soon after. The main sell points are the gameplay elements taken from other games – the fighting mechanic of Batman Arkham City, the driving of Need for Speed, the free running of Assassin’s Creed, and of course set in a GTA type open world. Even the plot, characters and themes are inspired by classic Hong Kong action movies.

In other words, nothing about this game is particularly original, and I’d not seen anything that made me all that interested.

Even the box art, while admittedly very cool from a design perspective, didn’t really give any sense of the game itself.

So my question is, with all due respect to Namco Bandai Australia, how would you market this game?

Internationally the developers (United Front Games) have been exceptionally active on Twitter and Facebook, with just over 4,000 followers and 60,000 fans respectively.

Look at the social networks of the other games it’s inspired by though. Need for Speed (8,700,000 Facebook likes), Batman Arkham City (1,088,000 Facebook likes), Assassin’s Creed (3,330,000 Facebook likes), Grand Theft Auto IV (3,882,000 Facebook likes). I understand some of these represent a game series, but still, 60,000 fans isn’t many in the grand scheme of things.

The announcement trailer is the most popular video on their Youtube page with almost one million views, and yet it shows none of the gameplay at all. More recent efforts seem to have been put into making sure special editions are up to scratch and specific for certain regions, including Australia.

The best move was to have the game playable at gaming conventions such as GDC, PAX East, London Comic Con and E3, allow people to actually play the game themselves, but even then you’re competing against a significant amount of other more established and recognisable titles.

I don’t actually have an answer here, it’s just something I was thinking about when previewing the game. I’d be interested to hear thoughts from others as to how you would go about marketing a game such as this.

PR: Gaming Magazines

Last year when I conducted a 100-participant survey for my Consumer Behaviour Report, I asked respondents: What influences you most when buying a console game? 41% responded: External sources and media- blogs, magazines, reviews.

Although this was just a sample of the entire gaming population, it does reflect the trust that consumers put in (assumingly) independent and unbiased opinions. And luckily for marketers of game publishers and developers, this form of PR and publicity is relatively inexpensive!

In Australia, there are many magazines that feature gaming related material, however the most prevalent gaming-centric magazines for each platform are PC Power magazine (or PC Gamer), Xbox 360 magazine, Official Nintendo Magazine, and Playstation Official Magazine. These magazines have a great following and substance due to official endorsement by gaming developers, publishers and console manufactures.

In turn, these magazines allow for constant coverage of AAA-titled games and new releases. A mass of developers interview, continuous previews, and opinionated reviews gives the publication depth of content (a sticking point for audiences) while giving the videogames relatively free exposure with little work from marketers.

The Official Nintendo Magazine (ONM) for Aus and NZ, for example, wrote a ton of articles and features for Nintendo’s Kid Icarus Uprising. Starting from ONM’s December, the magazine generated 5 months’ worth of hype, over 4 issues, consisting of game previews and feature articles. From there, the magazine contained a 5 page feature review, and 2 post-playing-tips articles. In total, The Official Nintendo Magazine had 27 ½ pages and 1 front cover, over 7 issues, dedicated to Kid Icarus Uprising, not to mention the many full-page adverts by Nintendo. Although there is a lot of information-overlap throughout all the previews and features, it does provide a level of consistent exposure and product awareness that Nintendo would have to work hard for to achieve.

Another example is the much-anticipated WiiU. As the first console starts a new generation of video gaming, both journalists and marketers are eager to feature the WiiU. Since its announcement at E3 2011 till now (on the eve of its release), the WiiU has had 17 articles written about it in ONM with 2 feature covers, over 12 issues. That’s a total of 91 pages of exposure! To avoid repetition, the journalists used different interest angles, allowing for a unique insight into the WiiU: some focus on the innovation of technology, others are about the opportunities the new platform has for indie developers, while many consist of the games, the features and the expectations of the console.

This form of exposure and hype-building smells less ‘marketing-y’ that outright advertising, allowing for the independent media’s content to be trusted in a reliable and honourable way similar to that of word-of-mouth.

As ideal as this sounds for marketers, PR does come with some risks. Because it is trusted to editors and journalists to write about a company’s product (or whatever it is), you run the risk of having what you hoped would be make it into the publication not make the final editorial cut. Even worse is taking the risk that the company’s game or console becomes the feature of a negative review or critical article, where undesirable word-of-mouth becomes fatal to sales.

To avoid this, marketers must manage a desirable and favourable relationship with these media outlets. Along with providing editors and journalists with trials and demos of games, marketers must also pamper the journalists by giving them opportunities to access new and exclusive content. This could include exclusive entry into gaming expos, conferences and launch parties, as well as providing in-house interviews, product giveaways and sneak-peeks.

Along with making their job easier, marketers should aim to create a positive bond with journalists and editors. Although it is unethical for journalist to accept bribes or have their professional journalistic unbiasness compromised by personal affiliations, it is important to keep them happy- or at least content- when they see your email in their inbox or hear your missed-call on their voicemail. Taking them out for a corporate lunch or even getting to genuinely know them individually will establish a personal and affirmative rapport, and increase the likelihood that what you hope they will write will be written, in a way that is agreeable.

Appeal of self-actualisation and enrichment marketing campaigns: Girlfriend and Cleo

This found-article is an about the self-esteem-style marketing and image campaigns that rival magazine publications Girlfriend and Cleo have recently adopted. This is in wake of the similar and very publicised 2004 "Real Beauty" campaign by skin care/beauty industry giant, Dove.


