D&D Advertising & D&D Lite

[Mistwell]

This has all been mentioned in this thread, I just want to give my support to it as well:

1) Make a D&D commercial. It isn't the making of a commercial that is expensive, it's putting it on TV that is. That isn't what should be done, however (see #2). Instead, make the commercial look like a movie that is about to come about, with lots of action, pull it back out to the good-looking, gender-mixed "typical" gamers (ha!) having fun. Then just add "D&D, closer to adventure than the movies" or something like that, and add "available at your local gaming store or online at Amazon.com" or something similar (amazon might kick in some dough for that last part).

2) Place the commercial to play prior to Harry Potter and LOTR in movie theatres. This can 1) be done, it isn't an odd thing, it isn't restricted any longer, and it doesn't touch any LOTR RPG copyright laws at all, and 2) it is FAR less expensive than airing it on TV, and better targets your audience.

 

[barsoomcore]

1) Make a D&D commercial. It isn't the making of a commercial that is expensive, it's putting it on TV that is.

How much do you know about making TV commercials? Conservatively I would put a price tag of 3-5 million dollars for the average, professional television commercial. Slick productions with special effects, lots of action like you suggest and good-looking actors is going to run above 10 million dollars. Easily. I very much doubt that you would be able to project those kinds of sales figures due to a single commercial.

2) Place the commercial to play prior to Harry Potter and LOTR in movie theatres.

You do realise you are talking about what is probably the most valuable screen real estate of the year, right? Like the Super Bowl of cinema advertising. Advertisers will be offering distributors their own limbs to get their products up in front of those two movies. The kinds of convoluted deals that go on to determine who gets played in front of huge event pictures like these are almost certainly beyond WotC's ability to negotiate. Nike, Coke, Toyota, sure. WotC? I don't know about that.

It is FAR less expensive than airing it on TV.

I doubt that very much. That is, TV advertising varies wildly in price according to when and where the ad airs. I am certain that getting a 15-second clip included with every print of LotR is going to be massively expensive. Think of who wants that time and how much they'd be willing to pay for it.

A commercial is a terrible idea. Too much money for too little gain.

 

[jester47]

Corinths idea is best. D&D is a normal thing now. Its not somthing you hide. The I am D&D is probably the best idea for an ad campaign I have seen for D&D. It can be done in print and with little expense. If it starts to work, it can be turned into a TV ad.

Number 5 of Zarathustran's idea is pretty good. I can see the people from that 70's show playing D&D. However getting the producers to go along would be pretty hard.

Number 9, the Jackass idea would probably be pretty effective, for a little bit.

Sell it like a suplement: You cant live off this, but it will make life more enjoyable with other things.

Aaron.

 

[Brisk-sg]

Iconic D&D Action Figures with Kung Fu Grip and "Greate Cleave" Feat!

There are few, if any, fantasy-based board games available in toy stores that aren't based on Harry Potter. D&D needs a new board game. My impression of the Adventure Game is that it's underproduced (as in "cheap"), ill-supported, and not widely distributed if not entirely out of production. If you can't get it in Toys R Us, it's not distributed well enough.

[Edited to clarify a point.]

Just a thought, since Hasbro is a toy company:

Create Iconic D&D Action Figures, with simplified Stats, a toned down Basic 3rd Edition D&D rules pamphlet, and a miniature character sheet with all the stats. Also create Iconic D&D Villain Action Figures with a simplified stat sheet and a mini adventure. Each figure would contain a large (Non-swallow able) D20, and a large die for the correct weapon damage (d8 for long sword, ect).

The rules booklet would contain the basic mechanics for combat and skill use, as well as DMing a game with friends.

Each rule booklet would be slightly different for each character, with the rules for the character "Feats", "Special Abilities", and "Spells".

This would be the perfect gateway toy for young boys (and girls who are into action figures) who might otherwise not be exposed to D&D.

 

[Zappo]

Hey... I kinda like Brisk-sg's idea. Action figures that include a mini-ultra-reduced-hyper-simplified ruleset and a d20. And a micro-adventure. Kids could buy them and subsequently switch to D&D, or failing that at least they could be buying them.

 

[Sir Edgar]

It would make sense now that Hasbro owns WOTC to release a boardgame like "Dungeon!", don't you think?

