How long before release did the GTA V campaign begin?
Two years before.
How did the institution want existing GTA fans to react to the early trailers?
The trailers gave very little information away about the plot, the institution wanted dedicated fans to re-watch and analyse the trailers.
How did the steady release of trailers build excitement and hype about the game?
Fans started to become more aware of the game through word-of-mouth. Along with the trailers being "subtle" and giving away more and more information about the plot every time, fans became more intrigued and anticipated the game more.
How was the launch used to generate news coverage?
The game had a midnight release nationwide.
What effect did the strict embargo have on the audience?
An embargo was put in place until the game's official midnight launch release; this meant that no news coverage could be released about the game (until release) in case the game received any negative criticism or spoiled the plot. The loyalty of the fan-base meant that people deliberately avoided going on the internet because they didn't want to see any screenshots.
In your opinion, why was the campaign for GTA V so successful?
The institution carefully planned the two-year long media campaign which helped them gained a clearer understanding of their fan base.
Also, the game received five stars from many newspapers such as: The Telegraph, The Guardian and Digital Spy.
1) Pick out the five most significant aspects of the Star Trek campaign from the list above and explain why they were important in creating a buzz about the game.
Website and Twitter feed launched and updates on Facebook - this maintains the audiences interest
Game enemy (Gorn) announced - this made the game more interesting and adventurous
Gameplay footage posted online - engages with reader
Retailers post circulars online - fans reminded about the game
UK launch event at the Science Museum - significant and clever method, relates to game theme/genre (sci-fi)
2)Watch the following YouTube trailers and explain why they might appeal to an audience:
Good graphics, action packed game-play and at the very end it says 'COMING SOON' which gets the audience excited.
Xbox teaser trailer
Gameplay with suspense action shots.
Full trailer
Action shots (game-play), narrative, text-on-screen with phrases like "THAT TRUE CHARACTER ." and at the very end it has a release date on it - the audience are aware of when the game is going to be released and this creates buzz.
4) Why did the Star Trek videogame publisher develop the marketing campaign over such a long time?
To build up a good reputation of the game and make as many people aware as possible about the game.
5) What other examples can you find online from the Star Trek marketing campaign? Print? Reviews? Broadcast? E-media? Do you feel the campaign as a whole was successful?
Exclusive packs offered on pre-order - this appeals to the audience and makes them eager to buy the game.
Twitter: "the most terrible game." - the game received more negative than positive feedback due to bad graphics.
Name of game: Grand Theft Auto V Release date: 17th September 2013 Institutions behind the game (game studio/publisher): Rockstar Games, Take-Two Interactive Gaming platforms it is available on (e.g. PS4, PC, Wii etc.): PS3 and XBOX 360 Print
What print adverts were used to advertise the game? Find examples and post them on your blog.
Billboards
What key conventions of print adverts can you find on the example you have chosen? Product name? Font? Slogan? Central image? Colour?
The product name 'GTA V' is the fifth instalment to the GTA series.
The font is significant as it's generally recognised as the standard font for the GTA brand - it's bold and eye catching.
The central images are the characters involved the game, the one on the left has a gun gesture and the one on the right has a man holding cash - these elements are significant as they display what the games involves (violence, money, weapons etc.)
Find three reviews for your game that were originally published in videogame magazines. Are they positive or negative about the game? Copy and paste one quote from each review.
Did your game feature on any videogame magazine front covers? Find examples and explain why a front cover feature is so successful in promoting a game to its target audience.
The front cover is successful due to the colour scheme - the green and black go well together to symbolise money (wealth in particular).
The font is the traditional one GTA use - this makes the game appeal to fans.
Broadcast
Did your chosen game use a TV advert to promote the game? Embed it from YouTube if it did and explain how it fits the key conventions of a TV advert.
The tv ad displays the release date, game-play footage, suspenseful background music (to give an urban feel) and the title is shown at the end.
