D&D 4E 4E Marketing Campaign?

[AZRogue]

I remember reading not too long ago in a post on these boards (it was before the DnDXP) that the marketing campaign for DnD 4E would really begin AFTER the DnDXP event. That there were a lot of marketing dollars available for use but not until after the convention.

Does anyone know what's been done since? I'm not saying that nothing has been done, just that I haven't seen anything myself. No commercials or magazine ads or, I don't know, posters and/or displays up at Borders/Barnes and Noble. Now that the convention is over and we're only 2 months away from the release, what had marketing been doing that they haven't been doing before? I still see the designer blog posts, which are great, but other than that I haven't seen much. My local gaming store doesn't have anything new up.

Has anyone noticed any new ads and/or marketing moves?

 

[Drkfathr1]

I'm probably wrong, but I thought Le Rouse had said that they wouldn't start until the game actually launched in June.

In reality, their marketing really began at GenCon, whether they wanted it to or not.

 

[mhensley]

They bought a really big ad on aintitcool.com.

 

[OgreBane99]

In reality, their marketing really began at GenCon, whether they wanted it to or not.

Exactly. Since the announcement back in late 2007, there's been a lot of talk and discussion about 4e. While the talk is both good and bad, I think it's done nothing but good for WotC. I mean, like they say, even bad publicity is good. With the releases of tidbits of info about the new edition every week or so and allowing the audience to discuss it, it almost feels like WotC has done a sort-of viral advertising campaign. Personally, I think it's worked well for them. I think (and hope) 4e will succeed.

 

[TerraDave]

Ya it was The Rouse that made The Anoucement about his big unspent marketing budget. Don't remember The When.

 

[Transit]

They really need to do some product placement, and have 4E featured in some popular movies and television shows.

EXAMPLE: On "LOST", the 4E core rules could show up in the next supply drop from the Dharma Initative, and Hurley and Sawyer could spend the whole episode arguing about who gets to play the Ranger.

 

[smetzger]

They really need to do some product placement, and have 4E featured in some popular movies and television shows.

EXAMPLE: On "LOST", the 4E core rules could show up in the next supply drop from the Dharma Initative, and Hurley and Sawyer could spend the whole episode arguing about who gets to play the Ranger.

Actually a spot on Heroes could work very well.

 

[arscott]

Lotsa shows could hypothetically feature product placement--were living in the era of "nerd is cool". Problem is, WotC probably can't afford effective product placement.

They've said before that they can't afford TV ads, and I don't think that product placement is any less costly.

Of course, D&D benefits from being the only actual brand of PnP RPG that most folks know about--so if such an RPG is featured in any movie or TV show, then it'll probably be D&D by default. And even if it's not, it'll serve as an advertisement for D&D anyways.

 

[morgul97]

I think WOTC should focus at least part of their marketing approach on attracting a wider audiene to RPG's in general. I realize it is going to be a very controversial statement, but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be in WOTC's and the hobby in general's best interst long term to take tabletop RPGing out of its niche market place and move it into the "mainstream." Clearly online / computer gaming (including RPGs) has been a huge growth industry and has gained wide acceptance in our larger culture. I don't see any reason why moving tabletop gaming forward in that same way wouldn't be a huge win for the industry. The most popular movies and books in the past 10 years have been fantasy settings (LOTR and Harry Potter). Why not capture some of this market and bring them in.

As an aside, we spend massive amounts resources in our society on spectator sports, which aside from fostering civic / school pride has very little positive impact on the spectators. Yet, we spend very little (in comparison) on actual athletic participation, which would hands down have a much greater positive impact on the participants in terms of health benefits, etc. I'm certain that everyone on this site could cite a dozen ways that RPGing has benefited them in their lives and a strong case could be made that encouraging kids to take up RPGing would be a very good thing for them. Gamers tend to be better students, have better problem solving skills, are better readers, etc. A greater participation in RPG's would be a great thing for kids and for our society and is something the industry should work hard to promote. WOTC's site does have a section that talks about the benefits of gaming, so they are already thinking in this direction.

 

[TerraDave]

Ahh, found it

Aaaaarrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhhhhhh!

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ,9, 10

OK, I think I can type now.

Criticizing the marketing of a 4e, on a message board dedicated to 4e, with 15 pages of posts (some with over 15,000 views), with 10s of thousands of participants, most of whom are talking favorably about a product that is not even out, is laughable.

There are actual marketing professionals behind this (like myself) and we have not even made a dent in the very large budget for advertising, public relations, and promotions yet.

It is the end of January, the big product release is in June, marketing will really kick in in March/April and will run for months.

end rant

Bold added.