How would you market D&D? A Hypothetical exercise

[Goblyn]

An idea or three ...

I'm not some expert in the field or anything, but I'm going to type some stuff anyway:

I think I might try to use the celebs to market DnD, but try to do it in a beneficial way.

What I mean here is that I wouldn't try to leach popularity to DnD from their status, but point out that their status is a (possible)result of DnD(whether it's true or not is of no concern. We're talking advertising here. Just so long as it looks true, all is good).

That and pimp the game as much as I could: Flyers from Chapters and Walmart, video games faithful to the system such as KOTOR and KOTOR II, and even ad space in widely read newspapers like The Globe and Mail. If one could get DnD minis into McDonalds happy meals, that would rock.

Hell, lets get Spongebob Squarepants playing.

 

[RangerWickett]

Open on a surreal landscape, exploding with bright colors. Panning to center we see a guitarist dressed in a suit of armor, and Hootie begins singing -

When the brainbox starts a fumbling and all things feel the same,
I open my eyes for a big surprise, the D&D roleplaying game,
I love the D&D roleplaying game, the dice are rolling high...

Mark, I want to adopt your children. (I can't very well say I want to bear them, now can I?)

As for marketing, what has worked for Magic? Organized play, which encourages people to keep playing and to get the new stuff that comes out. Magic releases 3 or 4 products a year, and people spend the whole year buying those products and playing around with them and with last year's products. D&D releases a heck of a lot more than that, and it doesn't encourage people to all get the same stuff.

3e had the Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, a massive adventure lots of people got. But it was just one big dungeon, which no doubt got boring for a lot of people (no offense, Monte). City of the Spider Queen was better from what I heard. There is no massive adventure for Eberron, which is a mistake, I feel.

I think D&D should have three related adventures each year, three products that will be the flagship products of that year. Each year's adventure is a campaign of its own, designed to work in either Forgotten Realms or Eberron, with conversion notes for the other setting and for homebrew settings. Each adventure needs to work in new rules somehow, the same way expansions of Magic work in new mechanics. Players will be encouraged to buy these new rulebooks.

Example.

In November 2010, WotC releases a new package of D&D books. We're retooling things, and it's going to be a big change, so we might as well make it a new edition. D&D 4th edition in November 2010.

The rules are mostly the same, but they've got new layout, new art, and slight rewrites to emphasize the new 'yearly cycles' of D&D. The 4e core rules are simpler than the 3e core rules, but most players won't want to just have the 4e core rules. They'll want the expansion rules, the Expert Level material.

Research & Development have determined that 2011 will be the year of Quests, and 2012 will be the year of Dramatic Combat. Over the past two years, the playtesters have determined a few ways to fit the new rules expansions and the adventures together. 'Balance,' which was sort of a rallying cry for 3e at first, is now just a subset of 'Fun,' which is the chief goal for designing the game. As long as the game is fun to play, people don't have to all be able to wail on monsters with equal efficiency. The core rules are simple and flexible, because they'll need to support two significant additions of rules at a time without becoming clunky.

December 2010 - Low Level Options. A book of optional rules for low-level characters of all races and classes. This is a Basic Rulebook expansion, meaning it's not very complicated.

In January 2011, the Expert Level rulebook "Quests of Legend" is released. It's a 160 page hardback book with new rules that pertain to players making characters who go on heroic quests. Things like

* Rules to make traveling be more interesting than random encounter tables (and information on different forms of transportation, like sailing vessels, merchant roads, etc.).
* Ways to gain power by traveling the world.
* Rules for researching hidden secrets that you need to uncover on your quest
* New spells, feats, and prestige classes that relate to travel.
* Rules for doing legendary fantasy-style heroics at the climax of your quest (like figuring out how to defeat the villain by exploiting his weakness, rather than by hitting him enough times with your sword).
* DM advice for creating quest-based campaigns (defined roughly as long journeys with an ultimate goal, involving many adventures along the way).
* Setting information for the upcoming adventure.

Most importantly, these rules will tie in with the super adventure that will be released in 2011, The Road of the Archmagi.

Also in January 2011, The Road of the Archmagi adventure begins with the release of Pilgrim of the Two Winds - a serial adventure for 1st to 3rd level characters that is set primarily in Greyhawk/Forgotten Realms/Eberron, with guidelines for switching to other settings. It is a huge event, and all groups are encouraged to try it out, either playing one adventure of the series, or doing the whole thing.

The plot is that the party is escorting a young sorceress on a pilgrimage to different magical sites of wind power, so that she can gain the necessary magical skill to join her elementalist order. Each site has its own adventure, and a few others are tossed in. If you play them all, you discover (hopefully by late April) that an ancient elementalist from this order is trying to come back from the dead, and that you've been facing his minions this whole time.

Also, minis for the adventure are released.

In February 2011, a 100 page setting book for the coastal region the adventure takes place in is released - The Otdar Sea - going into greater detail of the places the PCs might go.