Is there a game trailer on YouTube? Embed it on your blog and explain why it is effective in promoting the game to its target audience.
The game trailer is effective as it displays game-play footage, this creates buzz through word-of-mouth. Therefore, people maintain an interest and become willing to buy the game.
Can you find any other broadcast features on the game - interviews, launch party events, video reviews, clips of the gameplay on YouTube etc. Write about how they effectively promote the game to its target audience.
Interview with GTA V: Michael, Franklin and Trevor who helped their characters come to life in the game.
Game-play footage, this is effective as it helps the audience complete missions quicker and help them identify new techniques.
E-media
Visit your chosen game's official website. How does it attract and maintain the interest of its target audience?
It has loads of sections for things like: music, news and videos of official game-play footage.
Are there any creative or interesting aspects to the game's official website?
The colour scheme is attractive as it uses a variety of bright colours.
The font used is the traditional GTA brand font - this appeals to the audience as they can recognise it easier.
Does the game have a YouTube channel?
Yes, Rockstar games.
Can you find any examples of user-generated content on YouTube that players have created and uploaded from the game? Embed any examples on your blog.
How does user-generated content such as gameplay videos help to promote the game?
As younger users contributions are likely to be popular, user-generated content makes the game come across as more trustworthy, so the game is promoted through word-of-mouth.
How many 'likes' has your chosen game's Facebook wall had?
1.9 million
Choose five of the posts on the Facebook page's wall, screengrab them and explain how they appeal to the game's target audience.
These types of post keeps the audience entertained, therefore they maintain an interest.
This post promotes game-play footage, this is essential as the audience maintain a constant interest due to the fact that they develop new skills. Also, these types of posts create discussion about the game and promotes it furthermore.
What is your chosen game's Twitter hashtag?
#GTAV
How did the campaign use Twitter to promote the game?
Twitter promotes the game mainly due to the hashtag method - #hashtags can be seen worldwide be anyone who has a twitter account. When the GTA V hashtags were trending, people on twitter could access this and were aware about Rockstar officially launched a fifth instalment in the GTA series.
Also, the official GTA V twitter page keeps followers updated on new things available in the game.
Can you find any other creative uses of e-media to promote the game? This might include hashtags, competitions, Instagram, user-generated campaigns or anything else that is designed to draw attention to the game.
Hashtages - #ROCKSTAR, #SNAPMATIC Pre- and post-release
What was the game's release date?
17th September 2013
What is the earliest reference you can find to the game before the release date?
Rockstar collaborated with several retail outlets to provide special edition versions of the game. The "Special Edition", for example, includes a unique case packaging for the game, a game map and unlock codes for additional content for use in the single-player and multiplayer modes of the game.The publisher also collaborated with Sony to release a 500 GB PlayStation 3 console which includes a copy of the game and a 30-day trial membership for the PlayStation Plus service, as well as set of Grand Theft Auto V branded headphones. All pre-orders of the game grant the purchaser with an access code for the in-game aircraft, Atomic Blimp.
Was it announced at a gaming conference (such as E3)? How did the publisher get a potential audience excited about the forthcoming game?
The publisher officially released images from action inside of the game.
How did the institution promote the game after it was released?
On amazon, GTA V had a banner across the front page.
Rockstar paid Twitter and Facebook to promote the game on everyone's TL(timeline)
Does the game have any way of making the publisher additional income post-release (such as in-game purchases)?
Yes, you can buy advanced weapons with real money inside the game.
Other
Who do you think is the target audience for this game? Make up a potential target audience demographic and explain why you think it fits the game.
Male to female, 75:25 ratio
Aged 18 - 34
ABC1 demographic
The game is targeted mainly for people who live in cities and are immune to previous action-adventure games. The game focuses on gang crime, so people who live in cities are more likely to have some understanding or experience.
What psychographic groups would be attracted to this game?
Mainstreamers: seek security
Aspirers: seek status
Explorers: seek discovery
Strugglers: seek escape
What else can you find from the marketing and promotion of your chosen game?
