Advertisements for Movies, Video Games, Board Games...but not RPG's?

[WhatGravitas]

Wizards lost the license to the Pokemon card game years ago, so they're not the ones advertising it.

But they're advertising MtG sets.

Cheers, LT.

 

[Dragonhelm]

TV commercials are expensive...

That's it exactly. I've worked in TV and advertising, and I've seen the dollar figures. TV ads are a few hundred dollars per :30 spot. This goes up into the thousands for news, and even higher amounts for national ads (network). If the network is one of the Big Four (ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX), the dollars are higher still. If you want several spots a week over a month period on various networks and maybe a couple of local stations in a few markets...well, an advertising campaign can get quite expensive.

You also have to consider your daypart. A :30 spot at a local TV station during the mid-afternoon kids block will be a LOT less than prime time network.

Plus, there are production costs, talent costs (which are outrageous with the SAG and AFTRA unions), the agency fee, and so on.

WotC has a lot of viral marketing going for them, so that saves tons of cash on advertising. Still, it would do them well to have something going for them in the month leading up to 4e's release.

My recommendation would be to have a single :30 spot produced to run for a month on a limited number of national networks, and maybe at a local station in Seattle and other cities known as gamer hubs. Run the spot on SciFi, Cartoon Network, maybe the MTV networks (including VH-1, the Nick networks, and so on), and other similar networks that reach out the target demographic.

 

[Glyfair]

I recall spots for Vampire and Werewolf back in the mid-1990s, and plenty of people would argue that those games are deeper than D&D.

Did they keep doing those spots? Perhaps they felt the ads weren't very successful, which is why they didn't try it again (such as when they launched the new line a few years ago).

The same thing would apply to the D&D commercial. They only did one, but did quite a number of ads in magazines and particularly in comic books.

 

[The Little Raven]

I believe you are misinterpreting me -perhaps I needed to be more clear. When I said deep I was not necessarily talking about deep in a kind of elitist way but rather an engaging and interactive way.

And you're still saying the game is "too deep" to advertise on television... that strikes me as suggesting it's "too deep" in an elitist fashion.

 

[The Little Raven]

My point is that you speak if it was easily the same thing regarding advertising which in fact it is not.

I still don't understand whether you have a real point or not.

What is the point in distinguishing between D&D and 4e, specifically?

 

[Ranger REG]

Why not my favorite game?

Commercial is expensive. You're better off using the product placement method (remember the GE commercial between the romance of a beautiful supermodel and a geeky computer nerd? Or the scene from the final episode of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer TV series?) or get free advertisement via monologue from late-night talk show hosts (e.g., Conan O'Brien).

Or they can go overseas and make those ridiculously funny commercial with A-list stars, except Tom Cruise (don't really like him as a product spokesperson).

 

[The Little Raven]

Did they keep doing those spots? Perhaps they felt the ads weren't very successful, which is why they didn't try it again (such as when they launched the new line a few years ago).

Nah, the last time I saw one was the "When Will You Rage?" Werewolf TV spot back in 1996. I think they were just hitting their stride (most of the oWoD games were out, some had been revised w/second editions already, and White Wolf was eating up larger and larger chunks of the market while TSR was melting down), and after that they realized that the gains they would make wouldn't be worth the cost involved.

 

[xechnao]

I still don't understand whether you have a real point or not.

What is the point in distinguishing between D&D and 4e, specifically?

D&D has been there for some time and this is its biggest value :its following. Now it is in the phase of dropping an old edition for a new one which could be considered a bit annoying or frustrating to for some of its followers due to being premature. A short TV spot regarding this could be a bit risky. Wizards has to convince in a more concrete and complete way than a short TV spot.

 

[Benimoto]

I've seen TV commercials for Magic the Gathering (link, link) and I wouldn't be surprised to see them for 4th edition. That said, commercials are usually for products that are actually available on the shelves, and not products that are 9 weeks from release.

Unless a movie's a super-summer-blockbuster, you usually don't see TV ads for it until the week before it hits the theaters. I suspect that would be the earliest we'd see any TV ads for 4th edition, if they exist.

 

[The Little Raven]

A short TV spot regarding this could be a bit risky. Wizards has to convince in a more concrete and complete way than a short TV spot.

Got any support for this claim at all?

We're all saying it won't happen because the gains won't be worth the cost (since TV spots are expensive), and you're saying that it would somehow be a risk to do ads (with no support for the claim).