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总结为游戏争取媒体曝光度的8项要点

发布时间:2011-10-31 17:22:11 Tags:,,,,

作者:Tom Ohle

我们收到了很多咨询电子游戏PR(公共关系)的邮件。不可否认,我们希望能够通过提供建议赚钱,但是我同样也认为免费分享多年来积累的专业知识是个很棒的想法。如此看来,我们将提供一些观点帮助你的游戏获得更多的媒体关注,并且我不再口若悬河地诉说一些没有意义的内容了,我将结合其他人一些有帮助的观点,为你全面分析所谓的“游戏媒体”。

press-release(from b2binbound.com)

press-release(from b2binbound.com)

1.提供有趣信息,勿言无趣内容。

我们知道,你们的游戏富有创造性。你们的开发团队充满激情与想象。但是你必须意识到,每个媒体都有权利去判别游戏是否有价值以及他们是否愿意为其做描述。

来自游戏网站Destructoid的Nick Chester说道:“虽然有许多AAA级游戏作品,而且越多的作品推荐能够满足更多不同玩家的需求,但是事实上,我们却没有足够的时间去一一关注所有独立游戏。”如果你明白了媒体对于推荐游戏的评价标准,那么你对于游戏PR的理解也就简单多了,就像Chester提到:“对于我们认为有价值的游戏,我们便会竭尽所能去点亮它们的光芒,而我们判断有价值游戏的标准也是多方面的,可能是独特的游戏设置,引人注目的美术设计甚至是它们的开发团队。”

G4的Eric Eckstein同时也注意到了媒体所经历的信息超负荷情况,以及它们对推动游戏曝光度的作用,他说道:“很多时候当出现了关于非AAA级游戏的评述新闻时,我们都会收到读者对于这些新闻的负面反馈,所以通常情况下我们认可的游戏并不一定能够得到应有的关注。更糟糕的是,有些媒体甚至必须停止对于游戏信息的传播,即使这些游戏后来的更新内容变得更加有趣。”

如果你打算开始准备宣传一款新游戏了,那么你便需要明确这款游戏的独特之处,并围绕游戏的特殊功能而展开完整的PR活动。如果你找不到游戏的任何过人之处,那么你就只好重新去规划游戏,或者减少对于游戏销售的期望值了。如果你希望游戏能够获得关注,那么就必须让游戏具有值得关注的资本。

2.有的放矢地选择目标。

如何更好地进行PR的一个重要原则便是选择正确的对象。这样才能保证你的游戏得到更有效的宣传,而你也不再像是一个叨叨絮絮的傻子。虽然这已经算是一种尝试了,但是仍然有许多经验丰富的PR代表时不时会犯下这种错误,即向那些根本不关心游戏的人进行宣传。

Game Informer(游戏邦注:北美著名游戏专业媒体)杂志编辑Adam Biessener表示:“当你要求我对你的游戏做出评价时,你首先应该明确我是否对它感兴趣。我曾经收到无数与我的工作完全不相干的电子邮件。天哪,这些发邮件的人至少要先了解我是做哪行的再联系我吧!”

“任何通信科的毕业生都知道如何根据市场营销人员所完成的销售单制作出3段左右的新闻稿。PR人员应该根据自己的专业知识去判断将什么样的故事传播给什么样的人。”

Destructoid的Hamza Aziz补充道:“我们总是会喜欢一些特殊的类型,我认为如果你真心关注着每个编辑所写的内容,那么你一定能够快速获得相关资讯。举个例子来说,虽然我对于第一人称角色扮演游戏很感兴趣,但是比起谈论日本角色扮演游戏,我宁愿在一个布满鲨鱼的池子里游泳。”所以说如果你将一款错误的游戏交给一个错误的编辑,那么不可避免的,你的游戏将遭到冷落,更糟糕的是,他们对你的游戏描述将趋于否定,因为作者并不喜欢你的游戏,或者对于你的游戏并不熟悉。

3.抓住要领。

如果你是在为自己奋斗了2年多的游戏做宣传,那么肯定会发自内心地感到兴奋吧,但是你需要做的便是将自己的这种兴奋感归纳成短短的几个句子,让观众看到的是精简扼要的内容而非滔滔不绝的长篇小说。Eckstein表示:“不论你是在宣传游戏的新功能,还是市场营销计划,抑或是应用程序,你都必须确保这些内容的清晰,简洁。同时标题还应该涵括游戏的标题和情境,并且保证首句话就直接切入主题。”

Kotaku(游戏邦注:美国著名的游戏博客)的编辑主任Joel Johnson说道:“对我来说宣传内容首先要短——我正在用一行的电子邮件模式与其他人谈论他们所想要宣传的内容。但是比起大肆宣传或者庸俗地套近乎(这些表达都不能让我很好地了解游戏),我更想听到‘嘿,Joel,你是否想要试试一款新游戏?”

