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分享DIY独立游戏营销和PR的经验

发布时间:2013-08-07 16:23:25 Tags:,,,,

作者:Kristina Seznec

不久前某一天,我遇到了两个互相矛盾的情况。第一个是:某天早上,我参加2013年数字营销大会,我看了EA分部Chillingo的COO Edward Rumley做题为“游戏策略:在竞争激烈的市场上发行独立手机游戏”的展示。

在单调乏味的展示中,他提出一个观点为:在如此拥挤的市场上,没有发行商,独立游戏永远不可能获得成功所需的宣传度。

第二个是:当天下午,我去参观格拉斯哥的苹果商店。苏格兰独立工作室Lucky Frame正在那里为他们独立生产和自主发行的应用《Wave Trip》搞营销活动。当时,我的耳边一直回响着Rumley那可怕的论断。我在苹果商店的经历表明,Rumley的“自主发行独立游戏不可行”观点是没有根据的。

wave-trip-ios(from the-games-blog.com)

wave-trip-ios(from the-games-blog.com)

细细思考他询问大发行商对独立游戏的看法这一明显的讽刺行为,再加上他的更加离谱的评论(“只因为我在Kindle上发行书并不意味着我就是出版作家”),我发现他在演示中对自主发行独立游戏抱有非常消极的观点,暗示着如果你自己发行游戏,就你别指望能找到受众。

这刺激我揭开独立游戏(其实是所有艺术产品)的PR和营销的神秘面纱。本文的目的不是帮你分析你是否需要发行商,而是为你的作品在发行方面领一下路。

我作为PR和营销专家已经近10年了。我的生涯始于一家私人艺术画廊。在那里,我为全英国的公立和私立艺术机构提供服务,如 New Media Scotland、National Galleries of Scotland等;我最近还被任命为Dundee Contemporary Arts的营销主管。

此外,自2008年起,我作为通信顾问与Lucky Frame合作,帮助他们计划和执行游戏如《Pugs Luv Beats》、《Bad Hotel》和《Wave Trip》的PR和营销策略。

经验告诉我,如果你的独立游戏够好,并且你希望自主发行,你是有可能获得成功所需的宣传效果的。

祈祷是没有用的

Rumley更令人寒心的论调之一也是最准确的:希望不是策略。这不是《梦幻成真》,你也不是它的主演Kevin Costner。你不要以为你做好了游戏就能坐享成功。

苹果应用商店里到处是从来没有被下载过的僵尸应用,它们的营销策略就是祈祷和希望。好消息是,有一些简单的步骤可以让你的作品脱颖而出。

收集媒体联系方式

发行商如Chillingo等,能联系到行业中所有影响力大的渠道、公司和人物。为了成功,你也必须知道许多重要的媒体人、博主和其他有影响力的人物。

也许如果你是一个足够敏锐的独立开发者,那么你应该已经知道你的目标受众是谁,但你绝对需要花一些时间做一点调查。宣传通常会产生雪球效应。如果这是你的第一个项目,那么它出现在一个小博客上跟被Kotaku网站推荐一样重要。

大部分媒体需要向大型组织机构付钱购买不断更新的通讯数据库,所以他们很容易找到所有重要的电子邮件地址或电话号码。

这可能要花费数千英镑,并且当然对促销大有帮助,但不是必须的——这是我在New Media Scotland负责营销和受众开发时总结出来的。

在那时,公司只有三名员工,刚刚得到Scottish Arts Council的重要资助。我们没有钱买媒体的联系方式,所以我只能用一个下午的时间打电话给所有国际报纸、相关杂志和广播公司询问他们的客户的名称、邮件地址和电话号码。

这个工作花了我三个小时,最后我整理出20个重要的联系人。第二天,我发送一份新闻稿给几个大媒体。

建立通讯数据库并不难,如果你肯花时间,那就不需要什么钱。我自己找联系方式已经是几年以前的事了,现在收集联系信息更简单了,因为有了在线联系方式和工具如Twitter和LinkedIn。我们为Lucky Frame收集联系方式也是使用完全相同的策略。对于我们的新游戏,我们确保覆盖到The Verge、Touch Arcade、Eurogamer等新闻媒体。

