Star Trek: videogame marketing campaign

Star Trek: blog tasks

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.

June 2011

E3 announcement and teaser trailer

This was one of the most significant aspects of the Star Trek campaign because this is where everyone found out that a new Star Trek game was being created, because the announcement had been made this had started a buzz. 

April 2012

New teaser trailer released

This stage of the development showed the audience how the game was actually serious and that there was a game that was going to be released soon. 

June 2012 – E3

Website and Twitter feed launched

Updates on Facebook

Game enemy (Gorn) announced

Gameplay footage posted online

Game producer Brian Miller interviewed

When the website and social media aspect of the game was released two months later, everyone one was excited about the game. It had started trending on twitter and everyone was excited about this new Sci-Fi game that was going to release soon.  

February 2013

Retailers post circulars online

‘Making of’ video released

UK launch event at the Science Museum  

This made the audience realise that the game was not a myth even though it was taking so long for the game to release. The making of video showed how the game may have already been made and it gave hope to the audience that the game will soon be released and be out in game stores near them. 

April 2013

Previewed in game magazines

Gadget Show live game available to play

Gameplay footage on YouTube

Interview with Brian Miller released

2 years later the game was finally released but the audience was not happy. 'Several occasions while playing Star Trek, I was ready to call it a write-off'' This example of a review shows how the game was not well executed even though it took so long for the developers to make the game. After people had started playing this game the game was totally twitter bombed because it was so bad and a waste of money.

2)Watch the following YouTube trailers and explain why they might appeal to an audience:

• Teaser trailer
• Xbox teaser trailer
• Full trailer
• Comedy trailer with William Shatner

3) How many views did these trailers receive in total?

4) Why did the Star Trek videogame publisher develop the marketing campaign over such a long time?

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?

Videogame advertising: Institution

Rockstar Games

Background: found in 1998, headquarters in New York
Owner/founder: by the British video game producers Sam Houser, Dan Houser, Terry Donovan, Jamie King and Gary Foreman. 
Most successful games: Grand theft auto, Max Payne, L.A Noir, The warriors
Interesting fact about the institution: As of February 2014, Rockstar Games titles have shipped more than 250 million copies. The largest franchise being the Grand theft auto series which alone have shipments of at least 157.5 million

EA (Electronic Arts)
Background: California, USA. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 Owner/founder: Trip Hawkins
Most successful games: Battlefield, Sims, Need for speed
Interesting fact about the institution: In 2011 Electronic Arts was the world’s third-largest gaming company

Zynga
Background: founded in July 2007 in San Francisco
Owner/founder: Mark Pincus
Most successful games: Farmville, Zynga poker
Interesting fact about the institution: 80 percent of Zynga's income comes from Facebook users

Nintendo
Background: Founded on September 23, 1889, headquartered in Koyoto, Japan  

Owner/founder:  Fusajiro Yamauchi
Most successful games: Super Mario, Tetris, Legend of Zelda
Interesting fact about the institution: The name Nintendo can be roughly translated from Japanese to English as "leave luck to heaven.

Sony Computer Entertainment
Background: Established on November 16, 1993 in Tokyo, Japan

Owner/founder: headed by Steve Race

Most successful games:  launch of the original PlayStation video game system
Interesting fact about the institution: The Company has sold more than 400 million PlayStation consoles worldwide.

Case study 2: Wii Party

General Research:

The game was released worldwide in March 2012. The game was created and published by Nintendo. This game can only be played on the Wii console as it has been designed specifically for this certain console. Since the game has been released over 7.94 million copies have been sold worldwide.

Broadcast:

Some key conventions for a videogames advert are game previews which would show the viewer what the games are. The company’s name/logo will always be shown so the audience would know who have created and published the game. The advert would also have some footage of people playing the game so the target audience would get to see what features the game has. Sometimes the advert may be non-diegetic; this means that the advert would have background music playing over the videos. Another key convention would be that the company uses attractive people in their adverts so it would appeal to more people. A domestic setting in the advert creates an atmosphere and sells a better lifestyle. The advert also may have a personal identity. This means- finding yourself and your lifestyle or beliefs reflected in the media text. 


Print:

There isn't really a main colour scheme for the front cover for this game. Most of the colours are bright and vibrant so the game can stand out on the shelves of the shops.

'The only impressive thing about Wii Party is how Nintendo dumbed down and removed the soul from a franchise that was already as stupid and soulless as Mario Party.

 this negative comment is showing how people are not impressed with what Nintendo have created. This suggests how Nintendo are slowly loosing their market.
 I think that this review would decrease the sales of this game as the audience would not buy the game if many people are not impressed

E-media :

http://wiiparty.nintendo.com/

The website for this game is quite childish. The variety of colours that have been used are mainly bright colours you would find in a children's book. On the website it also shows pictures of friends and family playing the game and having fun. This gives the interpretation that if you play the game the developers want the families to believe that 'A family that play together, stays together'.

From this facebook page for this game it shows the 11,212 people have liked this page. This suggests that lots of people like the game and enjoy it.