的确,对于大多数年轻的PR代表来说,最普遍的问题便是表达不够简要,描述太过冗长。你要知道,大多数高级媒体每天都会收到无数的电子邮件,所以他们不可能会去阅读一篇长达500字的游戏描述,通常希望电子邮件的内容越短越好。你的游戏描述应该让读者感兴趣,所以尽量提供给他们足够的信息,帮助他们判断游戏内容是否值得深入探究。新闻稿也是相同道理,X-Play的Blain Howard说过:“尽可能让新闻稿简洁扼要。作为前PR专业人员,我知道新闻稿是PR的每日工作,但是请尽可能地保持这些内容的简短。并快速给予读者相关提示,如果新闻稿的内容超过1页(包括引用内容在内),你就有必要去压缩这些内容了。”

Joystiq(游戏邦注:美国著名的游戏资讯门户网站)的Justin McElroy拥有相同的观点:“简单地陈述相关内容并附加游戏页面链接(这点很重要),以便让我能够更深入地了解你的游戏。你所张贴的游戏链接能够让我找到更多游戏的细节内容,所以这点非常有帮助。”

Steinberg总结道:“尽可能地将关键概念描述压缩在15秒以内——如果你都不能快速地像那些媒体工作人员传僠游戏的描述内容,更何况大众?”

4.把握时机。

在过去,夏季曾经是那些小游戏(即不敌AAA级大型游戏)出头露脸的一个季节,但是现在随着数字发行渠道的盛行,在游戏产业中已经不存在所谓的“淡季”了。总是有一些大游戏在跃跃欲试着,所以如果你想要扩大你的PR影响力,就必须时刻关注着最佳时机。

你应该注意什么?Nick Chester给出了一些窍门:“还有谁在准备游戏宣传?有哪些大游戏即将发行?时刻关注着游戏新闻,预告以及审查周期,你肯定能够找到一些时间空档。而抓住任何好时机你便能够让你的游戏走到公众面前了。”

同时你还应该知道在一切准备就绪之前还需要一定的时间,也就是说你最好不要冒险在游戏发行当天才向一些媒体作者发起邀请,因为这将会严重影响你的游戏曝光时机。纸质媒介以及电视节目更需要提前交涉好,如果你希望你的游戏能够在最适当的时机出现在观众面前,那么你就需要了解不同媒体的准备时间。

你需要尽早且准确地确定目标媒体,并且不要老是抱着会不会遭到禁止等消极想法。如果你与一个有威信的媒体展开了合作,那么你们之间就应该建立起相互信任的关系,你付给他们一定的资金,并将游戏宣传任务交付于他们,如此你们不仅能够建立起稳固的关系,同时还能够帮助你提高游戏的曝光率。而越匆忙的游戏PR准备就预示着越短时间的游戏曝光度。

5.独家报道比时机更重要。

Kotaku的Johnson说道:“如果你能在面向我们的竞争对手之前向我们提供一个全新且独特的游戏描述,我们将会更加重视你的游戏。在此我并不是说你不能再向其他媒体发送游戏描述,只是希望你能够明白:独家报道更加吸引人。”

Blain Howard的想法也映射了Johnson的观点:“我很重视独家报道。但是很多情况下独家报道不一定针对大制作的游戏。我们总是希望能够抢在别人之前报道一些AAA级游戏作品。但是不只是AAA级游戏,只要拥有新的游戏关卡,游戏角色或者一些新鲜功能的游戏,我们也愿意去争取。对我们来说这是一种双赢的局面,不仅能为我们的报道吸引到更多观众,也能为你的游戏争取到更多关注。”

“独家报道”是一种需要谨慎处理的项目。PR代表认为处理这一过程很复杂:在一段时间里,你可能会一稿多投,将不同的独家报道分配给不同的媒体。过去我总是认为相互竞争的媒体会因为对方获得独家报道而生气,但是现在看来好像不是这样。