In March 2011, Mid-Level Options is released, another basic rules expansion for levels of up to 10.

In April 2011, book two of The Road of the Archmagi is released, The Amber Vessel, another series of adventures, connected to the last series but also just as easy to use stand-alone. If you play them all, you discover what this ancient elementalist is up to, and where he is, and you save the mage you've been escorting from his attacks while defeating one of his lieutenants. This adventure series runs from levels 4 to 6.

In May 2011, The Tome of Magic is released in a nod to AD&D 2nd edition (which lots of gamers will be nostalgic for). It has all sorts of magic rules, including a few that tie in with the adventure.

In June 2011, another setting book is released - The Herethim Fane - detailing the realms ruled by Orcs that the party must travel through in book 2 of the quest series.

In July 2011, it's convention season, so they focus on their digital releases, including an Xideon-Sphere console game based on the Road of the Archmage adventure.

In August 2011, book three is released, Archmage of the Demon Wind, where the party must uncover the weakness of the ancient elementalist, keep his minions from reviving his ancient doomsday device, and travel to the plane of air to defeat him. When the party finishes they should be 8th or 9th level, and the whole thing should have taken about 4 or 5 years in game time. Minis are also released.

September has the release of Dreadfall - The Book of Horror, a guide to scary games.

October has the release of Orrery - A Guide to the Planes.

November sees the release of the High-Level Options book, for when players finish the campaign.

In December, they release compilations of the year's stuff, including variant ways to run this year's quest. And they prepare to start next year's theme.

 

[fusangite]

Not too long after 3.0E was released I was working at Hasbro's ad agency and, through a series of circumstances, ended up working on Wizards of the Coast's advertising for all of their products. I was in charge of their media planning (Cliff's Notes Version: we are in charge of figuring out who to reach, when to reach them[/b], how often to reach them, and all at the most efficient cost).

Thanks for bringing your expertise to this discussion with all us naive armchair ad execs.

1) Part of the problem is that role-playing games aren't a very widely known phenomenon outside of the gamer community. Any mass-marketed D&D campaign would need to involve some level of education about what an RPG is, and that takes away from the core message of trying to sell D&D. Hasbro/WotC struggled with this a lot at the time.

I agree. I find it very strange that significantly more people have heard of D&D and think they know what it is than know what an RPG is.

3) "Fish Where the Fish Are". I can relate to this since one of my primary job goals is to acquire awareness of my client's products at the most efficient cost possible. The idea is that, rather than blanketing a lot of people and seeing what happens, instead you just target people that you're already pre-qualified as being interested.

Agreed. But I think there are more susceptible subcultures and, to quote Soul Coughing, 5% nations out there that may represent concentrations of potential players than have benefited from marketing to date. Also, I think that because computers have changed the map, D&D is, for better or worse, associated with social and in-person interaction; this change not to D&D but to how people perceive the role of in person versus computer interactions has altered to field. I think D&D is more gender-neutral than it has ever been because internet gaming is gendered male and continuing to play in person, to some extent, stands in opposition to that.

The ROAS (return on ad spending) is much higher for WotC when they just advertise the latest release online on fansites and gaming sites and in gaming magazines. Sure, they're limiting their potential audience, but they are talking to people whom they already know have an interest in the topic and are eager for news on the latest product releases. The sales per dollar spent is much higher than it would be if there were to advertise, say, the Basic Game in something like Boy's Life magazine.

Agreed. But I have the feeling that when Dr. Who premieres in my country on Tuesday night, this event might constitute a decent clump of potential players. Certainly, if a channel is showing Ladyhawke or Conan the Destroyed at 2am, there's a concentration. But, as you can see from my suggestions, most of what I recommend is attentive to the fish problem.

 

[Altalazar]

Create a "D&D Survivor" TV show where people get voted out of the dungeon...

No, make it regular D&D - but people can get taken out by the normal means - death, etc. - but here's how you get people to watch:

Edit into the tabletop action animations and diagrams, giving strong visual means for the audience to see what is going on.

Edit it such that the slower parts are done with graphics and voice-overs - so you intercut the table play with the animated scenes of combat, etc. But you still need to show the fun part of the table interactions, so it isn't just about the graphics and the charts, but about playing the game.

And here's the kicker - make it all Celebrity Players! A core of experienced players plus some other Celebrities who are interested (like Heather Graham) but who have never played, and perhaps even some who don't know much about the game - so the audience will have someone to identify with, be they experienced at D&D or have never played before, and want to see the experience of someone learning the game for the first time.

Someone call Mark Burnett.

 

[NewJeffCTHome]

Thanks for bringing your expertise to this discussion with all us naive armchair ad execs.I agree. I find it very strange that significantly more people have heard of D&D and think they know what it is than know what an RPG is.Agreed.

D&D is that game that geeks & nerds play that involves rolling dice & pretending to kill dragons. Defining a role-playing game is different. People might not know the book definition of a Shakespearian tragedy, but know at least the general plot of "Romeo & Juliet" and that it was written by Shakespeare.

