[MUD-Dev] Advertising Thread

[Richard Aihoshi aka Jonric]

At 06:52 PM 17/08/02 -0700, "Brad McQuaid" <bmcquaid at cox.net> wrote:
> Said: "Russ Whiteman":

>> And, conversely, having a good (or bad) game design doesn't
>> necessarily mean that the game is going to do outstanding well
>> (or poorly).  As much as I hate to admit it, marketing appears to
>> be the king, when it comes to making a hugely successful game...

> I hate to nitpick, but EQ didn't have squat for marketing early
> on, especially pre-release.  There was none, and then there was an
> ad run for like 3 months in like the four major mags of the time
> (PC Games, PC Gamer, CGW, Computer Games Strategy Plus?).

As a former marketing manager with formal training (MBA), over a
decade of experience with brands like Panasonic, Hitachi and Kohler,
plus another two years teaching marketing and business in general, I
submit that advertising and marketing are not the same.  As a bit of
a simplification, advertising is a sub-set of marketing.  It can
often be by far the most visible part, but in most instances, it is
not as important within the overall marketing plan as this
visibility suggests.

While it is sheer conjecture, I think that for a larger pre-launch
advertising campaign to have made a substantial difference in EQ's
numbers, the amount of spending would have had to be
disproportionate to the results.  Marketing is about reaching those
potential customers who are most likely to buy, and about making
your product or service easy to obtain, both of which were
accomplished.
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