D&D 4E 4e interview with Scott Rouse

[TheLe]

Parts I + II:
http://icv2.com/articles/news/12449.html
http://icv2.com/articles/news/12450.html

-The' Le

 

[Flynn]

Thanks for sharing that, The Le!

With Regards,
Flynn

 

[Khuxan]

Is it just me, or did he fail to answer the single most pressing question - that of the poison pill?

(Maybe this interview was written before the big kerfuffle so they didn't realise it'd be an issue).

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Is it just me or does $2.5 million seem like a really small amount for marketing, especially if they are including some TV spots?

Maybe my perception is skewed thanks to my years in Big Pharam where they spend insane amounts of money in marketing. Of course the revenue from drug sales is a heck of a lot higher than from gaming books, so maybe as a ratio, $2.5 million isn't bad.

 

[bento]

Is it just me or does $2.5 million seem like a really small amount for marketing, especially if they are including some TV spots?

Maybe my perception is skewed thanks to my years in Big Pharam where they spend insane amounts of money in marketing. Of course the revenue from drug sales is a heck of a lot higher than from gaming books, so maybe as a ratio, $2.5 million isn't bad.

And your marketing budget went to golf retreats, pardon me, educational conferences for hundreds of doctors!

Considering how fragmented their audience is, $2.5M is probably a good effort figure. I'd suspect much of the money is going for web banners and the like. Not many magazines around for ads to catch folks likely to act on it - Wired, Popular Science, PC Gamer, etc.

 

[haakon1]

Rouse said: <<I would say this year more than ever we’re putting a greater focus into online advertising. Not only does it allow us to reach a broader audience and a global audience, but we’re seeing the venues for print advertising dry up. There are still some core hobby publications,>>

Yes, it's too bad somebody decided to close down Dungeon and Dragon, now there's no place for WOTC to print-advertise 4e.

 

[kenmarable]

Is it just me or does $2.5 million seem like a really small amount for marketing, especially if they are including some TV spots?

Maybe my perception is skewed thanks to my years in Big Pharam where they spend insane amounts of money in marketing. Of course the revenue from drug sales is a heck of a lot higher than from gaming books, so maybe as a ratio, $2.5 million isn't bad.

Considering how often I see commercials for medications, I gotta believe that their ad budget has got to eclipse most nations' GDP.

Plus, with TV ads, I wouldn't be surprised if they might target cable networks like Sci Fi more than the big ones. At the very least, if they go for the big networks, it would be pretty tightly focused since there are only a handful of shows that are focused on the right target audience.

 

[Kesh]

Rouse said: <<I would say this year more than ever we’re putting a greater focus into online advertising. Not only does it allow us to reach a broader audience and a global audience, but we’re seeing the venues for print advertising dry up. There are still some core hobby publications,>>

Yes, it's too bad somebody decided to close down Dungeon and Dragon, now there's no place for WOTC to print-advertise 4e.

Nowhere "in house," you mean. There are other gaming mags out there (less focused on D&D, but general gaming instead).

 

[Fifth Element]

Yes, it's too bad somebody decided to close down Dungeon and Dragon, now there's no place for WOTC to print-advertise 4e.

Yeah, I'm not sure preaching to the choir is the best use of marketing resources.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Yes, it's too bad somebody decided to close down Dungeon and Dragon, now there's no place for WOTC to print-advertise 4e.

Yes, because had they continued the print copy of Dragon and Dungeon and they placed some ads in it, I'm sure they would have had tons of readers saying to themselves "Hey, there's a game called Dungeons and Dragons that just came out with a new edition! Maybe we should check it out!"