但是如果你将大型独家报道交给一家媒体,你就不要对其他媒体报以期待。就像Howard解释的:“如果你想将独家报道交付给其他媒体或网站,那么请告知我们。我们理解这是一种商业行为,虽然我们希望能够掌握一切有益的内容,但是现实却不是那么容易。预先告知我们而不要等着我们自己去察觉,因为这样更让人难以接受。”

6.确保媒体也能尝试游戏。

在你的PR活动早期,如果媒体并未接触过你的游戏,那么关于游戏功能以及相关机制的媒体报告将显得异常疲软。

Eckstein表示:“最好的经验法则便是尽可能地让媒体去玩你的游戏,并且越早越好。我知道,很多独立开发者都缺少足够的资本,所以即使不能提供零售的实体游戏或者数字发行兑换码,至少能够给予媒体一些基础代码或者游戏光盘,帮助他们更好地了解游戏。”

如果你并不是一名已完成,或者受到较高期望值的游戏主流发行商或者开发者,那么你更需要让媒体能够尝试你的游戏。Eckstein补充道:“比起让别人主动询问游戏代码或者游戏附件,主动将这些内容提供给他们不是更好?”

7.反应快和有效率。

在我的职业生涯早期,我基本上都能够快速回应媒体的各种询问。而现在我可以主动发送邮件并等待对方的回复。对我来说这真的不是件轻松的事,你知道,就像在享受假期的时候还不得不时刻关注着电子邮件的这种心情。然而对于媒体来说这却不是坏事,而你却需要尽自己所能去回应他们的请求。

Eckstein强调有效率是指:“当你发行了一份新闻稿后必须随时待命,或者时刻关注着电子邮件,手机,IM,Twitter等的最新动态以了解媒体们的反应。通常如果媒体所提出的问题得不到第一时间的回答,他们便会失望地将注意力转移到其他游戏上去了。”

Joystiq的McElroy也赞同这一观点:“我忘记有多少次当我试图去了解一款新游戏的信息或者寻找相关者的联系方式时,都找不到我想要的结果。如果你在使用视频聊天功能,那么你必须确保在所发行的新闻稿上附有你的联系信息。”

8.关键是制作一款好游戏。

Biessener说道:“认定一款游戏真的很糟糕其实也是一件很重要的任务,尽管很多PR都不喜欢做这项工作。我认为很多人跟我一样总是希望不用在没意义的东西上面浪费太多时间。如果我必须花费10分钟去尝试游戏,但却最终发现这款游戏很无聊,根本不值得我们进行宣传,那么我会很郁闷为何开发者会制作出这种游戏。你应该知道这点。”

我想这才是帮助游戏获得更多媒体关注的最重要因素了。优秀的游戏将能够得到更多肯定的描述,而媒体也会因此主动关注这些游戏。能够得到一些主流媒体的青睐真的很让人兴奋,而最重要的前提便是你的游戏足够优秀。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,拒绝任何不保留版权的转载,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

How to Get Media Coverage for Your Game

by Tom Ohle on 10/27/11

We get a lot of emails from people who want some advice about video game PR. Here’s a tip: hire us, you cheap jerk! Sorry, sorry… that’s probably not the best way to get business. Admittedly, we do like getting paid to dispense advice, but I guess there’s some value in sharing years and years of expertise for free. In this case, we’ll offer a bit of insight into how you should go about getting media coverage for your video game, and rather than just spouting off crap that makes me seem smart, I’ve combined said crap with a bunch of real, useful tips from the people who will actually be giving you the coverage: games media.

1. Stop being so boring! Tell an interesting story.

Your game is revolutionary, we know. Your team is passionate, and that’s fantastic. You should realize that every pitch media get will contain claims about the game’s awesomeness, and it’s up to the media to tread through the crap to find those games that are worth writing about.

“There are so many ‘triple-A’ titles that we have to cover — mostly because that’s what drives our traffic and what are readers generally want — that there’s simply not enough time to focus on all of the indies,” says Nick Chester at Destructoid (who has since gone on to become “one of us”!). You can make it easier on them by actually being clear about why they should cover your game, as Chester mentions: “I think we do a pretty decent job of trying to shed some light on what we feel are promising titles, and that’s usually a result of a unique gameplay hook, maybe an eye-catching aesthetic, and sometimes who the development team is.”

G4′s Eric Eckstein also notes the overload that media experience and how important it is to make your game or news pitch stand out: “All too often we receive news alert after news alert about a relatively small feature about a game, and unless that title is AAA, it most likely won’t warrant the attention you feel it deserves. At worst, it could make media tune out the important information about your game, even if subsequent updates are more interesting.”