 

[NewJeffCTHome]

But I think there are more susceptible subcultures and, to quote Soul Coughing, 5% nations out there that may represent concentrations of potential players than have benefited from marketing to date.

I definitely think we could do a better job marketing. D&D originally came from a wargame. I am pretty sure I have seen Warhammer stuff advertised in Dragon. Has D&D been marketed extensively enough to wargamers? If not, how would that be done better? Attending wargaming conventions & setting up booths, maybe with an emphasis of how role-playing can be fit in amongst battles of huge armies?

Heck, market it to Magic fans (I think Magic is still pretty popular, but I'd have no idea...)... and show how you can role-play the various parts of Magic as a game.

I'm sure others in here are more knowledgeable about what slightly related fields we can market D&D to - fantasy and sci-fi conventions, etc.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

First off, I think an infomercial would be the bomb!

Second, motnhly advertisements on the channels that inspire people to think or be creative would most likely help sales of the books that come out in that month. (Think A&E, Disney and Animal Planet to name a few)

Third the RPGA isnt everywhere, and probably shouldn't be. But I beleive that there should be an RPGA recruiting office in the capitol of every continental state.

 

[Samothdm]

Thanks for bringing your expertise to this discussion with all us naive armchair ad execs.

Ha! I have a tendency to over-explain my job because it's one of those weird types of things that no one in their right mind would actually think people do for a living. I've given up trying to explain it to my mom, so just tells her friends that I do "something with computers."

So, sorry if I offended people by being pedantic.

Agreed. But I have the feeling that when Dr. Who premieres in my country on Tuesday night, this event might constitute a decent clump of potential players. Certainly, if a channel is showing Ladyhawke or Conan the Destroyed at 2am, there's a concentration. But, as you can see from my suggestions, most of what I recommend is attentive to the fish problem.

Yeah, I'd say that the majority of Conan fans of at least heard of D&D and know what it is. I think that the numbers would be slightly less for Ladyhawke and Dr. Who which are, relatively speaking, a little more mainstream.

 

[Samothdm]

First off, I think an infomercial would be the bomb!

I was thinking this could be a good idea, too. The thing is, though, an infomercial about D&D would really be more about "This is what a role-playing game is." Not that that's bad, but basically it becomes Hasbro/WotC spending the money to educate people and create a market for RPGs. Once someone's been exposed to the RPG concept, they could just as easily be torn away from D&D and end up playing "World of Darkness", "Rifts", or any of the other multitude of RPGs out there.

Of course the commercial would be branding as WotC and D&D and all that, and the idea would be that the key take-away would be "D&D is a cool game! I have to go out and buy D&D and start playing!". But, first you have to get people to understand what D&D is at its core (ie, a role-playing game).

If someone is already familiar with the RPG concept but they're not currently playing D&D, I'm not sure an infomercial is going to switch them over.

Second, motnhly advertisements on the channels that inspire people to think or be creative would most likely help sales of the books that come out in that month. (Think A&E, Disney and Animal Planet to name a few)

You're thinking along the right lines here. If D&D were going to advertise on television, the most obvious place would be on select cable networks whose audiences would have a larger percentage of D&D's core target market.

The problem with this again, though, is that national cable advertising is still very expensive, and no matter how you slice and dice the ratings data of the network, you're also going to end up with a larger portion of the network's audience that doesn't (or wouldn't) play D&D. Those are "wasted" impressions, but you pay for them anyway. The cable networks charge you based on their total audience, not just for the portion that you want to reach.

Also, when you say the "sales of the books that come out in that month" I'm assuming that you're talking about the D&D RPG rulebooks and supplements and not the novels (fiction). If you're talking the RPG stuff, I'm pretty sure that the incremental sales they might get from advertising on cable would not come anywhere close to breaking even for the expense of producing the ad and then running the commercial. That's why WotC has adopted a strategy of just advertising their new material to the people that they already know are playing the game - readers of Dragon and [/i]Dungeon[/i], for example. There are no "wasted impressions" that way.

**

Something they could think about it doing promotional tie-ins with mass online stores like Amazon and Barnes and Noble. When D&D 3.0E came out, I remember reading statistics about how the Player's Handbook was on the Amazon Top Items list or whatever. What if everyone who bought the Player's Handbook on Amazon got a coupon for $5 off the next supplement book that WotC published, via a special e-mail to the purchaser sent from Amazon? Then, after they use their $5 coupon to buy the book, they are given an offer to sign up for some kind of D&D online club sponsored by WotC and Amazon. They'll get special e-mails sent to them talking about new products coming up, coupons, maybe PDF previews, invitations to Organized Play events in their area, and stuff like that. Getting people involved like this would help migrate someone from just being a casual purchaser of the Player's Handbook and help pave the way for turning the person into a regular gamer.

 

[Sado]

So there you have it. You have full access to the D&D brand and the Hasbro marketing machine. How would you broaden D&D's base?

Bundle it with Windows