你收集好联系方式后,你就要向他们发送信息。你要向记者、知名博主、报纸撰稿人详细地解释你的作品。网上有许多介绍如何撰写新闻稿的资料,你可以找找看。

态度决定一切

你必须好好培养与这些媒体联系人的关系。总是使用命名的联系方式,不要向他们滥发邮件。有礼地与联系人打交道、了解他们的工作,对他们告诉你的东西表现出兴趣。

当别人忽视你或报道负面消息时,永远不要发火失态(宣传本身没有什么不好的)。当你被报道或评论时,总是表示感谢,即使近乎奉承。记住,保持友好的态度总是好的。

一图顶千言

漂亮的图片和精良的视频与优秀的新闻稿一样重要。这也许是陈腔滥调了,但我还是要强调:一张图片胜过千言万语,爽快的视频最能说明你的游戏。尽量把图片做得吸引眼球,确保文件具有多种大小,适用于印刷和在线浏览。

可以说,Lucky Frame是借助一个意外走红的大学定视频项目被发现的。我们已经在所有Lucky Frame视频中尝试这种方法,获得不同程度的成功,但我们发现使观众对作品产生视觉印象总是最有效的。

不要害怕跳出框架思考:你可能在冰冷的走廊追赶一群可爱又淘气的狗;或者和你的公司创始人一起穿上自制的纸板衣服走在公园里;或者出现在当地公交车公司的停车场;或者跟另一个更加爱冒险的朋友一起在洗手间里。但你也可以在网上搞点噱头,无论用哪种方式,绝对是打发周六下午的好办法。

把握机会自我推销

不要害怕自我推销。那些选择在公众场所自行推销的艺术家会失败,那是因为他们表现得太谦虚太害羞了。没有什么比对话更有效的了,无论是在网上还是面对面。

没有宣传就是负面宣传——这是我们在Lucky Frame很早就学到的教训,那是我们在BBC商业节目上展示《Dragons’ Den》的时候。那时,那似乎是一个风险很高的策略,获得资助的机会很渺茫,但Yann把自己变成傻瓜的可能性倒是很高。

但让公司名称出现在黄金时段节目的观众面前,实在是个难得的机会。虽然我们的生意没有谈成,但第二天各大游戏公司纷纷联系我们。后来的顾问业务使Lucky Frame稳步发展了一年,最终制作并发行了公司的第一款iPhone应用《Mujik》。

与当地社区打交道

面对面促销游戏与在线一样重要,并且你不必到伦敦、纽约或旧金山见那些对独立游戏有兴趣的人。

在本地社区也可以搞很多活动:例如,Nottingham Game City邀请开发者在每月的命俱乐部之夜活动上展示他们的作品;我们举行定期走访和游戏活动,让开发者演示他们的作品。

还可以举行制作者集体之类的活动,你可以见到不同的玩家。不要只是举行针对性的活动,如果你能接触到更广的人群,你就可以见到更多类型的受众。

Drop_in_and_Play(from develop-online)

Drop_in_and_Play(from develop-online)

当地人是当地作品的最大拥护者;所有人都想看到他们邻居当中出名人。如果你的游戏成功了,你还要让这些人为你庆祝,让他们知道你的事迹。所以,多出去见人,让他们知道你的工作。

私下造势

相比于被应用商店推荐,被媒体报道可能比较容易,因为根据Rumley所说的,前者需要借力发行商。但他说的不是真的。Lucky Frame就曾被苹果应用商店推荐过,还有Simogo的《Year Walk》和《Beat Sneak Bandit》、Firebox的《The Room》和Terry Cavanagh的《Super Hexagon》。

没人敢说知道如何获得苹果商店的推荐,但大肆宣传肯定有帮助。在Lucky Frame,肯定是因为我们的宣传,才让苹果注意到我们。

“免费对某些人来说还是太贵了”

当你有一款游戏,受到一定关注,准备发布时,你怎么定价?你非常想把做游戏当成全职工作,但是免费模式让你感觉不牢靠。

Rumley们认为,一次性付费游戏(玩家预先购买整个游戏)时代已经终结了。根据Rumley,甚至免费模式也不太高明,因为“免费对某些人来说还是太贵”。

Chillingo的人主张通过发行免费或付费游戏来增加收益。Rumley并没有谈论免费模式引发的道德问题——英国政府现在正在调研的事。更重要的是,从游戏开发者的角度看,免费模式通常会损害游戏创意,催生劣质游戏。

我们不要天真了——赚钱真的很重要。在阁楼里辛苦创作固然令人钦佩,但吃饱喝足也是人生乐事。如果你把游戏做成免费模式的或付费模式的,那么你更有可能在财政上生存下来。但这与制作一款你自己都引以为傲的好游戏一样重要——如果你不是真心认可自己做的游戏,那么你也不太可能说服别人相信它是好游戏。

