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.

Interview: Darksiders II's marketing style

This found-article is an interview with Creative Manager of THQ's Darksiders II about the marketing involved in the design of the upcoming Darksiders II videogame.


This article is cited from MCV Pacific, and is entitled INTERVIEW: Jeremy Greiner talks Darksiders II's marketing style.

At the recent THQ showcase event in Sydney, MCV sat down to talk with Jeremy Greiner, Creative Manager on Darksiders II.

Darksiders wouldn’t have stood out so much this time during the last generation. Competition would’ve been much stronger. Is Darksiders borne of a reaction to that trend away from this style of game?

I think if you look at gaming in general right now, it’s all going super photo-real. All the games out there. It doesn’t really matter whether you’re a shooter or an action/adventure, an RPG, it’s all like that.
Darksiders II is kind of a breath of fresh air. I think that in the next console cycle, we’re going to go back towards videogames and less towards a new representation of reality.

So once the novelty of approximating reality wears off, we’ll see a more stylised feel in games again?

More artistic, more stylised, yeah. I think that’s the only thing that can happen. Everything is really photo-real right now, especially in certain genres. In the next hardware cycle, especially with the new opportunities they’ll present (thinking here about how the landscape in general is becoming more digital), it all runs into us seeing some new things.

Can you tell me a little bit about the process of coming up with the iconic imagery used to promote Darksiders II?

Last summer, you would’ve seen a certain look out there and a different logo, which was very much in that comic niche realm. We decided to take it in a different direction in 2012, so in January we came out with the new logo and new key art.
What we wanted to do was introduce to consumers who weren’t familiar with the franchise, our main character: Death. We wanted to put some mystery behind him, so the first shot was very close cropped, and tight in, just showing the one eye. We didn’t want the image to say that Death was the saviour of mankind or anything like that, because that just fights your preconceptions of what that character is.
So we wanted him to be mysterious and kind of intimidating. Not necessarily evil, but definitely a guy who, if you’re walking down a back alley, you’re staying away from.
And as we went across the campaign from January up until now, we started pulling out the camera, so you started seeing more of Death in poses, more movement, more images which played into his personality and the actual game mechanics (like the wall running shot). We had all these pieces of key art that represented who the main character is in the game, but had to have mass appeal to people outside of the comic space.

Elizabeth Koukeris recently told MCV the title was tracking to be the number two title in THQ Australia’s history. What do you attribute the increase over the original to?

I think it’s a really good game, and when you market a game, if you’re starting from that point, it’s a lot easier to market it.
In the end, that translates over to consumers, their pre-sale awareness and their willingness to go and put money down on something before it’s on the market.
Also, you can look at the success of RPG games this year. They’ve done really well generally. Darksiders II has a huge wealth of content and a lot of those RPG elements baked into the game, a lot of those skill trees, NPC interactions and vast open worlds.
So I think it’s right in the wheelhouse for a lot of people this year.

Often times games which blend multiple genres neglect to satisfy any market rather than appeal to all markets. How does Darksiders II look to combat this?

I think it’s two things – it’s an action/adventure game, and I think that as our genre becomes more set-piece oriented it almost tends towards the shooter space. This is almost a throwback to the action/adventure of old, it’s trying to put the adventure back into action/adventure. You’re doing puzzle solving, it’s got a strong focus on story, and at the same time has all those RPG elements in there. A lot of that is what we wanted in the first game to begin with.
But when you’re building an entirely new engine from scratch for a brand new IP, there’s really only so much you can get in there. A lot ends up on the cutting room floor.

Busy! Busy! Busy! Internship!

Although its not unuasual that I have been absent-posting, I have a reason this time! Amongst all my holiday-enjoying, hard-working and career-focussing, I scored myself a marketing internship. Although it's not within the entertainment industry it has still been rewarding in terms of a resume references and experience.
In the midst of a big year of games, movies, radio and books, I wish to be more proactive blogging. And with my (hopeful) growing attendence at conferences and ethusiasm to enter the entertainment industry, I believe that this can be a successful year.

