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ShortQuests -- individual adventure modules! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed to plug in to your game.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Amal Shukup" data-source="post: 1705605" data-attributes="member: 6291">Not a bad summation - and thank you for putting up a paper wall between 'Marketing Research' and 'Marketing' per se. It so happens that I do know a fair bit about Marketing - my job, after all (for a decade or so), and I teach classes in it every so often...To make more money (generally the goal driving marketing strategies) one (or more) of three things has got to happen. I'd suggest that WoTC is doing a fair bit on all three fronts:1. Increase Number of Customers ('grow the hobby') The Miniature Game is aimed at luring in new gamers, as is the Basic Boxed Set coming out. Tie-in Fiction is a lure. Heck, rationalizing the rules as per 3rd Edition lowered the 'barrier to entry' for new players. 25th and 30th anniversary promotions are targeted at 're-activating' old customers and finding new ones. Making products that PLAYERS (as opposed to GMs) purchase has increased their customer base fourfold (although, the REAL money is still GMs). yada, yada yada.. 2. Increase Number of Purchases (per customer) Extending interrelated product lines, the 'trading card' aspect of miniatures, updates and revisions of course. More subtly, strategies to 'upgrade' Players to DMs (like the DMG 'how to' content, the 'Behind the Screen' articles etc.). Each newly minted DM theoretically attracts a new clusters of players too... 3. Increase Revenue/Profit PER Purchase Offloading low margin products (adventures/supplements/magazines etc.) to 3rd party publishers via the license etc. and concentrating on hardback and 'premium' product lines. ResearchEvery discussion on every discussion board provides insight - typically at a higher resolution than surveys - into their 'core' market. Buying patterns (not just their products but board games, computer games, movie ticket sales and so forth). Online Polls, customer service 'complaints', 'focus groups' (known to you and me as playtesters, organized play afficionados, et al). That Setting Search Contest was pure GOLD in terms of design input - not to mention an effective way of seeding the market for the eventual winner promotion...PromotionThe most 'visible' aspect of marketing. Product, Position, Price, People, Place etc. tend to fall below most people's radar, even if right in front of them - and despite the fact that great deal of marketing budget goes in to optimizing those strategies as well.Making Joe Gamer AWARE of the product is the first of SEVEN (in the model I use) steps that need to be achieved as part of a succesful 'Promotion' plan.Awareness -> Knowledge -> Belief -> Intent -> *Purchase* -> *Repeat Purchase* -> ADVOCATEHow succesful is WoTC at this? Well, ask yourselves: Are you actively promoting (ADVOCATING) the game on their behalf? Yes? Well, then they're doing a WHOLE LOT right. Historically, gamers' complaint has been that WoTC doesn't do enough to 'grow the hobby' - and generally clamor for more TV spots or mainstream magazine adverts. Those methods are middling effective for generating AWARENESS, and for passing on exceedingly high level messaging (tastes better, less filling, new, cleaner, faster etc) - but let's be honest: the mainstream market is already AWARE of D&D and there's a wee bit more relevant detail to convey. Unless the advert can instill KNOWLEDGE or BELIEF ("It sounds like something I would enjoy") or INTENT ("I'm going to try it"), and - better yet - tie in to an opportunity to experience the game (reducing anxieties about cost, complexity, enjoyability[/I]), then it's just a waste of money...Tie-In Fiction, Basic Game Boxed sets, Computer/Console gaming, DM training, Organized Play, 'World Wide D&D Game Day' (30th Anniversary) promotions are MUCH more cost-effective techniques for 'growing the hobby'.Also, it is (approx) five times more expensive to find a new customer as it is to sell a new product to an existing customer - hence the focus on promoting extended product lines to the 'converted'. We extant customers are absolutely their bread and butter...Hope this puts to rest the notion that WoTC isn't at least middling serious about their marketing... Now, could they be doing better? Well, sure - but I charge for that sort of work <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />A'Mal</blockquote>

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