WOTC Suggestion... :p

[Scribble]

I think WOTC should make use of the Imersive Ad Campaign style... If you read Wired this month you might know what I mean...

Basically it's a huge worldwide "game" where they leak little snippets of secret codes and info onto the web, onto T-shirts and handouts... Leave computer disks in random places for fans to find... etc...

By utilizing the web, and other "social" technologies fans follow along and play the "game." (They seem to revolve around conspiracies and such...)

I think gamers would be the best target for this type of advertisement... But hey, maybe they ARE doing such a thing and we just aven't noticed it yet...

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I haven't read the Wired article, so maybe there is more to this than I'm thinking, but doesn't this really just end up catering to those who are already interested in the product they are advertising? Maybe you get some people early on, but eventually when people figure out that it is an ad for (in this case) D&D, I would expect pretty much only D&D fans would continue.

 

[Scribble]

I haven't read the Wired article, so maybe there is more to this than I'm thinking, but doesn't this really just end up catering to those who are already interested in the product they are advertising? Maybe you get some people early on, but eventually when people figure out that it is an ad for (in this case) D&D, I would expect pretty much only D&D fans would continue.

Shrug, maybe?

The original one was done for the Movie AI.

It's an ad true, but really, it's a game in that each snippet of info and such they release usually leads you further along into the game. (Almost like an RPG.) The thing about them is they can only work on the large scale, because you need the instant worldwide communications ability of the web and internet as a whole. Each thing leaked is a clue or a puzzle of some type. Like you might get a website that seems innocuous, but when you look at the HTML code there are a few random numbers scattered throughout... Put together they form a phone number... call the number, and you get a secret message of some type. Maybe another clue in the game, or perhaps a red herring...

So even if you're not particularily a fan of D&D, but a fan of games in general, it might still appeal to you.

The show LOST did one for a while. (I never got to the end if there was one though, as my old job started blocking the sites I needed to be at ) It wasn't a huge one if I remember, but something fun to keep fans interested while the show was on break.

 

[Silvergriffon]

The new Batman movie has also been using such "viral marketing". The trick is not so much in getting people to "play the game" as it is to make doing so visible to other people who are not participating, and in such a way as to make a connection to the product being marketed. All the fans having fun become unpaid advertisers for the product.

 

[Morrus]

I think WOTC should make use of the Imersive Ad Campaign style... If you read Wired this month you might know what I mean...

Basically it's a huge worldwide "game" where they leak little snippets of secret codes and info onto the web, onto T-shirts and handouts... Leave computer disks in random places for fans to find... etc...

By utilizing the web, and other "social" technologies fans follow along and play the "game." (They seem to revolve around conspiracies and such...)

I think gamers would be the best target for this type of advertisement... But hey, maybe they ARE doing such a thing and we just aven't noticed it yet...

... because you haven't noticed 4E yet?

 

[Scribble]

... because you haven't noticed 4E yet?

While WOTC is releasing snippets of info, sure, and we fans are digesting every little morsel... I haven't yet noticed an underlying game of hidden info and puzzles all relating to an underlying story...

 

[PeterWeller]

It's a cool scheme, but it doesn't really fit D&D's theme. D20 Modern 2E on the other hand...

 

[Scribble]

It's a cool scheme, but it doesn't really fit D&D's theme. D20 Modern 2E on the other hand...

True... I think it probably would fit a game like WOD or Cthulu a bit more... What with it's general reliance on conspiracy... But I think there would be lots of ways to adapt it to a D&D type idea...

 

[PeterWeller]

It could really work with D20 Modern if they played to the game's "there is more to this world than you ever imagined" angle.