Case Study: Ocean Marketing

What would be more interesting to watch: a train running smoothly, or a train wreck? As much as your conscience may deny it, you can't help but watch the train wreck.

A train wreck. That’s exactly what has happened to Paul Christoforo of Ocean Marketing. Although I usually post about marketing strategies and achievements, I couldn't help but blog about this PR fatality. It does kinda relate to gaming too, so I can get away with it.

The whole issue arose mid this month when a customer enquired about the shipment of his pre-ordered Playstation-3 Avenger N-Controller, which was stated on the website to be delivered late November/ early December. After some conversing, Christoforo started to email very unprofessional and rude comments. The customer was enraged by the comments and poor customer service. His criticism and frustration weren’t well-received by Ocean Marketing, who threatened and intimidated the customer.

Upset, the consumer forwarded the email to Mike Krahulik from the gaming/comic website, Penny-Arcade.com, who was subsequently bombarded with threatening and intimidating emails by Christoforo. Late last night (27/12/11) Penny Arcade posted the series of emails between Ocean Marketing, the customer and himself, on their news feed.

Ocean Marketing’s and Christoforo’s reputation has taken a hard beating in the last 24 hours as negative word-of-mouse has spread all around the world. In less than a day since Penny Arcade’s post, Youtube parodies have been made, scandalous revaluations have been revealed, and Ocean Marketing has lost a major client.

After reviewing the emails and a previous case of OM’s poor customer service, there were several major notable marketing mistakes performed by Paul Christoforo and Ocean Marketing:

Mistake #1 Aggravating opinion leaders. Even though Christoforo may not have realised how popular Penny Arcade is (if he bothered to check PA’s 75,000+ twitter followers), he should have been still been more cautious, direct and savvy when dealing with this influential third-party. Big or small, gaming websites act as opinion leaders for gamers. And if the site is dissatisfied, the readers are too. By name dropping, name calling, threat throwing and patronising the website and their success status, Christoforo was not only able to personally irritate the co-owner of Penny-Arcade.com, but also permanently damaged Ocean Marketing ‘s public relations with opinion leading website. And you bet-ya’; Penny Arcade had no problem posting Ocean Marketing’s shameful communication and practices to 75k+ global followers

Mistake #2 Ignoring the fact that the consumer is king. One of the first lessons in modern marketing is that the consumer can hire and fire you. Without that end customer (a happy one), a business can easily fail. Christoforo must have missed this class. He interestingly said, though, “Customer service of old is gone, we’re in a new generation now.” It’s true, customer service has changed: we are now living in a consumer-orientated society where customer service and communication has evolved to become one of the most important aspects for an organisation. And telling your customers they aren’t special and treating them insensitively is not an intelligent strategy.

Mistake #3 Poor communication with consumer. At first glance you would think that these emails were informal- perhaps written by some nasty teenage girl. Instead, these unedited and grammatically incorrect emails were sent by the PR representative of Ocean Marketing. Christoforo’s communication was usually vague and simple (at one point the email body consisted of 2 words) and had poor structure. The unprofessional style of writing reflects the frivolity of the communication on Ocean Marketing’s end. This is a bad sign, along with the frequent off-topic ranting by the representative towards the consumer. However, OM could have avoided this whole fiasco by simple and direct communication about processing and delivery of customer orders to consumers.

Mistake #4 Unfriendly, intimidating and demeaning brand image and public relations. From Twitter, to consumer relations, to Penny Arcade, Ocean Marketing has portrayed itself as arrogant, distant and callous:

Arrogant- due to shallow name dropping. The customer and Penny Arcade were both intimidated by Christoforo and his rap-sheet of industry conventions attendance and connections (most of which denied their support and fondness for the representative), not to mention the threats of a PR smearing campaign and arrogant boasting of success. In a recent interview by the MSNBC, Christoforo claimed he was trying to "impress" the recipeints of his emails, with his credentials, but failed because the tone he was trying to convey couldn't be captured in emails. As well as mistakenly added intimidating gestures after these credentials, Christoforo should not have have conversed at a dominating level (degrading and mimimising those he spoke to), nor should he be writing emails whose tone could be ambigious. Another unsurprising revelation from the MSNBC interview is that he doesn't really know the major of Boston, and that he was joking; in conjuction with being arrogant, 'joking' (lying, really) in serious bussiness-related emails is unnessasary and highly unproffessional.

