He’d rather spend cash on outdoor, Internet or ”direct-to-consumer” ad campaigns because they’re more effective. An exception is TV branded titles.
”One of the bigger questions we have to ask ourselves is how important is television? How important is television to a core gamer on a non-television brand?” said THQ’s core games VP Danny Bilson in a marketing feature piece, reports VG247.
”I think television has some relevance on WWE and UFC because I consider those TV brands. But our other stuff? I question it severely.” In the end the top executive believes you get way more bang for your marketing buck elsewhere, like those Internets.
”It’s incredibly expensive,” said Bilson, and compared to ”what I can do with two million dollars – which will buy a few TV spots on a big sporting event – what I can do in outdoor, or on the web, or direct-to-consumer is way more exciting.”
Console network services like Xbox Live and PlayStation Network are ideal seeing as how core gamers already use those services heavily and are the prime target for ads.
”You know where I want to market? I want to market on Xbox Live. I want to market on PSN, because every night that’s the switch I turn on at my house. And that front end comes, and those windows come, and all that marketing’s getting right to me because I’m a core gamer,” he explained.
THQ have just unveiled merchandise for new IP Darksiders.
”That’s where I want to invest. Television is a big question mark for me.” Are you in agreement with Bilson? Should the videogames industry concentrate their marketing voodoo in more interactive mediums than television?