如果你正在权衡这两个选择,那么请记住,市场上仍然有些独立游戏靠一次性费模式获得成功(游戏邦注:如《Year Walk》、《The Room》、和《机械迷城》等)。

Chillingo等公司大肆吹捧免费/付费模式,那是因为它适用于大发行公司。他们有大量的广告投入,并且完全围绕“宝石”之类的游戏金钱和IAP来设计游戏。他们有知识和能力支撑那种模式。

独立开发者应该充分利用自己的最大优势——原创能力、工作激情,为自己争取利益。不要太看重发行商,只要努力做人们想买的游戏就好。

发行商的最后把关

根据Rumley,Chillingo喜欢与刚把游戏做到三分之一的开发者合作,因为这样它才能插手游戏的最后修整。Chillingo能够把握市场动向,知道玩家的需求以及如何根据玩家需求打造产品。Rumley还主张永远不要发布游戏的测试版。

对我而言,这是一种扼杀创新的方法,因为它要求游戏遵循常规或人们的期待。如果所有游戏都使用这种方法,那么会导致游戏同质化,且最终减少那些愿意花钱和时间找娱乐的潜在玩家。

广告成本上的危言耸听

我并不傻。我承认Rumley的成功模式确实可行,因为如果你能跟大发行商签约,那么你的游戏还是很有可能获得成功的。Chillingo这样的公司可以拿出大多数独立工作室梦寐以求的广告预算,当你可以用广告轰炸全世界的游戏网站时,你不必花一个下午的时间在Newcastle上寻找某个手机游戏博主的联系方式。

Rumley的展示中的根本缺陷是,他说的话是为他自己的商业准备的一套推销辞令,并非对发行和独立游戏世界的深刻见解。为了向我们推销Chillingo,他向我们展示了这样一幅图景:发行商掌握所有筹码,独立开发者只指望发行商帮助他们修整、推广和销售他们的产品。如果放在十年前,这并不夸张,但现在世道不同了。

答案不是唯一的

我不是说你不应该与发行商合作,而是,发行商并非唯一的选择。只听从我的建议,未必能让你获得成千上万的销量,因为你的项目仍然必须是精品,你还需要一点运气。但我的建议当然对你有所帮助。

有点信心吧,让别人知道你的工作,多与当地社区打交道,这样你就不必把成功的希望全押在发行商身上了。(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

DIY marketing and PR for indie games

by Kristina Seznec

The other day I had two dramatically contrasting experiences: In the morning I attended Digital 2013 where I watched Edward Rumley, COO at Chillingo, a division of Electronic Arts, give a presentation entitled ‘Games Strategy: Publishing Indie Mobile Games in Today’s Competitive Marketplace’.

His impressively bleak presentation championed the idea that in an ever-crowded marketplace mobile indie game developers can never achieve the publicity levels needed for success without the help of a publisher.

That afternoon, with Rumley’s forbidding words echoing in my ears, I visited the Apple Store in Glasgow to check out their new billboard marketing campaign which features the independently produced and self-published app Wave Trip from Scottish independent studio Lucky Frame. What my experience at the Apple Store shows us is that Rumley’s dismissal of self-published indie games is baseless.

Stepping over the obvious irony of asking a major publisher to talk about indie games, and some of his more outrageous comments (“Just because I publish my book on Kindle that doesn’t make me a published author” – tell that to EL James), I found his presentation to be profoundly negative in its outlook, implying that if you work on your own you have simply no chance of finding an audience.

It inspired me to dispel some of the myths around PR and Marketing of indie games (or in fact any artistic product). This is not a comment on whether or not you should use a publisher, Chillingo or anyone else for that mater; it is just designed to give you a starting point to promote your work.

I have been working as a PR and marketing professional for just under 10 years. I began my career working at a private art gallery and from there have worked for a range of public and private arts organisations across the UK including New Media Scotland, National Galleries of Scotland and most recently as head of marketing at Dundee Contemporary Arts.

In addition to this, since 2008 I have worked with Lucky Frame as a communications consultant to help them plan and implement their PR and Marketing strategy for games such as Pugs Luv Beats, Bad Hotel and Wave Trip.

Experience has taught me is that if you have a great indie game, and you want to self-publish, then you can get the publicity you need to be successful.