Distant- due to their lack of sympathy for the customer. Even if there are a million things to do you, you should make sure that the customers come first, and if they aren’t, an organisation must be careful to empathise with their consumers, no matter the triviality or who’s responsible in the situation. It is one thing to explain to consumers that organisation is working quickly to deal with their enquiries, it is another to tell them about their responsibility woes of “hundreds of emails daily” and “I’ve got a new born baby”. Sympathy is for the consumer who has been waiting 3 month, or the one who was hollowly promised the product by Christmas, not for the busy PR guy.

Finally, callous, due to the unprofessional and excessive name calling and language, not only toward the customer who was referred to as a baby and a child, but also towards Penny Arcade who was called “amateur at best”. At one point, Christoforo, for some reason, started talking about sperm and balls- Not appropriate or acceptable.

Mistake #5 Underestimating the power of social networking, the internet and word-of-mouse. For a company that claims to be professional Social Media Marketers, Ocean Marketing should have known how fast, far and furiously news could circulate on the internet. Consumers that Christoforo claimed were “one…out of millions” and a website that was “amateur at best” successfully smeared the reputation of Ocean Marketing and Paul Christoforo globally within hours. The story didn’t die as a ranting post on an indie gaming website like Christoforo had hoped, instead it has been picked up by numerous gaming, technology, business and news websites, who now inform millions of people about the professional and personal face of Ocean Marketing and Christoforo.

Christoforo and OM should be reminded of the nature of the internet: everything is eternal. Every email, every un-cited piece of plagiarism, every threat, every name dropped, every angry e-response is captured. A professional social media marketer like Christoforo should know that unless you want the world to see and hear about it, DON’T post it on the web

Mistake #6 Any publicity is good publicity. Christoforo’s loss of sleep, representative position, clients and reputation is testament to this. Ocean Marketing may never be able to recover from this PR nightmare and Christoforo may never have a respectable marketing job again. If only he took a breather before he hit SEND on those emails, especially with Penny Arcade. He baited the gaming/comic site and his consumers to start a PR storm, and when they delivered, Christoforo sure knew that this publicity was never going to be good.

It’s hard to not project my own personal feelings and ethics into this critique; especially when SO many basic customer service, social marketing and co-consideration principles have been ignored. Paul Christoforo is currently in hot water as the angry public slander him and game industry identities abandon him. It will be interesting to see how this prevails.

Consumer Behaviour Major Report ~Nintendo Co., LTD.

Question: What are the consumer behaviour trends in gamer’s decision process when purchasing console games, and how does that influence Nintendo?

1. Background and Context

1.1 Nintendo Development History

Nintendo started in Kyoto, Japan as manufacturer of playing cards. Since the 1970’s, however, Nintendo has been one of the largest and most successful video game and home entertainment corporations in the world. Their most notable achievements are the innovative home gaming devices that allow consumers to play video games on the TV. Nintendo invented five of these home gaming consoles including the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in 1991, the Nintendo 64 (N64) in 1996, the Nintendo GameCube in 2001, and the Nintendo Wii in 2006. In 2011, Nintendo announced the development of it’s 6^th home gaming console, the WiiU, due to be released in 2012.

Nintendo has also developed numerous portable gaming consoles including the Game Boy in 1989, the Game Boy pocket in 1996, the Game Boy Advance in 2001 (redesigned in 2003), the Nintendo DS in 2004 (redesigned in 2006 and 2008), and the Nintendo 3DS in 2011.

As well as producing gaming console hardware, Nintendo has also developed gaming console software. Among the most famous Nintendo gaming software franchise titles are the Legend of Zelda, Pokémon, and the iconic Mario.

