PR & Marketing for Small Game Studios - IGI "The Future is Bright" Conference 2012

JULIEN WERAPR & Marketing Manager

2012-02-17

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Who is speaking ?

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Previously

A few past projects

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You ?

• Developers ?

• Publishers ?

• Journalists ?

• Students ?

• Other ?

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“International PR & marketing for small studios”

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Entering the digital distribution era

Digital distribution has broken some barriers but one remains: visibility.

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1500 400K 600K 453 XBLA2349 XLIG

20K650 VG

Number of games in selected digital platforms:

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Communication & marketing still matter

In communications schools, they still teach that the Communication rule #1 is: ”You cannot not communicate”

Actually... You can.

It is called being invisible.

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PR

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Marketing

Community

Management

3 main types of communication

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PR

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Know who YOU are, and do PR your way

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Be remarkable

Don’t try to mimic what others do. Being remarkable is the most effective and cheapest way to attract attention. If you’re indie, freedom is your best asset, so use it !

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Know who YOU are, and do PR your way

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Be yourself

Just as you can’t out-Zynga Zynga, you can’t out-Behemoth The Behemoth. Find your own way to create and communicate, and respect the creation of others. Being a copycat because it’s « easier » is not a solution for you or the industry.

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Know who YOU are, and do PR your way

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Be HumanGaming & Tech media are composed of human beings passionated about gaming, just like you. Loose the corporate formatting: it won’t make you appear bigger or more professional. Simple gamer-to-gamer relationships are the most effective.

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Be Human – Part 2

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• Be personal in your communication, know who you’re talking to and what they want

• Reward your early supporters, no matter how small they are, and never forget them

• PR is Community Management, your community is just different

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• Understand your media contacts:

• Get to know who they are before you ask for favors

• What they want -> <- What you want. Like with any relationship, it has to come from both sides

• Don’t spam: Even small blogs get up to 5 outreach from indie studios per week. Be remarkable to stand out.

• Understand strong cultural differences if you market your game internationally

• Most game editors are not professional, they do this by passion on their free time. Don’t waste it.

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Press Coverage Equation

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1) Physical and cultural distance

• The farther you are from your contact, the least relevant you are

• Cultural proximity can overcome geographical distance, or make the barrier stronger

Exemple: France and Japan are geographically distant, but culturally very close.

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Press Coverage Equation

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1) Physical and cultural distance2) Media prominence

Who you are and what you’ve done matters a lot in your chances to get media attention. Try

to develop your own media prominence, becoming the go-to expert on specific topics

will secure you a lot more opportunities.

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Press Coverage Equation

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1) Physical and cultural distance2) Media prominence: The Kickstarter

Exemple

>Brian Fargo

Tim SchafferChris Allen

Derrick Smith

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Press Coverage Equation

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1) Physical and cultural distance2) Media prominence3) Novelty

Something NEW will always get more coverage than something old. Media feed and live on novelty. If your studio is just doing new versions of something that already exists, your chances of getting covered are much lower.

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Press Coverage Equation

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1) Physical and cultural distance2) Media prominence3) Novelty

Ex: The 3rd Gen of DotA games have a lot more trouble getting attention. The genre isn’t new anymore.

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Press Coverage Equation

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1) Physical and cultural distance2) Prominence3) Novelty4) Audience targeting

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Press Coverage Equation

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1) Physical and cultural distance2) Prominence3) Novelty4) Audience targeting

Don’t blast your communication everywhere and hope that something sticks. Target your efforts, don’t waste time, energy and credibility contacting partners without a solid belief that they’ll be interested by what you have to offer.

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Press Coverage Equation

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1) Physical and cultural distance2) Prominence3) Novelty4) Audience targeting5) Relationships

PR is about building relationship with people over time. One-shot blasts never work, and results are measured over time. Remember: You’ll need many shots !