This article is cited from Mumbrella, and is entitled "Girlfriend magazine lauches self-esteem campaign, editor: 'this is not a response to Cleo anti-airbrush protest'"

Girls magazine Girlfriend has launched a campaign around body image in young women.
Launched in the Pacific Magazine’s September issue, the Project You campaign sees a number of photoshoots featuring non-models without retouching.
The launch comes just days after Girlfriend’s ACP rival Cleo has been the subject of an anti-photoshop protest.

The campaign is to run for 12 months aims to promote its readers’ commitment to self-esteem and share their stories and pictures with the magazine.

Sarah Tarca, editor of Girlfriend, said Project You was not in response to the protest against Cleo, but had been in the works since April after a reader body image survey.

Tarca said: “This was something we had to address. The idea of body image was saturated in the market but the core is self esteem.”

Girlfriend magazine does include some photoshopped images of young women, but indicates which are photoshopped and which aren’t with a labeling system called ‘Reality Checks’.

“Reality checks say whether an image has been retouched or not, or it can demystify the glamour of the industry to include how long the shoot took to take a particular photo, or make-up used – it’s a media literacy tool. It makes our readers smart and aware as to what goes into a shoot,” she said.
On the Cleo anti-photoshopping protest, Tarca said: “Each women’s magazine stick to its own body policy and doesn’t change the body shape of girls. But perhaps it is about removing mottled skin from goose pimples because it’s cold outside.”

Project You features a panel of self-esteem experts to help answer questions and give advice, as well as celebrities Ruby Rose, Miranda Tapsell, Sarah De Bono and Johnny Ruffo showing their support.

PR reaction: Dark Knight Rises Aurora theatre shootings

In light of the horrific July 20^th Aurora theatre shootings during a screening of Dark Knight Rises, social media and news outlets have been abuzz with responses from both celebrities and non-celebrities. However, it was the responses from the organisation and workers behind the film that the media sought after most.

Warner Bros., the studio responsible for the modern Batman trilogy, along with the cast and crew, promptly mobilized the PR machine to maintain consumer and media sentiment as they dealt with this crisis as an interrelated stakeholder.

Although this is a strategic management function, it must be remembered that the response and reactions are genuine and are no less heartfelt. The following are PR activities and responses performed by both the studio, and the film’s cast and crew.

From the Studio

Within the first 24 hours following the shooting, Warner Bros (WB) issued a statement regarding the tragedy:

 “Warner Bros. is deeply saddened to learn about this shocking incident. We extend our sincere sympathies to the families and loved ones of the victims at this tragic time.”

Reports also stated that Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., had been up since 4 am (shooting occurred at 12:39am that night) assembling a PR responsive campaign.

Warner Bros continued to empathises and mourn for the victims by meekly cancelling multiple marketing and PR activities originally organised for the release of the film, including international premieres in Paris and Japan, interviews with the cast and crew, and softening marketing tactics.

In addition to cancelling PR and marketing activities, WB also delayed the release of opening-weekend box office figures as it deemphasised the commercialisation of the film and maintained a grieving humbleness in respect for the victim’s and their families.

And, although unconfirmed, it has been reported that WB will be making a ‘substantial’ donation which will be distributed across several charities that will support victims of the July 20 killing spree.

From the Cast and Crew

The first major response from the cast and crew was delivered by director Chris Nolan- acting as a spokesperson for everyone involved in the production of the Dark Knight Rises- through a news release statement:

“Speaking on behalf of the cast and crew of The Dark Knight Rises, I would like to express our profound sorrow at the senseless tragedy that has befallen the entire Aurora community. I would not presume to know anything about the victims of the shooting, but that they were there last night to watch a movie. I believe movies are one of the great American art forms and the shared experience of watching a story unfold on screen is an important and joyful pastime. The movie theatre is my home, and the idea that someone would violate that innocent and hopeful place in such an unbearably savage way is devastating to me. Nothing any of us can say could ever adequately express our feelings for the innocent victims of this appalling crime, but our thoughts are with them and their families.”

Among responses from the film’s co-stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Gary Oldman, the lead actors, Anne Hathoway and Christian Bale, also released statements regarding to the tragedy. Hathoway’s statement read: 

“My heart aches and breaks for the lives taken and altered by this unfathomably senseless act. I am at a loss for words how to express my sorrow. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.”

Bale opted for a more condense statement, declaring:

“Words cannot express the horror that I feel. I cannot begin to truly understand the pain and grief of the victims and their loved ones, but my heart goes out to them.”

Famous composer of the film, Hans Zimmer, wrote and produced a requiem in memory of the victims, instead of releasing a statement.

However, it was Christian Bale’s surprise visit to victims of the massacre that gained monumental media coverage and sentiment. Bale visited the Medical Center of Aurora several days after the disaster, spending hours with the numerous wounded victims, posing for pictures and talking with the patients, nurses and officers.

So, in total there were seven major PR responses from the cast and crew of the Dark Knight Rises in light of the Aurora theatre shootings, which included:

1.       Issued statements (by Warner Bros. studio)

2.       Cancellation of marketing/ PR activities (premieres, interviews, advertisements)

3.       Delayed release of Box Office figures

4.       A philanthropic donation

5.       Issued personal statements (by Nolan, Hathaway and Bale)

6.       Composition a ballad

7.    And, a visit to the victims by Bale      

And although these are strategic PR responses, it is necessary to again remember that the shootings were a tragic occurence, and that the recations from the studio, cast and crew are profoundly honest and benevolent.