When it comes to new media and the growing influence of computer gaming, is PR ceding ground to marketing?  Is gaming a PR no-man’s land or a new frontier?

I ask that question after doing an unscientific search on Google.  Typing “social gaming” and PR yielded press releases and phrases like “gaming changing,” “gaming the platform,” and the “expectation game.”  On the other hand, typing “social gaming” and marketing generated a slew of postings about marketing’s influence in this space. Either we as PR pros aren’t very good at tagging, or we are not embracing games.

My conclusion – PR has not established itself as a thought leader in the gaming space.  And that’s too bad. From community building and brand enhancement to reputation management, PR has a role to play.  

That’s certainly the opinion of Scott Schneider at Ruder Finn.  He’s an executive vice president and director of interactive, and games are a part of the services his firm offers its clients.  Projects have included 1) Picassohead - a take off on the popular children’s toy, Mr. Potatohead, which allows users to create their own Picasso-esque portraits and share them with friends and 2)  using the popular game SimCity to promotehe promoting British Petroleum’s green initiatives in SimCity.

When it comes to gaming, PR and marketing have much in common, but there there is an important distinction.  When PR gets involved, it is usually about the activity around games. Making news and creating content are key drivers.  Our role is to promote games, use games to promote clients, manage communities and  find existing games to promote a client’s message.  

It doesn’t have to be only promotion. Take the site Games for Change.  It is strictly .org.  But it’s instructive.  It seeks to harness video games to address pressing issues, including poverty, human rights, global conflict and climate change.  Serious stuff, and it’s time PR understands gaming’s potential.

Embracing Gaming but Understanding Ground Rules

Games are not releases:  As Schneider cautions, don’t confuse games with traditional PR.  They are not white papers or press releases by another name. Games are not tactics, and those who think so generally don’t play games.  (It’s the same reason why many great books don’t always make great movies.  The success of the great book lies in the interface. Its power is often lost in the translation from written word to silver screen.) Games are a new interface, and we need to understand  their rules.

The benefit of games is indirect:  When it comes to games, corporate messaging must be woven into the experience. You can’t simply insert corporate messages.  Games must be engaging and entertaining. For the most part, experiencing the game is the message, and it’s the community of players who spread the word. 

Done right games are immersive, viral and potentially transformative. At their best, they create a communal experience that brings people together.  The buzz they generate is PR’s reward.

Games are not cheap:  Gaming can bust traditional PR budgets.  Non complicated games can cost upwards of $50,000 to $100,000 or maybe $40,000 to $60,000 in these recessionary times.  And the cost can be hundreds of thousands for more complex games. It costs a lot of money to design, build and maintain them.

Games are not easy:  Games require technical skills and knowledge that most PR professionals don’t have.  Schneider’s advice:  find a partner with gaming experience and more importantly some success under its belt.

Measuring Success: Given the cost to produce a game, ROI is a critical as ever.  Certainly eyeballs, the number of conversations, the number of players and buzz are great metrics.  Another measurement is determining results based on the cash equivalent of a traditional ad buy.  Which served the client better? 

If I Were in Charge

Need a hypothetical example: Take Flintstones Chewable Vitamins. They are perfect for a PR driven game.  (My apologies if one already exists.) A game lends itself to the core audience.  It’s experiential, and  would be a fun way to promote a message of nutrition, diet and health.  And you can build a whole PR campaign around the game, highlighting an innovative social media strategy.  And oh by the way, it may sell more vitamins.

In one sense, I have created a false division between PR and marketing.  The growing overlap between the two departments is not lost on me.  In some cases, PR and marketing can share mission and budget.  My point is that PR needs to understand that gaming is gaining wider acceptance within the business world. It provides a whole new way to communicate our message.  Asserting thought leadership will go a long way in increasing PR’s influence and value.

Let me get back to you.

I have been kicking around the idea of going to the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco especially as I try to help raise the visibility for Georgia Game Developers Association and the SIEGE conference.  Gaming has gotten so big that it is difficult to ignore its impact on marketing.

