Getting the word out there

jsanglier — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:58:47 +0000

Advertising and promoting anything can be a complete pain at the best of times. Who do you sell to? How do you sell to them? How do you attract their attention? Does it matter what you say? It really is the ultimate form of completely artificial conversation. Yes, voice overs really do talk like that in real life; when you spend everyday underlining and emphasising particular words to get the client’s message across, it becomes kind of habit forming. I find it almost impossible to type without talking out loud! With most of my clients I have to do a balancing act between what they feel they want and what my 30 years in advertising tells me will probably (but not definitely) work. After all, although I may understand advertising better than they, it is their business and they know it and understand it far better than I do.

An online game poses some rather unique challenges from the marketing point of view. The nearest established real life comparison I can make is probably advertising annual membership to a golf club. Although you are selling a single product, the game of golf, you are not just selling a single item, you are selling a time commitment; spending a couple of thousand on your annual membership fee is kind of crazy if you never actually play any golf! So, when an online game markets itself, it has to say not only “this game is fun,” but “you will enjoy playing it continuously hour after hour for the next year or more.”

That is a BIG sell for anyone – whatever your budget.(...)
Read the rest of Getting the word out there (534 words)

Wurm Team Blog » advertising

Getting the word out there