HOPE IS NOT A STRATEGY

One of Rumley’s more chilling statements was the most accurate: hope is not a strategy. This isn’t ‘Field of Dreams’, you are not Kevin Costner, if you build it they will not come.

The App Store is littered with the dead corpses of apps that were never downloaded and whose marketing strategy was built on a wing and a prayer. The good news is there are some simple steps you can take to get your work out there.

IT’S NOT WHAT YOU KNOW

Publishers, like Chillingo, have contacts books filled with the names and details of all the key influencers in the business. For success to come a-knocking you need to get together a list of key journalists, bloggers and influencers in your field.

Chances are if you’re a hyper-keen engaged indie developer you already know who you need to target, but it’s definitely worth taking some time to do a little research. Publicity often has a snowball effect, and if this is your first project, it is just as important to get on small blogs as it is to have a feature on Kotaku.

Most medium to large size organisations pay for contacts databases which are constantly updated, so it is simple for them to find that all-important email address or phone number.

These systems can cost several thousand pounds and certainly take the legwork out of promotion, but they aren’t essential, something I learnt as marketing and audience development associate at New Media Scotland.

At that time the company only had three employees and had just received a significant funding cut from the then Scottish Arts Council. We didn’t have the money to pay for a press database, so instead I spent an afternoon calling the switchboard of all the national newspapers and relevant magazines and broadcasters and asking for the name, email address, and phone number of their arts correspondent.

This took three hours and at the end of the day I had a spreadsheet of 20 key contacts in my subject area. The next day I sent out a press release and secured coverage with several major outlets. (NB New Media Scotland has since gone on to secure new funding and moved to a new home at the University of Edinburgh. Find out what they’re up to at mediascot.org)

Building a contacts database isn’t hard, it doesn’t need to be expensive, it just takes time. That was several years ago and now collecting contact information is even easier with online contacts and tools like Twitter and LinkedIn. We used this exact same strategy to build the contacts list for Lucky Frame and for our last game we secured coverage in The Verge, Touch Arcade, Eurogamer, and much more.

Once you have a list of contacts you need something to send people. Journalists from bloggers to lead writers for national newspapers need a clear and concise piece of text to explain what your work is about. There are lots of tools online to show you how to write a basic press release, my favourite is this post written by Katie Cowan at Creative Boom.

IT’S NICE TO BE NICE

It is essential you nurture your contacts once you have them. Always where possible use a named contact and don’t continually spam people with information. Talk to your contacts like humans, read their work and show an interest in what they tell you.

Never get aggressive when people ignore you or write up a bad review (there is no such thing as bad publicity after all). Be in it for the long haul and remember that relentless positivity is the name of the game. And always say thank you when you get a review or write up, even if it is less than flattering. Remember it’s nice to be nice!

A PICTURE TELLS A THOUSAND WORDS

Strong images and video are just as important as a good press release. It may be a cliché but a picture tells a thousand words and more than anything a great image or snappy video is going to sell your project. Try to make images as eye catching as possible and make sure that you offer a variety of file sizes that will work in print and online.

Lucky Frame could be said to be founded on a university video project that unexpectedly went viral. We’ve tried to echo this quirky approach to every Lucky Frame video since with mixed success but it’s always useful to give people a way to visualise your project.

Don’t be frightened to think outside the box: you might find yourself in a in a cold hall chasing a group of cute but naughty dogs; or in a public park with your company founder dressed in a homemade cardboard suit; or at the depot of your local bus company; or strangest of all in a toilet with one of your more adventurous friends.
But you may well set the spark which sets the internet alight and either way it’s definitely a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

FORTUNE FAVOURS THE BOLD

Don’t be frightened to sell yourself. Where most artists who choose to self publish fail is by being too modest and too shy. Nothing beats getting out there and talking to people, both online and in person.

No publicity is bad publicity, something we learnt early on at Lucky Frame when we applied to appear on BBC business reality show Dragons’ Den. At the time it felt like a high risk strategy, the chances of getting any funding were low and the chances that Yann would make a fool of himself were high.

But the opportunity to get the company name out there in front of a primetime TV audience was too good to miss. Even though we didn’t get a deal, the next day we were contacted by representatives from several major British game companies. The resulting consultancy work kept Lucky Frame afloat for a year, ultimately leading to the production and release of Mujik, the company’s first iPhone app.

THINK GLOBAL, ACT LOCAL

Promoting your game face-to-face is just as important as online and you don’t need to be in London, New York or San Francisco to meet people interested in indie games.