Video trailers and press demos released.
To reveal the game's cover art, Rockstar contracted artists to paint a mural on a wall in Manhattan, New York on 31 March 2013,
A launch event? Stories appearing in newspapers? Celebrity endorsement? Scandal or controversy?
Celebrity endorsement -
celebrities (such as Tyga and The Game) had their tracks within the game-play
Launch event -
Released some shots of action from the game
Controversy -
Depiction of torture
Accusations of sexism - some reviewers concluded that the game's depiction of women is misogynistic
How does the campaign make an emotional connection with the audience? What is the audience appeal of the advertising campaign?
The use of game-play footage released by social media sites (mainly YouTube- Rockstar) is essential as people begin to become attracted to the escapism it brings by being in the shoes of another character.
Advertising (TV, billboards, print etc.) is essential as they help people to build relationships with the characters involved. Also, Editorial (magazine reviews etc.) are useful as it helps someone to decide whether or not they can relate to the game and the theme which comes along with it.
Can you find any images of how the game was promoted in-store - displays, point-of-sale promotions, window displays etc.?
Title: Red bug...alert! Target Audience: 6 - 12 years old, boys and girls Platform: Nintendo Wii A: How will you create marketing materials that attract audience attention to the game? Bright colour scheme, school promotions, posters, CITV adverts, McDonalds happy meal toy I: How will you generate audience interest? Marvel characters in video game trailers (Spiderman and Superman) and Disney characters (Frozen) D: How will you stimulate audience desire to buy the game? All the people who pre-order will receive bonus gifts (red bug toy), and gameplay footage in the trailer A: How will you promote audience action? Game sites with demos of the game
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.
Planetside 2 is a war game set in a sci-fi environment.
What genre does the game belong to?
MMOFPS (Massively Multiplayer On-line First Person Shooter)
Planetside 2 developer/publisher: Sony Online Entertainment
When was it launched?
PS4 - June 5, 2013
How does the gameplay work?
Players elect to join one of three factions (The Terran Republic; The Vanu Sovereignty and The New Conglomerates) all of which are fighting for territory in the online environment.
What are the six different player classes in the game?
The Infiltrator is a sniper class with special abilities of cloaking and hacking, and can use sniper rifles, scout rifles and submachine guns to deliver a devastating effect.
The Light Assault class is a scout who uses carbines, submachine guns and shotguns. The Light Assault's special ability is Jump Jets, which allow them to fly through the air for a short period of time.
The Combat Medic is a healing class. Their weapons include assault rifles, shotguns and submachine guns. The Combat Medic's special abilities allows them to heal and resurrect other players.
The Engineer class has the special ability of repairing vehicles, turrets, and MAX Units. The engineer also has the ability to build anti-infantry and anti-vehicle turrets. The Engineer's weapons include carbines, shotguns submachine guns and battle rifles.
The Heavy Assault class has light machine guns, submachine guns, shotguns, batte rifles, and also Rocket Launchers, which are effective at destroying enemy vehicles. They also have the special ability of shields to help them endure heavy fire.
The MAX class has a mobile armoured suit that allows them to take significant damage before dying. However, due to the suit they are also the slowest class. They have access to anti-infantry, anti-vehicle, and anti-air weapons. Max units cost resources to use.
What is the story or narrative to the game?
Planetside 2 is a science fiction massively multiplayer online first-person shooter set approximately 300 years after the discovery of Auraxis. After the Earth has nearly come to ruin following a devastating war, the world's governments came to a consensus and united under one banner: the world-wide Terran Republic (TR). Some time later a wormhole, one which scientists fail to explain, appears and then disappears without a trace. Ex-President of the Terran Republic, Tom Connery, believes that the wormhole is a sign of existing extraterrestrial life and launches several space expeditions. So exactly 175 years after Tom Connery and the other leaders of the Terran Republic were killed, the war between the Terran Republic and the New Conglomerate breaks out. Following this, the New Conglomerate attacks the scientists who were still working on the alien technology, the Vanu Sovereignty, and they are as a result drawn into the conflict with the Terran Republic.