If you’re getting ready to announce a new game, you really need to sit down and define what it is that makes your game unique, and build your entire PR campaign around that feature list. If you can’t come up with a good list of things that help your game stand out, then you might want to go back to the drawing board… or start reducing your sales expectations. If you want attention, you need to warrant the attention.

2. Choose your targets wisely, a.k.a. put the shotgun away.

One of the key principles of (good) PR is to make sure you’re pitching the right people. You’ll be much more effective in getting coverage and not looking like an idiot if you do a bit of research ahead of time. It seems like common sense, but even the most seasoned PR reps are occasionally guilty of blasting announcements to people who just won’t care.

As TechSavvy Global CEO and Lead Technology Analyst, Scott Steinberg, says, “Nothing’s more frustrating that  a quickly thrown-together pitch, or interruption while on deadline as someone attempts to sell me on a topic that’s so far outside of the scope or interest range of what I even cover that it’s embarrassing.”

“You want me to respond to your pitch?” asks Adam Biessener, Senior Associate Editor at Game Informer. “Make damn sure it’s on my beat, for one thing. I get more emails than I can count about headphones and controllers and virus software and all kinds of other crap that’s tangential to my job at best. And for goodness’ sake, learn what it is I do before calling me for a follow-up.

“Any freshly minted communications grad can put together a three-paragraph press release from the sell sheet the marketing guys sent over. Knowing who to pitch what stories to is where PR should be providing its own expertise.”

“We’re all passionate about specific genres and I think you can pick up on it quickly if you pay attention to what each editor writes about,” adds Destructoid’s Hamza Aziz. “For instance, I can talk night and day about an FPS whereas I’d rather go swim in a pool full of sharks than to have to talk about a JRPG.” If you pitch the wrong game to the wrong editor, you’re increasing the chances your pitch will get ignored… or, possibly worse, the coverage could be negative because the writer isn’t a fan of the genre or is unfamiliar with it.

3. Get to the damn point.

It’s natural to be really excited as you pitch media on that dream game you’ve been working on for two years, but you have to be able to condense your passion and excitement into a few concise sentences that will get your point across without requiring the person you’re pitching to read through a novel. “When announcing a new feature, marketing initiative, program, whatever, make sure it’s clear, concise and to the point,” says Eckstein. “The subject line should include the game title and the context, and that first sentence should spell it out without too much hunting in the copy.”

Joel Johnson, Editorial Director over at Kotaku, notes, “The number one thing that works for me is a short–I’m talking one-line–email from someone about what they’re wanting to pitch. It’s a subtle thing, but I respond much better to “Hey, Joel, would you be interested in checking out NEW GAME (it’s a GAME GENRE for PLATFORM)?” than I am with a great big generic pitch *or* a sleazy ‘Hey Buddy!’ thing that doesn’t actually tell me anything about the game at all.”

Indeed, a common problem among young PR reps is a distinct lack of brevity… uhhh… an abundance of wordiness. Something of that nature. Remember that most top-tier media get hundreds of emails a day from people just like you, so if you expect them to read through a 500-word diatribe about your game, expect that email to find its way to the trash real fast. The goal of your pitch is to get the writer interested… so just give them enough info to decide whether they want to find out more. The same can be said for press releases, as mentioned by X-Play’s Blain Howard: “Keep press releases short and to the point. As a former PR professional I understand writing releases is part of the day-to-day but please keep it short. Quick hint, if it takes up more than one page (including boilerplate) that is too much.”

The ever-handsome Justin McElroy at Joystiq shared a similar thought: “Just gimme the news and (this is key) toss a link to gameplay footage in there so I can educate myself a little bit and I can take it from there. If you want to link to a release I can comb for details, that’s usually helpful too.”

Steinberg sums it up well: “… be capable of communicating key concepts in 15 seconds or less – if you can’t communicate your elevator pitch that quickly to those whose daily job it is to make sense of it, how are we supposed to do the same for the general public?”

4. Timing is key.

Summer used to be a great time to get attention for games that wouldn’t otherwise be able to compete for headlines among AAA titles, but with the rise of digital distribution, there’s really no “down time” in the games industry. There’s always a big game right around the corner, and if you want to maximize the impact of your PR efforts, you need to pay attention to timing.

What should you be looking out for? Nick Chester has some tips: “Who else is currently pushing for coverage? What big titles are creeping up for release? Pay attention to gaming news, preview, and review cycles; there are always lulls. Look for people posting about cakes and game-related mittens or something — that’s probably a good time to get in front of people with your product.”