To me gaming is social media on steroids.  It underscores the importance of community, word of mouth and fan culture in driving awareness and attracting subscribers.

Hi-Rez Studios Designers

That’s why Hi-Rez Studios caught my attention.  They are an independent gaming company here in North Atlanta trying to make it big with their massively multiplayer online (MMO) game Global Agenda.  Expected to go beta in the second quarter of this year, Global Agenda features a spy-fi world of advanced technology and player-driven conflict.

The responsibility of marketing Global Agenda falls primarily in the hands of Public Relations Specialist Michal Adam and Vice President, Game Operations Stew Chisam.  Their task is not easy.  Success rates are low.  Development costs are high and so is the failure rate for most MMOs.

Once more, games like any form of entertainment are a tough sell. They must compete for people’s free time.  The challenge is to be a person’s first or perhaps second choice for fun.  But as Stew points out, “There is a heavy reward for being the best.”

So it’s interesting to see how they are using traditional and new media in their marketing strategy.

Timing and Opportunities
Launching a new game is never easy.  It’s important to manage expectations. Hi-Rez Studios made the decision to stay under the radar for the first three years.

Getting reporters to write, post and link is hard enough — in Atlanta it’s even harder; we are not yet a gaming hub and have to work harder – kind of like Avis Car Rental.  Where I have generally found tech reporters wanting plenty of lead-time, Michal notes that game journalists tend to stay away from pitches that are too far out in front or release dates that are not yet determined.  That makes building buzz more difficult.

Sometimes you need to be opportunistic like when Hi-Rez Studios offered to insert a local DJ’s voice and body into the game after learning the DJ from Q100 had made a New Year’s resolution to be in a video game.  The result – lots of air time and visibility outside the gaming community.

Traditional media has its limits.  That’s where new media and community building come in.

Fans Base
A Blessing and a Curse: Effective gaming strategy needs fans to help establish a brand. They drive buzz. They are web savvy, loyal, and willingly spread the word for you.  They are also highly opinionated and won’t hesitate to criticize – openly and loudly. The same fans that make a game a mega hit, can also sink it.

Using fans to help disseminate is challenging; you want to keep up momentum and feed fan hunger for information. But you need to move slowly to avoid disappointment.

Recruitment
Start Small:  Hi-Rez Studios is currently running an Alpha test for about 1000 gamers.  Before going public they wanted to give a handful of gamers a chance to look under the hood. They reached out to gamers that are part of Clans, engage in Lans parties and play similar games like Tabula Rasa.

But there is a fine line in engaging like-minded gamers.  It helps that gamers have affinity toward the game, but at the same time you open yourself to comparisons as this discussion on the MMORPG gaming news site shows.

Management and Rewards
Management over Support: A well-run community can support itself. It’s more about management not support.  As the community grows, it gets formalized.  There are do and don’ts, but the guiding principle for Hi-Rez Studios is “we are here to have fun; don’t spoil it.”  Since trash talking is part of the fun, they won’t police everything.  They want players to stay long enough to become part of the community.

Sustaining Interest: Recognition is huge.  Consequently, regular contests are held.  One winner got his face on a character.  Players can also win pieces of flair and rare accessories.

Measurement
ROI: In a subscriber based game, the goal is determining lifetime value based on such metrics as cost per user, number of users sustained, and revenue per user.

Short and long term success: Short term success is understanding online behaviors such as how long and often members are online:  Long term success is growing a healthy community of the right size and level of satisfaction.

Over the long haul, Hi-Rez Studios hopes to be more than a one hit wonder.  It will take 4-7 years to justify the cost. This is an important year, but it seems to me that beyond the game itself, the key to their success will be based on how well they sustain their community.  And the lessons from the gaming industry can clearly help non gamers with the care and feeding of their social networks.

Let me get back to you. ]]> http://www.bernaisesource.com/blog/2009/02/video-game-global-agenda-underscores-value-of-new-media-reposted/feed/ 0