Business model
How much does Planetside 2 cost to play?
It's free to play but there are in-game purchases.
What does a subscription offer to players?
Increased experience, cert points, and extra resources, which are used to acquire things such as grenades and medical kits.
What can the in-game currency be used to buy?
Buy 'power'.
Why do some players dislike games in which users can buy additional weapons or health?
Lack of balance across classes and high system requirements.
The three factions
The Terran Republic:
An authoritarian government that leverages military might to maintain strict control over the colonial citizens.The Terran Republic is obsessed with the preservation of law and order through violence, and are thus seen by some to be an oppressive and dictatorial force, Their colours are red and black. TR forces are distinguished by their use of rapid fire weapons and miniguns, large magazines, and high speed medium tanks and fighters
The Vanu Sovereignty:
The Vanu Sovereignty believes that only through the mysterious power of ancient technology can humanity truly evolve its next state of existence. They are an advanced and cunning faction, employing powerful alien technology on the battlefield. Their singular purpose is to uncover the secrets hidden away in ancient artifacts scattered over the surface of Auraxis, and they annihilate anyone who interferes with their progress. Their colours are purple and cyan. Vanu employ advanced plasma and laser technology on the battlefield, distinguished by lack of bullet drop, high accuracy, and low recoil, as well as highly maneuverable hovering tanks and Empire Specific Fighters such as the Scythe
The New Conglomerates:
The New Conglomerate operates as a loosely organized band of highly effective freedom fighters, vehemently opposed to the stranglehold that the Terran Republic has on Auraxis. Led by an unusual quorum of outcasts, industry titans, and pirates, the New Conglomerate is unwavering and prepared to achieve freedom from oppression by any means necessary. Their colours are blue and gold. NC forces use hard hitting gauss weaponry that is devastating at short and medium ranges with a medium reload time, supported by heavily armoured assault troops and durable tanks and fighters that also have the highest damage per shot in the game.
Planetside 2: Target audience
Write a possible target audience demographic for Planetside 2 in general:
The target audience for Planetside 2 could potentially range from 18 - 35 years old
80% male and 20% female
Social class: mainly middle class
Students in college and university
Towns and cities
ABC1 demographic
Now write a target audience demographic for each faction from Planetside 2 – it will be similar to the overall target audience but think carefully about changes in age, education or employment:
The Terran Republic:
ABC1 demographic - requires tactics
The Vanu Sovereignty:
ABC1 Demographic; requires new technology and education/employment
The New Conglomerates:
Age 18 - 24 - rebels especially as this game focuses on this particular aspect Doesn't necessarily require someone to be in employment
Now use what you have learned about psychographic profiling to choose potential psychographic groups for each of the three factions:
The Terran Republic:
Mainstreamers - seek security; these are people who live in the world of the domestic and the everyday.
The Vanu Sovereignty:
Resigned: seek survival. Succeeders:seek control; succeeders possess self-confidence, have a strong goal orientation and tend to be very organised. As a result, they tend to occupy positions of responsibility in society. When it comes to brands, they will often seek out the best because that is what they feel they deserve.
The New Conglomerates:
Reformers - enlightenment/change; valuing their own independent judgement.
Explorers: seek discovery; these people are driven by a need for discovery, challenge and new frontiers. Young in nature, if not in reality, Explorers are often the first to try out new ideas and experiences.