1.1 Nintendo Mission and Objective

Nintendo’s mission is not directly stated, but its website (Nintendo Co. 2011) declares that Nintendo’s mission is to produce and market the best quality goods and services to its consumers, whom they treat with consideration, respect and attention. Nintendo closely listens to its customers to help improve its products and services.

1.2 Console Gaming Context

The video gaming world has evolved within recent years. The vast age range of gamers and the high level of significants gamers are now placing on the hobby are some of the arising trends that have emerged in recent gaming culture since the establishment of the three gaming console giants- Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft.

2. Secondary Research in Gamer Consumer Behaviour

2.1 Consumer Behavior Report~ December 2007: Video Gaming Trends by PriceGrabber.com

A 3,309 respondent survey performed by PriceGrabber.com (PriceGrabber.com 2007) found several console gamer consumer behaviour trends including:

· During the pre-purchase stage of searching, consumers use two main sources: (1) Online Websites, including blogs, and (2) recommendations from family and friends.

· During the pre-purchase stage of evaluation, consumers value the attribute of Game Selection most, which is then closely, followed by (in order) Ease of Use, Price, and High Definition Graphics and Playback. Online Capability was by far (at 5%) the most unimportant attribute.

· The animated/ child-friendly video game genre ranks highest in popularity

· And, a decreasing trend in videogame console prices drive consumers to buy

2.2 Effective Affective User Interface Design in Games by Daniel Johnson and Janet Wiles

A 2001 academic research paper by the University of Queensland, Australia (Johnson and Wiles 2001), identified the motivations of gamers’ purchases, as well as measurement of gamer’s post-purchase evaluation of satisfaction. Findings include:

· Gamers’ primary motivation when choosing a game is to experience positive affect of task and goal orientated game play. This can consist of saving the princess, annihilating the enemy, or win a football game.

· Flow- the euphoric state of concentration and involvement- is the most important factor to achieve this positive effect. The components of flow in a video game include the presence of a complete-able task, the ability to concentrate on the task, the task having clear goals, the task provides immediate feedback (points, the vanquishing of a foes), deep but effortless involvement, exercising a sense of control over action taken, self-emersion during flow activity, and sense of duration of time is altered (an hour playing a game only feels like ten minutes).

· In relation to these components: immersion in a game is promoted when all distractions are removed; a better level of concentration and engagement is achieved when game mechanic controls (the pressing of buttons on a game remote control) are easy to remember; and the joy of success is dependent upon the possibility of failure.

3. Primary research- Survey

For primary research I launched a three-week open survey that consisted of 28 questions. Because the survey was aimed towards Nintendo gamers, participants included Nintendo fan forum users, Facebook and Twitter users, and family and friends. Of the 98 responses that were received 58.16% were experienced gamers, and 45.92% had a preference of Nintendo. The results are as followed:

3.1 Pre-purchase Processes: Need Recognition, Search and Evaluation

· Most respondents identified their need to purchase games with the upper-level need of self-actualisation of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The need of self-fulfilment and enriching experiences is evident in some respondents when asked what is the reason for buying console games: “To have fun with the games”, “Looking for a good time...”, “Boredom”, “To pass time or play specific games on the console that the gamer wants to play”

· Most respondents’ need recognition is triggered by the exposure of games, and is then needing the game because of their level of involvement in Nintendo or gaming. Example responses to the same question as above, include: “A game I would usually like is being released”, “I like to stay in the Nintendo franchise more than any other console”, “Part of a series that I enjoy”, “If it looks like fun or it's from a franchise that I like”, “Because I want one and can afford it”

· Depending on the game and familiarity with the franchise, research on a game evenly varies from an hour to a month. Some respondents declared that they deliberated for as long as 3 months to a year. 66.7% of respondents decided to buy (or not buy) a game after research (as opposed to after a review, or family/friend advice)

· Most external searches were done online with 35.2% using official gaming sites (such as Nintendo.com), 28.9% using blogs sites, and several other respondents using unofficial gaming websites, like ING.com and Gametrailer.com, and Youtube.com.

