I think D&D as a 'brand' *might* compete with mainstream fantasy brands by going more adult and playing up to 80s paranoia. Chick it up! Well, not literally. But GoT and Walking Dead are fantasy series both squarely marketed at adults, and both are knocking it out of the park, ratings-wise. More importantly, teenagers are watching them.
Seriously. Drizzt and Elminster can't compete with Spider-man and Vader. D&D's core strength has never really been it's fiction, it has been it's tabletop experience.
But it does have one identifying feature beyond those who buy FR novels, etc. It has that 80s Jack Chick paranoia. Why not market it as the grown-up game, not target it at the kids? A bit of devil worship never hurt anyone (literally, unless you actually believe in magic). I haven't smoked in a few years, but when I started it wasn't because I was a 16 year old looking for a new kiddie thing to do. I also sought out 18 movies at the age of 12 (not always successfully, but we all tried) and saw Robocop years before I should have done.
Ok, the title's a bit silly. I'm not literally suggesting devil worship as a brand. What I mean is that you can get the attention of teenagers by marketing for adults.
Discuss! How would you market D&D?
Seriously. Drizzt and Elminster can't compete with Spider-man and Vader. D&D's core strength has never really been it's fiction, it has been it's tabletop experience.
But it does have one identifying feature beyond those who buy FR novels, etc. It has that 80s Jack Chick paranoia. Why not market it as the grown-up game, not target it at the kids? A bit of devil worship never hurt anyone (literally, unless you actually believe in magic). I haven't smoked in a few years, but when I started it wasn't because I was a 16 year old looking for a new kiddie thing to do. I also sought out 18 movies at the age of 12 (not always successfully, but we all tried) and saw Robocop years before I should have done.
Ok, the title's a bit silly. I'm not literally suggesting devil worship as a brand. What I mean is that you can get the attention of teenagers by marketing for adults.
Discuss! How would you market D&D?
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