The Marketing Machine

How Developers Use PR to Build a Brand

By Shayalyn





Ever wonder how
developers build a brand for their games? How do the developers of a
game, especially one that’s not attached to an existing
intellectual property (like Lord of the Rings Online or The Matrix
Online) go on to make a recognizable name for their title? You might
think that companies carve a niche for their games, taking them from
“I’ve never heard of that” to
“I can’t wait to try that,” through
advertising. Not so, says Sue Bohle, CEO of The Bohle Company, a
prominent public relations firm. Branding is not done through
advertising alone. In
fact, the wave of the future is not advertising, but PR.



What’s the difference? Advertising consists of getting a
message out through, well, ads. During her presentation
(“Developing a Brand for Your Company and More Coverage for
Your Game”) at the Online Game Development Conference she
quoted the marketing standard, “Advertising is about
eyeballs.” Ad saturation helps pique people’s
interest. On the average, it takes a person seeing an ad at least 7
times before the message begins to register. No doubt advertising
works, as evidenced by the blitz of ads spewed across various forms of
media from television to the Internet, but PR takes things much deeper,
engraining a brand into the public conscience.

alt="Sue Bohle" title="Click to enlarge"
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In 1979, Sue Bohle opened The Bohle Company, now one of
the 75 largest independent PR firms in the country. She has provided
hands on, senior level counsel to game and other interactive
entertainment companies since 1983.

Bohle, who has worked with interactive entertainment companies to brand
their games since 1983, explains that building a brand starts with
working out a company’s positioning. What makes Game
Developer X, and the title they’re working on, stand out from
the crowd of other games and developers vying for attention? Bohle
recommends that developers sit down with a PR professional early on to
establish what she calls “differentiation.”



Once a company knows what it is and where it’s going,
it’s time for them to make a blip on the radar. That blip
starts with news releases. The first news release a developer is likely
to make is to announce a new MMOG title, which is also an opportune
time for them to play up the strengths of their dev team and point out
why they’re the people for this job. From there out, releases
can announce things like new key personnel joining the team,
interesting technology or licensing, and so on. “Dribble out
a little information each time,” Bohle told the developers
seated in the conference room, “But don’t overdo
it. A press release every week is too much, and will probably start to
be ignored after a while. Every six weeks is better to keep you on
editors’ radar.”



A few other things Bohle suggested for generating a buzz include
speaking opportunities (at conventions just like OGDC, and particularly
at events attended by the gaming media), local publicity (such as local
news appearances and newspaper articles), and looking for other
opportunities for key players on the dev team to comment on breaking
industry news. Bohle recommended that developers get on the phone or
email journalists to offer expert commentary.



“PR is all about getting the key media to write about the
company multiple times,” Bohle says, “which means
we have to keep adding firewood--updates on the company that sustain
editor interest and industry momentum.” Once the PR machine
is starting to chug along, she suggests pitching a company profile. One
of the targets for such profiles is business journals, although Bohle
acknowledged how difficult it can be to get business journals to pick
up stories with a gaming angle. “Money talks,” she
adds. “Expect to give revenue numbers.” She also
says that stories must be offered exclusively because magazines are
highly competitive.



So, let’s say that Development Company X has a new MMO that
they’ve just announced. What goes into making that MMO a
success from a PR standpoint? “Two thirds of the effort that
goes into making an MMO successful occurs before launch,”
says Bohle. “MMOs require systematic and continuous coverage
to the game community worldwide.”



Again, Bohle claims that a development company first needs to establish
why they’re different and what makes their title unique, as
well as how it stands out from the competition. “Viral
marketing has become increasingly important,” Bohle says.
Anyone who has seen developers tirelessly posting on forums spreading
the word about their game has seen viral marketing in action. In fact,
that’s where the term “viral marketing”
comes from--word about a product spreads like a virus. (Not the
prettiest of terms, but there you have it.)



And beyond the base marketing and word-spreading that goes on,
we’ve all watched devs roll out their product bit by bit
through news items, concept art, in-game screenshots, developer
interviews, and trailers and other game videos. This is standard fare
in the industry. Some of these things are released exclusively to
certain big name sites (Ten Ton Hammer is an example of a site that
receives exclusives) and magazines, and some are released for broad
distribution (for example, the screenshots you see on every fansite
within a day). Bohle states that it’s important to have a
strategic plan so that there is steady coverage for a new MMO title,
keeping it always in the public eye. Developers, she says, can pitch
roundtable discussions, think pieces, Q&As, and dev diaries.



And then comes beta. Bohle told the developers present that closed beta
was a great time to set up preview coverage for their game. She advised
them to use the NDA period to negotiate exclusives. (You’ve
seen the results of such negotiations in exclusive beta journals and
previews on sites like Ten Ton Hammer.) While many devs are a bit
protective of closed beta and reluctant to let media into the game
before certain milestones are reached, Bohle recommends closed beta as
an excellent time to gather valuable feedback directly from
reporters.  Bohle adds, “We treat the fansites like
press!” She suggests that developers offer networks and
larger fansites exclusive screens and swag for contests.



Bohle also commented on how important vocal community members and large
guilds can be to a game’s marketing strategy. Ever seen a
prominent community member elevated to the status of moderator or class
lead? Ever seen a guild get first dibs on early game testing? These are
all signs of PR at work. Bohle suggests lots of fan involvement during
the development period, encouraged by things like fanfiction and fan
film contests, or bringing a game’s biggest fans to a launch
event. “Getting fans pumped up can really help promote a game
in the months before launch,” she says.



Few of us who watch games come from announcement to launch from the
outside realize what goes on behind the scenes, but if you take a look
at the things Sue Bohle discussed in her presentation, you’ll
see that there’s certainly a method to the madness.
You’ve likely witnessed it all before; you just
didn’t know it.