Promotional Consideration: Quote-based strategy II
Promotional Consideration is a weekly feature about the Nintendo DS advertisements you usually flip past, change the channel on, or just tune out.
Since we bemoaned Advance Wars: Days of Ruin's lacking marketing push last week, Nintendo has kept us holed up in our bomb shelter, walls trembling and lights flickering as wave after wave of advertisements, massive shells blasted from Leo Burnett's distant dreadnoughts, pound the smoking city above.
Here's every salvo we've been hit with in just the past week:
an official web site launch (with new media)
media-heavy previews and several interviews with Nintendo's localization team
two promotional emails sent out to Nintendo's online newsletter subscribers
a launch event held earlier today at the Nintendo World Store (New York City)
television commercials on both network and cable channels
a two-page ad running in at least three video game magazines -- GamePro, Game Informer, and Electronic Gaming Monthly
We stand, crumbs of concrete falling from our hair, corrected. As we promised in our last installment, we're taking a look at that two-page magazine ad for Days of Ruin, a print piece which features flattering quotes from three online video game sites.
Page 1:
Page 2:
Online capability. New maturity. Intense strategery.
Kotaku's excerpt makes another appearance, this time accompanied by more hands-on impressions quotes from UGO and our sister-site, Joystiq. The plan of attack is simple -- attract hardcore gamers by letting them know what hardcore gaming blogs think of the new, grittier Advance Wars. Is this an effective stratagem? We won't find out until the next monthly release of NPD data!
Unlike with the commercial we flayed last week, this ad puts the focus on Days of Ruin's primary selling points, immediately bringing up the game's WiFi play, voice chat, and map sharing features. UGO's words are also strong, promising "incredible new depth" and "the most exciting entry in the series since its introduction." The Kotaku quote seems more appropriate now, adding its support and complementary text instead of serving as the centerpiece.
As with the commercial, however, there wasn't much creative thought put into the presentation. Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising's magazine ad outclasses this one by a mile:
Still, the Days of Ruin two-page spread gets the job done, pushing the title without resorting to anything ridiculous like the ad copy Konami was putting out in the late 80s (not that we wouldn't mind seeing more ridiculous ad copy!). Also, it's not as if the effectiveness of these ads or quotes correlate with the game's quality; we're sure you'll enjoy Days of Ruin, regardless of what some dudes on the internet had to say about it.
