Everyone can do PR The 5 Pillars & pitfalls of indie games PR
Thomas Reisenegger @Olima PR Executive & Consultant ICO Partners ~3050 games ~164,000 games in 2015 submitted in 2015
8 GAMES A DAY AROUND 450 GAMES A DAY
PocketGamer.biz
@Olima 2 How to still make it? 1
VERY GOOD 2 GAME
@Olima 3 Indie games PR
1 5 t h i n g s yo u n e e d t o g e t r i g h t
2 5 c o m m o n p i t f a l l s
3 5 future trends
@Olima 4 Thomas Reisenegger
● Currently - German PR Executive ICO Partners, Brighton UK League of Legends, SMITE, Endless Legend, 2Dark, Armello, Dungeon of the Endless, Fragments of Him
● consol.AT / consolPlus 7 years as a freelance video game journalist
● Austrian Award „PR Panther“ in Youngster Category Launch PR campaign for iOS/Android game Diskobolos
@Olima 5 Have your basics covered first
WEBSITE PRESSKIT SOCIAL MEDIA PRESS RELEASE MAILING LIST
For more details on those basics:
@olima GDC EU 2015 Vault
@Olima 6 Indie games PR
1 5 t h i n g s yo u n e e d t o g e t r i g h t
2 5 c o m m o n p i t f a l l s
3 5 future trends
@Olima 7 One message One art work
1.POSITIONING
You can‘t score without a goal
Sell a story, not a game Hey, listen & adapt
@Olima 8 In war, not everyone is a soldier
@Olima 9 Brave weird title for a hardcore audience Art is clear Metroid reference
@Olima 10 @Olima 11 2. NEWS BEATS
Manage your PR ammunition wisely
@Olima 12 Must have news beats
● Game announcement ● First screenshots ● First trailer
● Beta start / preview possibilities (even if press only) ● Release date announcement
● Release announcement (+ launch trailer)
@Olima 13 What month to communicate news beats?
GAMES MEDIA ARTICLES PER MONTH
@Olima 14 What day to communicate news beats?
GAMES MEDIA ARTICLES PER DAY
@Olima 15 What time to communicate news beats?
● During business hours (09:00 – 16:00)
● Keep time zones in mind (to cover US and EU media around 06:00 PST / 14:00 GMT is a good time)
● Keep local bank holidays in mind
@Olima 16 Youtubers & Streamers
● Your story isn't so important, just give them your game
● Many Youtubers/streamers will cover “classic” games only once
● Try recording your own game
● Mobile games aren't so big with YouTubers
● Watch out for scam
@Olima 17 ! Most important PR Beat Credibility 3. Trailer
Make your minute in the spotlight count
Make first 15 sec count Short and sweet (1:30 min max)
@Olima 18 This War of Mine: How to sell atmosphere
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=3fv-iwk9DWc
@Olima 19 Super Hot: How to buy credibility
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=3fv-iwk9DWc
@Olima 20 4. Guerrilla marketing
Low- cost unconventional marketing tactics
@Olima 21 Burnout 2 – speeding tickets
@Olima 22 Why care about Guerrilla Marketing?
● Extra PR beat
● Reach different target groups
● Possibly small budget
● Untapped field
@Olima 23 Risks of Guerrilla Marketing
● Often breaks taboos
● Not always 100% legal
● Not always results in good PR
@Olima 24 Crawl
@Olima 25 Crawl Gabe Newell
@Olima 26 Crawl Gabe Newell
NUMBER OF ARTICLES IN EUROPEAN MEDIA 2014
120 100 • EA launch and trailer 80 • News 60 • Previews 40 • Reviews 20 0 COVERAGE AUGUST “GABE NEWELL“ ANNOUNCEMENT APRIL
Source: ICO Partners
@Olima 27 Crawl Gabe Newell
STEAM TRAIN LET‘S PLAY DAILY UNITS SALES 2014
400 UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE 300
200
100
FEB MAR APR MAI JUN
Source: Powerhoof
@Olima 28 Shooting Stars! – Pirate version
Source: ICO Partners
@Olima 29 Shooting Stars! – Pirate version
80
70
60
50
40
30 Number of articles of Number 20
10
0 All other coverage Pirate PR Stunt Source: ICO Partners
@Olima 30 Shooting Stars! – Pirate version
iOS launch Android launch Pirate PR stunt Units sold Units
Source: Bloodirony iOS ANDROID
@Olima 31 5. Events
don‘t dance at every party
@Olima 32 @Olima 33 Indie games PR
1 5 t h i n g s yo u n e e d t o g e t r i g h t
2 5 c o m m o n p i t f a l l s
3 5 future trends
@Olima 34 5 Common pitfalls in indie games PR
● Too little, too late
● Playing the indie card
● Poor, technical trailer
● Don‘t re-package enough
@Olima 35 5 Common pitfalls in indie games PR
REVEAL TEASER REVEAL TRAILER
=
More than 40,000 extra views and over 60 articles
@Olima 36 5 Common pitfalls in indie games PR
● Too little, too late
● Playing the indie card
● Poor, technical trailer
● Don‘t re-package enough
● Push PR (go for pull PR)
@Olima 37 Indie games PR
1 5 t h i n g s yo u n e e d t o g e t r i g h t
2 5 c o m m o n p i t f a l l s
3 5 future trends
@Olima 38 5 Future trends in indie games PR
● Focus on compact high quality info
● Visual content will be even more important
● PR & Marketing get even closer
● No credibility through platform
● Clever in-game social media sharing
@Olima 39 Thanks for your attention
@Olima
@Olima 40 WWW.ICOMEDIA.EU BRIGHTON UNITED KINGDOM
[email protected] +44 (0)20 7193 5158
@Olima 41