Task 1: developers and publishers Rockstar Games Background: founded in 1998 and it's located in New York Owner/founder: Sam Houser is president and Dan Houser is vice-president Most successful games: Grand Theft Auto series and L.A. Noire Interesting fact about the institution: Grand Theft Auto V generated more than $800 million in worldwide revenue EA (Electronic Arts) Background: founded in 1982 and it's located in California Owner/founder: Trip Hawkins Most successful games: Fifa, NBA Live and The Sims series Interesting fact about the institution: In 2012, the net income for the company was $76 million Zynga Background: founded in 2007 and it's located in San Francisco, California Owner/founder: Mark Pincus Most successful games: Farmville and Texas HoldEm Poker Interesting fact about the institution: The revenue for Zynga in 2013 was $873.266 million Nintendo Background: founded in 1889 and is located in Kyoto Japan Owner/founder: Fusajiro Yamauchi Most successful games: Super Mario Bros Interesting fact about the institution: Their main rival is Sega Mega Drive Sony Computer Entertainment Background: founded in 1993 and it's located in Tokyo, Japan Owner/founder: Andrew House is president Most successful games: Gran Turismo series Interesting fact about the institution: The company has sold over more than 400 million PlayStation consoles worldwide Task 2: Advertising agencies W+K Amsterdam
What do the letters stand for? Weiden - Kennedy Amsterdam
What brands have W+K Amsterdam advertised? Heineken, Powerade and Tesco mobile
In your opinion, what is the most creative campaign on their website? Heineken is the most creative campaign because it uses a lot of elements of street art.
What videogame campaigns have they created? Fifa
What additional information can you find out about the FIFA 14 advertising campaign? It used pro footballers: Gareth Bale, Stephan El Shaarawy, Tim Cahill and Javier Hernandez ‘Chicharito’ and FIFA-loving celeb Drake, all getting their game on, along with everyday ‘Joes’.
How long has the Rokkan advertising agency been around for? Since 2000
Where is Rokkan based? New Jersey
What brands have Rokkan advertised? Old El Paso and Tag Heuer
Why was Rokkan's campaign for the videogame 'Dishonored' so successful?
Who was the publisher for 'Dishonored'? Bethesda Softworks
Task 3: Regulatory bodies PEGI Visit the PEGI website and have a look around. Now click on the FAQ section of the website and answer the following questions:
What is PEGI and where is PEGI based? The PEGI systems provides parents and caregivers with detailed recommendations regarding the age suitability of game content in the form of age labels and content descriptors on game packages. PEGI (Pan-European Game Information) has been designed to replace existing national age rating systems with a single system that is identical throughout most of Europe
How does PEGI rate games? PEGI uses a combination of content declaration and game review to determine the appropriate PEGI rating for each game. Initially, the publisher of a game will complete an online declaration form that is sent to the administrator of the system. The completed form is then reviewed and used as a basis for checking the content of the game.
What are the age classifications used by PEGI? The PEGI system was developed and based on existing rating systems in Europe and is supported by the majority of relevant Member State Government Agencies. A wide range of academics, consumers and other stakeholder groups have been involved in the drafting of the assessment form and the shaping of the organisation in order to meet varying cultural standards and attitudes across the member states.
What are the seven aspects that PEGI look for when giving a game a rating (e.g. violence)? Bad language, discrimination, fear, drugs, gambling, nudity, sex.
What is PEGI online? What does PEGI online regulate? PEGI Online is an addition to the PEGI system and aims to give young people in Europe improved protection against unsuitable online gaming content and to educate parents on how to ensure safe online play.
What is the ASA's mission? Their mission is to ensure that advertising in all media is legal, decent, honest and truthful, to the benefit of consumers, business and society.
What are the ASA's values? "Our shared values are to be:
Consistent and proportionate
Reliable and ethical
Fair and respectful to all
Accessible and helpful
Intelligent and thorough, but also timely and proportionate
Open and accountable, acting with integrity and never being afraid to admit when we’re wrong
An excellent team, inspiring excellence in each other"
Now click on the Rulings section of the website. This is where the ASA reports on recent complaints and whether they upheld the complaint or rejected it. Choose one of the complaints and write the following:
The company that was advertising: British Sky Broadcasting
Why someone complained: The complainant challenged whether the ad was misleading because they believed the number of programmes available on Sky 1 was limited.