You need to also realize that it takes a certain amount of time for things to get done right — yeah, you can drop a line to some writers on the day of your announcement and say, “Hey, I have this game coming today,” but you’re playing with fire if you wait that long to secure coverage. Print outlets and TV programs tend to have longer lead times, and you need to know what those lead times are if you want to get the best possible coverage.

Approach your targeted media nice and early, and don’t worry so much about embargoes or leaks. If you’re working with respected media, there’s a certain amount of trust involved, and if you give them a heads-up on new assets, a game announcement or anything else, you’ll not only start to build a stronger relationships, but you’ll be increasing your chances of getting high-impact coverage. Rushed pitches make for rushed coverage.

5. Exclusives are more key than timing.

“If you can give us a genuine new, unique angle on your game before any of our competitors, I’ll be much more attentive,” says Kotaku’s Johnson (that sounds dirty, but it’s not). “Not that we expect you to not pitch anyone else, but just being frank: real exclusives always make my ears perk up.”

Blain Howard’s thoughts echo Johnson’s: “Exclusivity is big to me. But the exclusive doesn’t always have to be big. Do we want to announce your AAA title on our show before everyone else? Yes. All the time. But if that is not possible give us something like a new level, character or piece of news that we can use. This is for everyone’s benefit, so we can drive more viewers to the TV and you can have more eyeballs on your game.”

It’s often a careful business, this whole “exclusive” thing. From the PR-rep perspective it can actually be a bit complicated: over the course of a few years, you want to allot a fair number of exclusives to every outlet, lest your blatant, reprehensible favoritism show through. I used to think that media got really offended when a competing outlet scored an exclusive, but I suppose that may not be the case.

But if you keep giving one outlet big exclusive stories, don’t expect their competitors to line up to give you some love. As Howard explains, “If you are going with another site / outlet for an exclusive just let us know. We understand that it is a business, and though we want everything to ourselves, we know it is not 100% going to happen that way. Let us know so we don’t find out on our own, which is not a good feeling.”

6. Make sure media can actually play the game.

At some point very early in your PR campaign, your strategy of securing media coverage with your cool game features and wicked-looking bullshots will start to falter  if you don’t actually get the game into media’s hands.

“The best rule of thumb I can give is to do your best to make it easy for media to play your game and get it to them as early as possible,” says Eckstein. “I know it’s potentially money out of an indie’s pocket, but they should send code or a disc to media, if not a retail boxed copy or digital distribution redemption code.”

If you’re not a major publisher or developer with an established, highly-anticipated game, you need to make it as easy as possible for media to play the game. Eckstein adds, “Asking people to inquire if they’re interested in receiving a code/copy adds an unnecessary step to getting your game in front of someone who is potentially going to cover it.”

7. Be responsive and available.

Early in my career I basically screwed myself forever by responding quickly to media inquiries. Now it’s expected – send Tom an email and you’ll hear back. It just becomes a bit of a hassle for me when I’m trying to enjoy a nice Tuesday-afternoon beer, y’know? Anyway, that’s not a bad thing at all for media, and you should do everything in your power to be responsive to their requests.

Eckstein stresses the importance of being available: “… be ready and on call after sending out a release to field questions or be available via email, phone, IM, Twitter, etc. for a follow-up. It’s frustrating for media to have their interest tickled, and then be unable to receive timely answers to their questions. We’re *ALWAYS* on some sort of deadline, and if we can’t get what we need from you to develop a story, we’re moving on to the next one.”

Joystiq’s McElroy agrees: “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to get more info on a fresh release and discover the contact is MIA (or, better yet, on vacation). Also, if you use chat clients, make sure you’re on them when you send a press release that has your contact info on it.”

8. Make a good game.

“Having a game that’s worth a damn is still the biggest thing, though, as much as PR types probably don’t want to hear it,” says Biessener. “I would think that most people in positions similar to mine have a pretty good nose for sniffing out the crap without wasting too much time. If I’m going to play ten minutes of the game and decide it sucks and isn’t worth covering, don’t pitch it to me in the first place. You should know better.”

This is really the single most important factor in getting good media coverage. A great game will get positive word of mouth, and media will actually come to you asking for coverage. It’s a great feeling when a major outlet asks to cover your game without the requisite pitch, and that’s only going to happen if you’ve developed a great game.(source:gamasutra


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