There is lots going on in local communities all over the UK which you can get involved in: for example Nottingham Game City are inviting developers to come and show off their work at monthly club nights, and at DCA we hold regular Drop in and Play events for local developers to showcase their work.

There are also a whole host of hackdays and Maker Faires out there where you can get out and meet people. Don’t just do game focused events, if you try and reach out to the wider community you are bound to reach a larger and more diverse audience.

Local people are the biggest champions of things made in their community; everyone wants to see the guy or girl from their neighbourhood succeed. If your game is going to make it you will need all of these people cheering you on, in person and online, to get your voice heard. So get out, meet people and tell them about your work.

GETTING NOTICED BY THE MOTHER SHIP

Getting press might be easier than it first appears but what about Rumley’s claim that you need a publisher to secure a much-coveted feature on the App Store? Again this is not true, Lucky Frame has been featured by Apple and so have many others including: Simogo for Year Walk and Beat Sneak Bandit; Firebox’s The Room; and Super Hexagon by Terry Cavanagh.

No one can claim to know how to get that elusive Apple feature, but buzz does help. At Lucky Frame we certainly credit our ability to get publicity as helping us get noticed by Apple (for more information on this read Yann’s post detailing all the numbers and coverage for Bad Hotel).

FREE IS TOO EXPENSIVE FOR SOME PEOPLE

So you have a game, you’ve got some attention and you’re ready to launch, but how much do you charge for it? You’re desperate to go full-time making games, but the freemium model makes you uncomfortable.

People like Rumley maintain that the age of the premium game (where the customer pays upfront for the product) is dead. According to Rumley even making your game free-to-play is a bad move as “Free is too expensive for some people”.

At Chillingo they advocate releasing freemium or paymium titles as a way of increasing revenue. Rumley did not address the ethical questions around games structured in this way, something the UK government is now investigating, and more importantly from a game designer’s standpoint the freemium model can devalue game creation in general and leads to badly made games. For more insight into this read this outline of Bennett Foddy’s presentation at GDC on “Why Fremium Sucks”.

Let’s not kid ourselves – making money is important. Being a struggling artist in a garret sounds super cool, but having enough to eat is fun too. If you make your game freemium or paymium then perhaps you have a better chance of financial survival. But it’s just as important to make a product you are proud of and one that is an awesome game – if you don’t truly believe your game is good then you won’t be able to convincingly shout about it.

If you are weighing up these two options remember there are still indie premium titles making a name for themselves in the market place (Year Walk, The Room, Minecraft etc).

Arguably the freemium/paymium model is touted by companies like Chillingo because it works for large publishers. They have huge ad spend and design the games entirely around “gems” and IAP. They have the knowledge and ability to deliver that model.

Indie developers should use their biggest advantages to their benefit – their ability to think originally, create brand-new concepts and be fully engaged and excited about their work. Don’t take the publishers on at their own game – make something people will want to buy.

POLISH

According to Rumley, Chillingo likes to work with developers who are only a third of the way into completing their game because they have the expertise needed to polish down your game’s rough edges. Chillingo can smell what sells, they know what an audience wants and how to shape your game into that product. He also advocated never releasing a beta version of a game.

For me this approach stifles innovation, suggesting that games shouldn’t challenge conventions or people’s expectations. If all games used this approach then it would lead to a lack of variety and ultimately decrease the potential audience as customers searched for more exciting ways to spend their free time and cash.

A WORD ON ADVERTISING SPEND

I’m not na?ve, Rumley’s model for success does work, if you sign with a major publisher then it is likely that your game will be a success. A company like Chillingo can put budgets that most indie studios can only dream of against ad spend, you don’t need to spend afternoons tracking down the contact details of a mobile gaming blogger in Newcastle when you can globally carpet bomb every major gaming site with ads.

The ultimate flaw in Rumley’s presentation was that it was a sales pitch for his business rather than an insight into the world of publishing and indie games. In order to sell us Chillingo he presented a vision of a world in which publishers hold all the cards and the individual artist is left relying on their grace and favour to polish, promote and sell their product. This may have been true ten years ago, but the world is changing.

THERE IS MORE THAN ONE WAY TO SKIN A CAT

I am not saying you shouldn’t work with a publisher, rather that publishers are not the only answer. My suggestions alone won’t necessarily get you thousands of sales, your project still needs to be great and you need a bit of luck, but these ideas will certainly help you on your way.

Have confidence, tell people about your work, get involved with your local community so that your not relying on hope as your only strategy for success.(source:develop-online)


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