· Most respondent’ decisions were equally influenced by corporate branding (advertising, promotions, brand loyalty) and external independent sources and media (blogs, magazines, reviews)

· 77.9% of respondents felt the product was more important than the price when making a decision. And although most respondents said a preferable price for a game depended on the individual game, when it did come to price the average reasonable and preferable price to pay for a Nintendo 3DS game is $41.51 AUS compared to the current average retail price of $60 AUS; and the preferable price for a Nintendo Wii game is $55.39 AUS compared to the current average retail price of $90 AUS.

· 79.5% of respondents were more likely to buy a familiar sequel console game, than an entirely new game.

3.1.1 Importance of Attributes

· List of important attributes (in order):

1. Replay-ability

2. Gameplay mechanics

3. Storyline and characters

4. Music

5. Realism + Art style

6. Length of game

7. Challenging-ness

8. Graphics

9. Online Capability

3.2 Purchase decision and circumstances

· 51.3% of respondents buy console games just for themselves, while 29.49% buy console games as a gift to another person so they can play together

· Most respondents buy console games every 1 to 6 months

· Most respondents don’t buy console game at a particular time, but rather, all year round

3.3 Post- Purchase processes: Consumption and Post-Consumption Evaluations

· On average, one or two different people would use the bought console game, including the family

· 85.5% of respondents kept their console games after playing them

· Game mechanics and the length of the game are the most common disappointing aspects, on average

· Nearly all respondents would purchase from Nintendo again even if they weren’t satisfied with their product. Majority of respondents, however, wouldn’t buy a sequel if they were not satisfied with a game from the series.

4. How Nintendo uses the Consumer Decision Process Model

Nintendo already has a continuous consumer behaviour survey in place, which measures the gamer’s behaviour towards all the individual Nintendo items they purchase. They are able to achieve this by requesting the completion of a survey every time a consumer registers their product with Nintendo’s loyalty program.

Nintendo asks similar questions to my primary gamer consumer behaviour survey, including age, gender, consumption patterns, and external search sources.

4.1 Need recognition

As stated above, consumers need recognition is triggered by exposure to the new product due to it being a self-actualisation need, and not a necessity. Nintendo promotes their goods and services strongly via many means, but none as prominent as the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). Nintendo leaves their biggest marketing announcements (such as development of a new consoles, or big project games) to this event every year, which are then delivered by corporate figureheads (president of Nintendo, and president of Nintendo of America). Millions of people watch this event online or attend it in person, making it the biggest event in gaming annually.

4.2 Search

Due to gamers’ reliance on online external searches, Nintendo has targeted popular opinion leaders in the field (such as famous game bloggers or reviewers) and offers them pre-release trials of the games to review or blog about. Nintendo also gives free passes for conferences, such as E3, to unofficial gaming websites. Nintendo also has micro-sites for their most popular titles, such as Legend of Zelda and Mario that contains exclusive information about the games.

4.3 Purchase

Although console games are purchased all year around, Christmas time and the American summer are two of the busiest periods for the console game market. These periods are, of course, the gift-giving season and the vacation time for adolescents. Due to this, Nintendo releases its largest and most anticipated games either near Christmas, or May/June/July.

5. Considerations

5.1 Conclusion

The consumer decision making process of Nintendo’s gaming industry can be easily summarised:

· Largest segment of gamers are adolescent males

· Their need for a console game purchase is a self-actualisation leisure need, which is triggered by exposure

· Gamers’ primary motivation when choosing a game is to experience positive affect of task and goal orientated game play

· Consumers use the internet mostly for the external searches process

· Consumers buy console games, on average, four times a year

· 1-2 people are using the console games bought

· Consumers are mostly keeping their consoles and console games after consumption

5.2 Issues

A prominent issue arising from the cooperate-influenced gaming culture is the marginalisation and insensitivity towards females and female gamers. Although the face of gaming is male, 42% of gamers are actually female (Entertainment Software Association (esa) 2011). The reason for the issue potentially lies with game developers, as majority of game content contains more masculine than famine characters, and that the nature of games tends to appeal to the male skill set (Phillips and Co. 1995).