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Press Coverage Equation

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1) Physical and cultural distance2) Prominence3) Novelty4) Audience targeting5) Relationships

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Press Coverage Equation

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1) Physical and cultural distance2) Prominence3) Novelty4) Audience targeting5) Relationships6) Etc.

Many more things factor in your equation, such as the timing of your announcement, the importance of your information, the platform you’re on, the languages you use, etc.

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Press Coverage Equation

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1) Physical and cultural distance2) Prominence3) Novelty4) Audience targeting5) Relationships6) Etc.

1) + 2) + 3) + 4) + 5) + 6) = Your chances of getting media coverage

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Examples – At beginning of communication

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Distance

Prominence

Novelty

Relationships

Distance

Prominence

Novelty

Relationships

Distance

Prominence

Novelty

Relationships

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How much does PR costs ?

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• PR requires time, money, or both

• If you don’t have time but you have money, you can hire. PR Agency fee = 5K$/month on average per country. Can vary a lot depending on the contract and services.

• Besides salaries, never for get to add to the bill:• Travel costs• Assets production costs (physical and digital)• Tools (most are free, some paid ones can be

useful)

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Social Media

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• Social media allows you to communicate directly to your audience

… but it doesn’t guarantee that anybody will be listening

• What you use is not necessarily what your audience uses. Adapt to your userbase, because your users will rather leave than change for you.

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MARKETING

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(excluding advertising)

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BE EVERYWHERE

• Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, XBLA, PSN, etc.

• Distribution leaders: Steam, Retail

• and runner-ups: Impulse, Gamersgate, Origin, GamesPlanet, DLGamer, Amazon, Getgames, etc.

• Renters: Gametap, Metaboli, Onlive

When you’re new and unknown, make it easy for customers to find you, and claim the space. You can be picky when you’re known enough that customers will look for you on

their own.

Requires time, experience, network (and an adaptable tech)

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BE FLEXIBLE (with the price)

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• If you’re confident in your game, then let people play it as much as possible !

•Flexibility is a key advantage small structures have over large publishers

• Sales can have a negative impact on your bottom line, so make the most of them, market them heavily

• Your free users are extremely important, don’t forget them

• Word of mouth/Virality• Cross-promotion• Microtransactions• Etc.

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BUILD TO LAST

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On iOS, the more games you make, the more money-per-game you’ll make.

Source: streamingcolour.com/blog/

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BUILD TO LAST

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Iterating on several projects will bring you:

• Experience

• Community

• Cross-marketing opportunities

• Media prominence

• Relationships leverage

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Platform-owner features

• Most effective marketing in closed environments

• No magic recipe, but possible to optimize your chances:

• Understand the platform’s audience• Use the latest platform’s features• Build relationships

• The possibility of being featured is too random, hope for it but don’t rely on it

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COMMUNITY

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(in very, very short)

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What is a Community ?

« A community is a place where everyone knows your name »

What do you need to start a community ?

• Something to talk about

• Somewhere to talk about it

• People (they do the talking)

There is a big difference between having a community and having followers on Facebook or Twitter. A community implies bi-directional relation with the studio, as well as among the

members.

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Everything is Community

• Communities are about social contact: Make it easy for players to create relationships with you and among themselves. Once again, it’s all about the people.

• Everything you do will reflect on your community: Gaming communities are capable of everything and anything, never underestimate them. The slightest change in gameplay, the smallest interview can have a strong impact on them. Trust and Loyalty are the most important currency in community management, but they’re also extremely fragile.

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SUMMARY

• Know who you are and/or who you want to be• Know who your audience and your partners are, understand them• Communicate often, share information, build relationships• Beware the ethnocentrism• Be everywhere• Be flexible• Reward those who support you

Visibility isn’t easy, but you don’t invest resources in getting it, don’t expect people to invest time in you.

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Thank you!

www.linkedin.com/in/juwera

www.massive.se

www.facebook.com/Ubisoft.Massive