Marketing 101: Wolfenstein

Trying something new again. After the last State of the Industry, I figure the concept of analyzing how publishers market their games would be a good monthly post for a marketing student to have. Lets get started with Wolfenstein, a spiritual successor to the classic FPS.

An Unusual Proposal
At 7:51 AM on Aug 11th a tweet from Lead Designer at Raven (the studio who developed the game), Manveer Heir, bought the game some free marketing; "Here's the deal folks: if Wolfenstein outsells Madden 10 in August I will personally pay for your copy (keep your receipt) - SPREAD THE WORD". Sounds crazy right? Not only does Madden have a cult following and massive marketing budget, but last year alone the 3rd quarter sales nearly reached 3 Million units! But looking at the release date of this game and the ad campaign leading up to it, crazy may have been the only option.

Airtime
Going to the official website, you can see that the game has been featured on the cover of 7 magazines worldwide, and offered a slew of contests to promote a strong community and drive pre sale numbers, but how come many people seem oblivious to its existence? Many of my friends seemed unaware of the release date. And with so many opportunities to reach the consumer, I felt that despite the effort made, there were some missed opportunities. take for example the re-release of Wolfenstein 3D on both PSN and Xbox Live. Why was this not a vehicle to increase consumer awareness for the sequel coming out in 2 months? I understand it was not published by Activision, but Id Software would probably have given their blessing with just a few phone calls. And why have I still not seen ONE commercial on TV? Sure, Hulu is running the ad, but it is a 30 second clip that really does nothing except display it as another generic shooter. This does nothing to differentiate it in the marketplace, nor provide "core" gamers a reason to pay attention. Did Activision fear that boosting sales of this game would some how affect their sure bet that is Modern Warefare 2? No one can say for certain, although many have opinions and more than anything, I wish there was a driving force out to try and make this game a success.

What's in a Name?
Maybe its just me, but I think the hardest sell on this game comes from it's generic name. Through playing the game, it does alot of things right, brings some fresh elements to the universe that is Wolfenstein and takes chances in expanding on the commonality of an FPS. It has a version of bullet time or magic called "the veil", there are open world elements combined with linear level design and even some leveling mechanics with your weapons. But, just seeing that title makes me think of the early 90's, where I am running through grey hallways looking for mecha-hitler and I have to wonder if the average joe walking in to the local game store to buy the next Call of Duty is going to look at that game and share that sentiment. Maybe they could have put some creativity into the title by using the ever popular colon, example: Wolfenstein: Journey through Isenstadt or Wolfenstein: Crossing the Veil, heck I personally would have enjoyed Wolfenstein: Kill More Nazis, at least that would catch some extra attention. But just Wolfenstein? Like its a new IP and that is supposed to excite gamers? Even the 2nd iteration used this, going from Wolfenstein 3-D t0 Wolfenstein 3-D: Spear of Destiny.

Did it break a studio?

Recently, a press release coming from Activision confirmed Raven, laid of 30+ employees. Kotaku received news from an insider who claimed this lay off may have been due to lack luster sales. Others say that like many studios, after releasing two games, they have to shed some excess employees and then staff up again once they start the next IP. You can view the article here @http://kotaku.com/5346302/raven-hit-by-layoffs-some-point-to-lackluster-wolfenstein-sales, and make your own speculation. Regardless, I feel that the IP and the studio are not going to be as successful, as their potential warranted, without a much more robust marketing campaign.

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*The following pictures are a result of a Google image search