Although feminine gaming is a societal issue that may be influenced by the gaming industry, certain perceived risks have prevented gamers or potential consumers from purchasing consoles and console games.

5.2.1 Perceived risks

The gaming industry, as a whole, faces a few perceived risks that affect their consumers. First and foremost is perceived risk that gaming encourages laziness. Although there is limited research on the subject, there is a social belief that playing video games prevents gamers from exercising and tending to other responsibilities. This concern likely stems from the fact that for a person to play video games they must sacrifice their time. This leads to the neglect of other activities including exercise, socialising and household chores.

Less publicised, yet more established perceived risks are the heightened aggression and lower academic level of gamers- and in turn-playing video games. A study performed in 2003 by the Minnesota School of Professional Psychology found that video game- addicted adolescent were significantly more likely to report having been in a physical fight in the last year (Hauge and Gentile 2003). They also had a higher hostile attribute scores, as well as having more arguments with friends and teachers. The same study also found video game-addicted adolescents reported lower academic grade. A study by Brown University, Rhode Island, observed the same result, as well increased inattentiveness and ADHD levels. The study specifically states that “This investigation found that playing console and Internet video games for more than one hour a day has negative social and academic effects in adolescence” (Chan and Rabinowirz 2006).

6. Implications

6.1 For the Business

Some recommendations for Nintendo include:

· When developing games, place more emphasis on most important attributes (replay-ability, game mechanics, etc.) which contribute to the ‘Flow’ (Johnson and Wiles) of gameplay

· When developing games, improve and consider prevalent disappointing attributes, such as the length of gameplay

· Develop games and marketing strategies that are unisexed or appealing to females. Suggestions include not using sexist character designs, and contain famine elements.

· Battle perceived risks of aggression by developing initiatives in games or consoles that decrease hostility in gamers. (Note: Nintendo has battled the perceived risks of laziness and unintelligence by developing physical and mental fitness games such as Wii Fit, Brain Age, Big Brain Academy, and Sight Training)

· Lower prices of console games to a more consumer-appealing price

· Develop sequel to successful games as there is already an enthusiastic consumer-base willing to purchase

6.2 For Consumers

Some recommendation for consumers to help them make better purchasing decisions:

· Understand and analyse the need in purchasing a console game

· Understand the corporate influence in producing recognition signals

· Understand and recognise the gender- and possible racist -boundaries in the gaming culture

· Consider the perceived risks of gaming, as well as alternative Nintendo provides for them, before purchasing

-After purchasing a console game, be conscious of perceived risks and take measures to avoid them. This includes exercise regularly to avoid laziness, do homework to avoid low academia, and participate in calming exercises to avoid heightened aggression.

Bibliography

Chan, P. A. and T. Rabinowirz (2006). "A cross-sectional analysis of video games and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms in adolescents." Annals of General Psychiatry 5(16): 4-5.

Entertainment Software Association (esa) (2011). 2011 Essential Facts about the Computer and Video Game Industry, Entertainment Software Association (esa).

Hauge, M. R. and D. A. Gentile (2003). Video Game Addiction Among Adolescents: Associations with Acedemic Performance and Aggression. Society for Research in Child Development Conference. Tampa, Florida, Minnesota School on Professional Psychology, Argosy Universuty

Johnson, D. and J. Wiles (2001). Effective Affective User Interface Design in Games, School of Psychology and School of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, University of Queensland, Australia.

Nintendo Co. (2011). "Nintendo of America's Corporate Mission and Philosophy." from http://www.nintendo.com/corp/mission.jsp.

Phillips, C. A. and a. Co. (1995). "Home video game playing in schoolchildren: a study of incidence and patterns of play." Journal of Adolescence 18: 687-691.

PriceGrabber.com (2007). Consumer Behavior Report~ December 2007: Video Gaming Trends.