Ever since the earliest days of simple console gaming, this fast-paced and endlessly popular form of entertainment has been part of a hugely competitive international market. Over the years, leading games companies have therefore employed increasingly aggressive marketing techniques in order to stay ahead of the competition and capture the attention of their desired target audience. The rise of the internet has played a crucial role in this trend, with majorentertainmentcompanies now using social media and digital platforms to advertise their offering on a truly global scale. These dramatic campaigns canappear in a variety of different formats, but are always united in their ability to grab people’s attention, shape the wider gaming culture, and build an unforgettable brand identity. In this article, we’ve explored some of the most aggressive marketing campaigns in the world of gamingand examined why this high-intensity technique can be so successful.
The most aggressive marketing techniques in gaming
Whilst there are many ways to boost the visibility of a product, the global gaming market is so crowded and competitive that many leading platforms and publishers have focused on the size of their campaigns above everything else. This has led to aggressive promotional techniquesthat take place on a massive scale, including considerable investment into large physical adverts in cities across the world. For example, Rockstar Games made clever use of street art to advertise the release of Grand Theft Auto V, commissioning several large painted murals in major cities like Los Angeles. Similarly, many major game releases are featured on huge billboards around the world today, and eye-catchingadverts can be seen plastered on the side of buses, on subway trains, and throughout popular social media platforms. Whilst this forceful, widespread style of promotion requires significant initial investment, the results can be impressive, meaning that high-volume mass-marketing techniques are a consistently popular method within the gaming industry today.
Alongside using scale to reach a wider audience, the use of shock value is another key component of aggressive marketing techniques in the gaming world. To cut through the noise of other campaigns, many platforms rely on a more psychological approach and are designed to catch the eye of potential players by creating a shocking or surprising ad campaign that stands out from the rest. These controversial methods are specifically designed to start a conversation and get people talking about the product – after all, word of mouth is still proven to be one of the most powerful forms of advertising. By capturing an opinionated audience, these shock-value marketing methods help to boost organic engagement and get people talking about a new release. For example, the release of Resident Evil 5 was accompanied by a highly controversial ‘treasure hunt’ campaign in the streets of London, which attracted the interest of the media and helped to create a buzz about the game. Whilst this shock value method can be a risky approach, it’s a proven way of capturing new audiences.
How the internet has transformed gaming adverts
The advent of the internet has generated an endlessly varied world of online games – alongside plenty of new ways to market them. Online guerrilla marketing has become increasingly common, as brands have begun to capitalize on the immense reach of popular streaming sites and social media platforms. This is particularly evident in the world of iGaming, in which major brands like Stake have famously used aggressive internet advertising techniques to reach a massive global audience. Stake’s guerrilla marketing methods have had an impressive impact and have significantly boosted the overall visibility and recognition of this popular iGaming platform. By distributing exclusive, generous bonus codes through online channels, the site currently‘stands out amongst sweepstakes casinos,’ says Casino.org in their guide to the latest Stake bonus codes. Evidently, this intensive style of online guerrilla marketing is becoming increasingly visible on the internet, especially since gamers now access information through more informal sources and social media sites. It is certainly a savvy way for brands to reach an enormous global online audience, without taking a major hit to their marketing budget through more traditional advertising methods.
The growing role of social media ‘influencers’ has also created new possibilities for intensive advertisingin the world of games.Partnerships with popularcontent creators on platforms like Twitch and YouTube have become increasingly common, with many leading gaming companies now devoting a large proportion of their marketing budgets to this personalized style of advertising. Whether they’re flaunting the latest gaming equipment or offering exclusive discount codes to their followers, these famous social media personalities now play a massive role in the proliferation of entertainment adverts, as game developers hope to reach out to their large, existing group ofonline fans who are often the perfect target audience. Since gaming fans are much more likely to engage with titles recommended by personalities they already know and trust, this direct and wide-reaching form of marketing has proven to be impressively effective. We can expect to see a growing influence of this aggressive technique in the future, as social media continues to reshape the relationship between brands and consumers, forcing marketing campaigns to become increasingly reliant on generating hype within online gaming communities.
Ultimately, the most aggressive marketing campaigns in marketing history have relied on the use of scale and hype to reach the largest audiences possible. Whilst advertising campaigns have evolved since the advent of the internet, moving promotions from city streets to mobile phone screens, the aim is the same – to stand out within this incredibly fast-paced and competitive entertainment market. Aggressive marketing continues to be one of the only ways for brands to carve out an individual niche, as modern gamers are faced with more choices than ever before. As the role of social media influencers and online guerrilla tactics becomes increasingly widespread, it will be fascinating to see how advertising methods change in the gaming industry in the future, as platforms compete to capture our attention in endlessly creative ways!