Fifa 14- Case Study

Print:

 The main print advert used to promote fifa 14 is the one shown above. It promotes the game by using words like ‘we’ ‘your’. This makes the audience feel like the advert directly addressing them so this would make them want to buy the game. There is synergy between the ‘start your journey’ and the picture of the professional football player holding keys as it is making the audience feel as if they are a part of the fifa ‘family’. The ‘we are fifa’ slogan makes the audience feel as if they are now being welcomed into the fifa community.  The slogan ‘take the fifa 14 world tour’ suggest that if you buy the game it will take you to a whole new level of gaming. This links to the main image as it is showing Lionel Messi holding the keys to the fifa van so people can join. The colour schemes of the print advert are bright so the poster would be able to stand out on billboards.

‘FIFA 14 rocks! It’s the best football game till date. Much more realistic features, improved game play than FIFA 13.’ – This is showing how people who play this game are impressed by the quality of the game. This suggests that because the graphics are much more realistic it makes the game more fun.

‘There is nothing new to the game. It is the same, and it feels like i have wasted my money.’ – This negative review suggests how there is nothing new to the game and it is to similar to previous fifa games.

‘Goals feel more organic and varied here than they have in a fifa game for years’-This positive review is showing how the game has changed dramatically throughout the years.

Broadcast:

the advert attracts lots of different people as it shows no matter who you are or where you are you can enjoy the game as much as everyone else. This advert also makes it appeal to a variety of people as it shows different people in the advert. Celebrities have also been used in the advert so the game would also appeal to their fans. This would make the fans think that if their idol enjoys the game then so will they. The advert has famous musicians, football players and ordinary people. Lionel Messi is driving the van because it shows that he is the main player of the game so he will lead everyone to victory. 

Easter Homework

Name of game: Just dance 4

Release date: 9^th October 2012

Institutions behind the game (game studio/publisher): Ubisoft

Print: 

Some key conventions of print adverts are:

Name of the product

Slogan

Central image

Colour scheme

‘Just Dance 4 is a triumph and goes to show that Ubisoft has definitely not been resting’

This quote from a review is positive as they are impressed with the effort and how well the game has been executed.

 ‘The choreography can be a little too energetic for most modest-sized living room’

This is a negative statement as the audience is not happy at the fact that the game is not suitable for all environments such as a small living room

‘There's not much new to Just Dance 4, but it's still one heck of a party game.’

This statement is both positive and negative. This is stating that the just dance game is kind of a waste of money as there is not many new things to this game. However it also says that even though it doesn't have new features it is still a good game.

 The front cover for the game helps appeal to the audience as it is bright, bold and colourful this would help the game to stand out when being advertised as it makes the game different. As the posters have bright colours the game would also stand out when it is on big billboards. This game was advertised in/on Magazines, Newspapers, Billboards, Shops, Game reviews and Buses.

Broadcast:

The advert for this game shows many of the different styles of dance the game has. For the advert the company has also got the singer of the main song playing throughout to be in the video as it shows that they like the game to. This would also help appeal to the certain singer’s fan-base. The advert has also got some YouTuber’s involved as this would also help appeal to more people.

This game was advertised on the TV, radio and other sources.

This interview is by the Olympic gold medalist Alex Morgan. This interview would help the game sell more copies as her fans would see that she likes to play the game with her friends. This means that people who look up to her would want to play this game as they think that it would make them closer to their role-model.

E-media:

The website for my game is fun and colourful. This attracts the target audience as when people think about dance they think about having fun and messing around with their friends.

This helps the audience to be engaged as the game is available on a variety of consoles, which means no matter what console you have you can always play the game.

A creative aspect of the website is that they have put videos to show what the different songs are going to be like, so the audience can get a taste of the game. Another creative feature the game has is that it lists what songs are in the game. It also lists what songs are on the game for each console they have released the game for.

This is the YouTube account for the just dance games

This is an example of people playing the game. This helps promote the game as when the target audience sees what it is like playing the game they would want to buy it if they think it is fun.

The hash tag that was used for this particular game was #JustDance4. The creators used twitter to promote the game as many teens use social networking sites. If this particular hash tag was going around then more people would be aware and know more about the game.

One competition the game had was a chance to meet Justin Bieber on tour. This created a lot of publicity as this celebrity a big fan base. 

Representation

I chose the movie 21 jump street as it is about these two police officers who have to go back to college undercover. This movie is stereotypical as police expect kids in high school to do drugs. This also shows men on motorbikes, this shows the viewer that most bikers take drugs. From the poster we can tell that the writer is stereotyping teenagers by saying that they all love prom.

The trailer shows two men who were completely different when they were young but now are best friends. This is like the ‘geek’ and ‘cool guy’ becoming best friends. The director is representing the ‘popular’ kids as the drug dealers because they are popular and know everything.  The teachers in the trailer seem very sarcastic and as if they would joke about. Lastly I think that some of the characters have been portrayed by what people think they are, how they act and how they are in person.

My Movie Pitch

I have decided that my movie is going to be about these twin brothers. One brother is the popular one doesn't really get good grades gets all the girls. However the other brother is going to be nerdy and geeky. This one gets all the good grades loves school and doesn't get any girls. But when the ‘player’ gets dumped and really falls in love with the girls of his dreams, she pays no attention to him. She falls in love with the geeky brother. The movie doesn't have a name yet but the log-line can be ‘who is the better twin?’  This movie is a high school drama type.  The movie will show how the brothers stop talking to each other and face a lot of problems. This movie is going to show how the girl is only playing them as the ‘player’ had hurt her best friend and now she wanted to treat him a lesson by getting close to the geeky brother. But what she 

doesn't know is that in the end she falls in love with the geeky brother and dumps the player.

by 

Radhika