Marketing, Word-of-Mouth, and other buzzwords

[Ron Edwards]

Hiya,

I just remembered this older thread, Viral Marketing, which raised some similar topics. Forge archival history, anyway.

Best,
Ron

[Domhnall]

Thanks.  (That turned kinda nasty [EDIT: in that old thread].)

I'm still mulling over the little book idea...doesn't seem too promising.  Perhaps it's just a fact that our hobby is doomed to be socially transmitted?

[MatrixGamer]

Excellent post!

When I started developing Matrix Game my first article had the unappealing name "Verbal analysis wargaming." In the second article I renamed them Matrix Games and talked about the "market place of ideas." I realized that we sell ideas trying to attract people to give us their time. Money was secondary - it helps because it makes people more committed to the product, but since no one gets rich player time is the real prize.

I thought of Influencers as "Interest leaders". I figured they were newletter editors (this was 1988 everything was done in paper), article writers, convention organizers and maybe club leaders (if you could spot them out). The challenges is always reaching these people.

Randy Porter "The Keeper of Ancient GenCon Lore" told me that I needed to recruit deciples. That would be the evangalists you mentioned. I started giving people "Matrix Game Minion" buttons to follow that up. I like the idea of being a minion. It has an evil game cultist vibe. So far I've gotten some good gamers to run Matrix Games for me at Gen Con (to the point that I don't referee anymore - instead I get to sit booth, sell, and do the accounting - Ooooo how cool...not).

Don't you think it helps to have dogged persistence in this endeavor? Anymore I value that above brilliance.

If you are successful at creating a brand it gives you the privilege of doing different work. You move away from being a game designer into building and maintaining a business. Fortunately we can grow slowly in that direction so it is not too painful. I think it's worth it.

Okay, how many times did I mention Matrix Game in this post - let me count - with this paragraph that makes five. If I've spiced in enough other good ideas to be interesting then I've succeeded in the never ending quest of spreading the word about my game.

Bet you thought I was going to say Matrix Game again!

Chris Engle
Hamster Press

[Allan]

Great thread.  This is mostly replying to Domhnall's book title.

When I first got the idea to design Sweet Dreams, I really wanted to create something for first-time new gamers.  Specifically, I was noticing what great roleplayers my female friends were, and how different an experience a mixed-gender play group was from an all-male group.  I wanted to make a game that would attract female non-gamers who were interested in related fields like comics, fantasy, film, drama, and the gothic lifestyle.  I describe Sweet Dreams as a Co-operative or Interactive Storytelling Game.  Non-gamers have been interested in the idea of telling a shared fantasy story with their friends, using a book as a guide.  That said, the only female non-gamers I've got to try it were already friends of mine, but that's the cult of personality at work, right?  

I also ran demos of my Big Night kids game in rave chillrooms.  This fast and simple diceless game uses soft hand puppets as character sheets, and appealed to playful and imaginative ravers who would never have picked up a roleplaying book.  This was valuable playtesting, and I sold as many books as I do at most conventions.

I think the book you're suggesting could really work, especially if it's emphasis was on system-light narativist games.  Also, you'd want to place it where the non-gamers are already almost ready to be gamers.  Anime, comic, fantasy and goth stores, clubs and conventions, and anywhere that stocks zines.  

Anyone else have any experience marketing games to non-gamers?