GCSE Media Studies

1. GCSE Media Studies Preparing for the Exam

2. What Mr Connolly thinks the four tasks will be • Describe two marketing campaigns for video games and say why they were successful. • Explain what you think the USP of your chosen game is and why it will appeal to your audience. • Explain what you will do to market and promote your chosen game. • Create a TV Ad Storyboard/website homepage/Facebook Page in order to promote the game.

3. What we are going to do today • Decide which game you are going to focus on in the exam. • Look at an existing game and its marketing campaign that is like the one you are focusing on in the exam. • Talk about how to use this case study in the exam. • Begin to plan another case study.

4. The Brief • Two choices of game • “Dancefloor” • “The Detectives” • You have to research and present two case studies of successful marketing campaigns. I would suggest that ONE of the two is either….

5. ….a Professor Layton title

6. OR

7. Lets case study these two • I am going to go through the kind of information you need to research for this first task. • You can use this information, so that Just Dance or Professor Layton can be one of the two examples you write about in the exam • You should also make sure though, that you have this kind of information for ANOTHER game marketing campaign of your choice. You could use one of the ones you have done already, as long as you have this kind of information about it.

8. What kind of information do I need to have about these two case studies? • What kind of game it is? • Who was the target audience for it? • What kind of games platform was it designed for? • What kind of traditional marketing activities were undertaken to promote the game (e.g. TV adverts, posters) and how did these appeal to their audience? • What kind of new media marketing activities (e.g. social media, web, convergent) were undertaken to promote the game and how did these appeal to the audience? • What synergies were exploited in the marketing of the game? • How successful was the game in terms of sales/downloads?

9. Professor Layton Series • A series of puzzle solving adventure games for DS/3DS • Broad audience , probably suitable for ages 8-80.

10. Traditional forms of marketing • Print • What do you notice about this advert? • Do some textual analysis on it. Think about • Colours, Fonts, Register, Layout, Logos, Slogans, Connotations

11. TV Adverts http://youtu.be/KPO7Ir0_IMg http://youtu.be/44b_1DDJ-Y4 Analyse how these ads are working on their audience in terms of Camera, MES, Sound and Editing How are they appealing to the audience?

12. New Media Marketing • Each version of the game had an official webpage with gallery images and links to online game play via the Streetpass function. This is an example of convergence (3DS Streetpass is a convergent technology) • Layton 7 will be available on iOS and Android

13. Synergies • Professor Layton has also been turned into • Manga • DVD/Blu-ray Film • Novels • All of these products help to sell the game to the audience. This is synergy

14. Sales and Downloads • Series sales of over 15 million copies as of August 2013 • Level-5, the games producer claims that it is one of the most successful DS only games of all time. • Layton 7 will be available on iOS and Android. What does this suggest?

15. Why/How was the marketing successful? • Creation of a character and a narrative • Combination of adventure and puzzle-solving • Appealed to a broader range of people because of the puzzle challenge elements • Marketing creates a sense of the game being set in the past. Layton is a kind of Sherlock Holmes figure • Successful use of web and mobile/ convergent technologies something beyond the game. Keeps audiences interested in the series. • Connection to manga which has a broad audience.

16. Just Dance 4

17. Just Dance 4 • A rythymgame released for Wii, Wii U, Xbox and PS3/PS Move • Broad audience, but probably focused 10-15 year old females and their families • Battle/puppetmaster modes bring a competitive/fitness aspect to the game

18. Traditional Forms of Marketing • Again, how is this working on it’s audience. • Analyse Colours, Fonts, Register, Layout, Logos, Slogans, Connotations

20. New Media Marketing • Facebook and Twitter. Also use of Instagram to encourage INTERACTIVITY (“Are your dance moves on Instagram?”) – How does this promote the game?

21. Synergies • JD is a means for music artists to sell their music, but also, selling their music helps the game. • May also help to sell and promote consoles, particularly as it requires most recent version of motion sensor consoles such as Play Station Move and 360 Kinect

22. Sales and Downloads • One of 2013s top 10 biggest selling games in the world. • Just Dance 4 – 6.9 million copies sold worldwide • Just Dance 2014 – 3.06 million copies sold • Seen as part of the Worlds Number 1 Dance Game brand. • Both JD4 and JD2014 have downloadable content making them bigger sellers.

23. How/why is the marketing successful? • Colourful vibrant images and brand identification • Prominence of famous music artists in both game and marketing materials (works like a kind of celebrity endorsement) • Fitness aspect emphasised by things like “Sweat Mode”, makes audience think that the game is healthy/good for them • Use of social media to keep people interested in the game and connect them to a wider community of players.

24. What you need to do now? • Gather material under the headings below for another game of your choice. (This could be the case study you have started already) • What kind of game it is? • Who was the target audience for it? • What kind of games platform was it designed for? • What kind of traditional marketing activities were undertaken to promote the game (e.g. TV adverts, posters) and how did these appeal to their audience? • What kind of new media marketing activities (e.g. social media, web, convergent) were undertaken to promote the game and how did these appeal to the audience? • What synergies were exploited in the marketing of the game? • How successful was the game in terms of sales/downloads? • How successful was the marketing campaign and why?

25. Then…. • Use this material to write an answer to the following task, to be handed in by Thursday next week. • Explain how the marketing and promotion of two video games could be seen as successful in appealing to an audience like the one you intend your campaign to reach.