Activity 4Campaign Case Study - Star Trek

http://startrekgame.wikispaces.com/homeUsername: videogames14 Password: startrek

• Identify the steps of the campaign that were linked to pre-existing events

• Identify the steps that involved financial investment in the creation of new media content (print, video, or online)

• Identify the steps that required the use of social networking media• What are the major aspects of the game that are being promoted, and

who are the main target audiences?

Look back at your own case study:Use a site like vgreleases.com or eurogamer.net to find out what games are being released in the near future. Select one of these and see what a Google search on the name of the game brings up. Most website entries have some kind of date attached. Make a table/timeline like the one above.

Campaign Case Study - Star TrekDate Promotional tool Intended audience?

• 7 Jun 2011 E3 - public launch of concept with trailer Star Trek film and game writer available for interview

• 12 Feb 2012 Press release about companies involved• 17 Apr 2012 Teaser Trailer• 5 Jun 2012 E3 - release of information about the Gorn Dedicated website Twitter and Facebook feeds• E3 - demo event for the game• 7 Jun 2012 Gameplay footage posted online Producer Brian Miller available for interview• 17 Aug 2012 Gamescom - Salvation trailer Brian Miller interviewed• 20 Dec 2012 Release date announced Salvation trailer posted on Paramount website 7• 30 Jan 2013 Brian Miller on Yahoo Live Chat• 1 Feb 2013 Game posts circular online• 15 Feb 2013 ‘Making Of’ video released• 25 Feb 2013 Gorn Mondays on Star Trek website• 26 Feb 2013 UK Launch Event at Science Museum• 20 Mar 2013 Second ‘Making Of’ video released• 23 Mar 2013 Pre-order promotional material in Game stores• 29 Mar 2013 Official video advert released, along with video of gamers at UK Launch Event• 1 Apr 2013 Previews in gaming magazines Online puzzle game launched by IGN UK• 4 Apr 2013 Gadget Show Live - preview play available• 5 Apr 2013 Gameplay footage posted online• 8 Apr 2013 Gorn statues released through Star Trek website• 10 Apr 2013 VG247 interview with Brian Miller• 14 Apr 2013 Gorn at MTV Awards• 19 Apr 2013 Third and Fourth ‘Making Of’ videos released

EXTENSION:• Look at Two-Step Flow or Multi-Step Flow theory: opinion leaders are affected by elite media

sources, and then report what they have experienced, influencing the people who look up to them. They are more influential than the media themselves. Does the use of social networking and online forums exploit multi-step flow?

Two-Step or Multi-Step Flow TheoryThe theory says that most people form their own opinions by listening to opinion leaders. The opinion leaders gain their information from the mass media. We are therefore influenced by the media at secondhand. Opinion leaders can be the influential people in a peer group, in which case, this can be different people for different topics – who do you choose to talk to about new music, about films, about TV programmes, about politics? They may all be different people, but they are your opinion leaders – you value their opinion. You may in your turn be an opinion leader for others. Opinion leaders can themselves be famous people, whose opinions are broadcast through the mass media. These can include chat show hosts and their guests, comedians, politicians, interviewers, critics, journalists and many others. They are people whose opinion carries some kind of authority in society, even if it’s only because we are fans of theirs. When a topic is being discussed, we may talk as much about what these people say about it as we do about the original idea or event. This process becomes multi-step when the opinion leaders themselves influence the media – when their chosen topic of interest dominates the news, or when the angle they take becomes the most reported angle. It is also multi-step because it is now recognised that we usually receive our information from the mass media before we hear the opinions of the opinion leaders. We use their opinions to mediate the original information and fit it into our mindset. The original theories were put forward in the 1940s by Paul Lazarsfield and others to explain why some media campaigns were less successful than others.

Question:• How does this apply to promotion and marketing of video games?• How has the Star Trek campaign, or your chosen case study campaign, deliberately targeted ‘opinion

leaders’ so that they can then influence others?