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Hey... I kinda like Brisk-sg's idea. Action figures that include a mini-ultra-reduced-hyper-simplified ruleset and a d20. And a micro-adventure. Kids could buy them and subsequently switch to D&D, or failing that at least they could be buying them.

TSR sort-of did this one-upon-a-time, with a series of figures and even a module (Quest for the Heartstone). I always thought the figures were kind of lame, myself, but I wonder how it turned out business-wise. I think they were marketing for the D&D cartoon, though I'm not entirely certain on that. At that age I liked the D&D choose-your-own-adventure books better (Pillars of Pentagarn, Dungeon of Dread, Mountain of Mirrors, Return to Brookmere ... and the ones that had you actually use dice and track HP, forget the titles.)

Actually, considering that there wasn't that much produced, it may not have done that well -- but that may be due more to the marketing of the idea than the idea itself. IIRC, TSR didn't actually sell the figures, they just carried the D&D name.

I'd probably be willing to buy Dungeon! 3E myself, though ...

 

[Corinth]

How simple can it be?

Get the subject--for low-cost shoots, someone who looks Just Like The Target Audience; for those with a budget, some celebrity that does the trick--in his known environment (this will usually be at work)--doing something with a PHB. Take the best shot, insert the tagline and run with it.

When possible, get entire groups playing at a table. Again, use either groups of the target audience or groups of friendly celebs; no dialogue necessary. Just take the shot and insert the tagline.

Fearless celebrities who wear D&D-specific stuff when they make their appearances on the late-night talk show circuit (like the guy who played Zach Allen on B5 did for B5 when he got all of those appearance in support of Greese's 20th anniversary did) go a long way. (Hell, the Wachowski brothers are already doing it for anime and HK film.)

This is not as hard or as expensive as it looks, folks. At the very least, if all of us were open and honest about it in our daily lives it would be a big boon for our hobby and the community at large.

 

[Griswold]

Dungeons and Dragons Players Handbook..........$19.00
2 sets of dice.......$10.00
pencil and paper......$3.00
Spending the afternoon rescuing the princess with your kids..priceless.


awwwwww *sniff*


G.

 

[Mistwell]

How much do you know about making TV commercials?

An awful lot.

Conservatively I would put a price tag of 3-5 million dollars for the average, professional television commercial.

You, sir, are on crack. It costs on average $2 million to both produce AND PAY THE TIME SLOT for the the average 30 second SUPERBOWL commercial. Average cost to produce a commercial advertisement is around $250,000 (unless you are using name actors, or running a long term ad campaign with a branded actor).

Slick productions with special effects, lots of action like you suggest and good-looking actors is going to run above 10 million dollars.

Again, I'd love to know where those stats are coming from.

Easily. I very much doubt that you would be able to project those kinds of sales figures due to a single commercial.

Most stats I have seen show that virtually any commercial advertisement more than double pays for itself.

You do realise you are talking about what is probably the most valuable screen real estate of the year, right? Like the Super Bowl of cinema advertising. Advertisers will be offering distributors their own limbs to get their products up in front of those two movies. The kinds of convoluted deals that go on to determine who gets played in front of huge event pictures like these are almost certainly beyond WotC's ability to negotiate. Nike, Coke, Toyota, sure. WotC? I don't know about that.

Screen advertisements are still the second cousin to television advertisements. There generally isn't much fuss over their negotiations, since most companies are not even interested in it (since the lag time is a minimum 2 hours, and in the case of LOTR, 3 hours before you leave the theatre and are able to act on the commercial, and in that time the chances of you forgetting the ad altogether are nearly 100%). That's why you rarely even see a targeted ad for any movie. Instead, you usually get an ad that is designated as general: for any movie. In fact, there is more fuss over radio advertisements than non-movie screen product advertisements.

I doubt that very much. That is, TV advertising varies wildly in price according to when and where the ad airs. I am certain that getting a 15-second clip included with every print of LotR is going to be massively expensive. Think of who wants that time and how much they'd be willing to pay for it.

Again, I know of nobody right now who wants that time, other that other movie trailers.

A commercial is a terrible idea. Too much money for too little gain.

I think it is a great idea, and I think your beleifs about how the system works, and its costs, are a bit off (no offense).