Why waste millions of $$$ on advertising for huge games?

[futurefields]

GTA5 would have made just as much money with a 1/100th of the marketing budget. Same as Bioshock Infinite, Last of Us, or any other huge game. They could save a lot of money on game production costs by just not doing any of that wasteful spending. We don't need to see a tv commercial or billboards for these games.

 

[Soundmanred]

I wonder about this for many things, not just games.
Coke and Pepsi paying pop stars and models to advertise products everyone knows about, etc.

 

[TheSlamma]

That goes for a lot of stuff.. do we really need coke commercials or do we all already know that sugar water exists?

edit: sound beat me to it

 

[sandorski]

It likely does make a difference. Even for Coke/Pepsi.

 

[lavaheadache]

could you imagine if big brands didn't advertise? Cigarette brands, which are strictly limited in advertisement possibilities seem to have no trouble making money.

 

[Grooveriding]

could you imagine if big brands didn't advertise? Cigarette brands, which are strictly limited in advertisement possibilities seem to have no trouble making money.

Bad analogy. Drug dealers don't need advertising to sell to addicts.

When's the last time you saw an advertisement for crack cocaine or meth ?

What will be interesting is to see how advertising restrictions on tobacco affect smoking rates 20-30 years from now. What tobacco advertising has always been about is getting young people who don't smoke to get hooked.

 

[Jodell88]

GTA and Call of Duty don't need advertisement budgets. You know your game is big when the news covers the release.

 

[mizzou]

Advertisements build the hype, spread the word. They are also hard to gauge on effectiveness....

Everyone can say, "Hey, that was a great ad!" but really, what effect did it have? Facebook is run on ads, for the most part, and stupid games too..however, I've never given a penny to any company that threw an ad on facebook. I never will.

===============

I would say the hype with Snakes on a Plane killed the movie. If it just all of a sudden released while the meme was still kind of funny...I bet it would have been a hit. But the over saturation sort of killed the nostalgia.

 

[Red Hawk]

That goes for a lot of stuff.. do we really need coke commercials or do we all already know that sugar water exists?

edit: sound beat me to it

For goods like Coke/Pepsi, or fast food like McDonalds, I imagine it's much more of an "in the moment" thing. A good Coke commercial could get you thinking "I could really go for a Coke right now". Thus, you pull a Coke out of the fridge (increasing the rate at which you buy them), or order a Coke when you go to a restaurant later, or something else that may not have happened had you not seen the commercial.

For media like games or movies, companies do need to spread consumer awareness. Even as huge as GTAV is, you still need to make sure people know it's in stores who may not necessarily keep track of things like that. You don't need to see it, but that doesn't mean the general public doesn't. And new IP like The Last of Us definitely need advertising and marketing. It's certainly not wasteful spending.

 

[Soundmanred]

For goods like Coke/Pepsi, or fast food like McDonalds, I imagine it's much more of an "in the moment" thing. A good Coke commercial could get you thinking "I could really go for a Coke right now". Thus, you pull a Coke out of the fridge (increasing the rate at which you buy them), or order a Coke when you go to a restaurant later, or something else that may not have happened had you not seen the commercial.

I believe that this is the thinking behind it, but I'm not sure it works that way in real life. Maybe I underestimate the general public in being steered by such things.

 

[greenhawk]

For media like games or movies, companies do need to spread consumer awareness. Even as huge as GTAV is, you still need to make sure people know it's in stores who may not necessarily keep track of things like that. You don't need to see it, but that doesn't mean the general public doesn't. And new IP like The Last of Us definitely need advertising and marketing. It's certainly not wasteful spending.

+1

if you are in the know or have your ear to the ground you know all about what is comming. The ads might show a bit more and get you a bit more excited, but the advertising is not aimed at you at all. It is aimed to bring attention to the people that do not follow the industry, and a big part of that with console games I would think is parents. They are too busy to be up to date on these things, but they will be the ones paying so their kids can get the games.


It works in all parts of life. People might know when a new car is expected (ie: yearly release) but will not know exactly when or what it offers over other cars, so the market place needs to be informed, otherwise sales will only be to the followers and die hards, far from enough to make a product a success.

In some ways it is like asking a guy what the current style in handbags are. The average guy will not care in his day to day life unless his girlfriend wants one (or as a present).

 

[DominionSeraph]

Video games are about the "now." They're not about the slow burn of collecting solid games vetted by word of mouth, they're all about going into school the next day and lording over the 4th and 5th graders that you got cawadoody. You need the hype for that or there's no hype to be in on and no hype to be missing out on.

And without an advertising budget, how are you gonna pay review sites to inflate your scores?

 

[you2]

Large publishing companies are run by MBA's. They don't understand the market; they do understand advertising.

 

[Sureshot324]

could you imagine if big brands didn't advertise? Cigarette brands, which are strictly limited in advertisement possibilities seem to have no trouble making money.

The percentage of people in North America who are smokers is going down steadily. This is being offset by a dramatic rise in certain developing countries that don't have these advertising campaigns or public anti-smoking campaigns.

Advertising puts the product in your head. Even if you know a product exists, if you are constantly reminded it exists you are more likely to buy it. There are certainly those who have been waiting for GTA 5 for years who would buy it even if there was no advertising. Not everyone falls into that category though.

 

[CPA]

There are many, many studies that show there are benefits of advertising and how certain ads will actually cause spikes in product sales. Hell, even Dodge had a spike as a result of the Ron Burgundy commercials and everyone is familiar with Dodge products.

 

[PrincessFrosty]

It obviously does make a difference otherwise they wouldn't do it.

 

[BSim500]

Probably because the best marketeers are the ones who market the need to pay marketeers to market obvious products everyone already likes.

They're also usually the morons who release "trailers" for games consisting of a pre-rendered cut-scene with "Not actual gameplay footage" in size 4 font at the bottom...

 

[shortylickens]

If you don't hype the shut out of it how will anyone know it's a HUGE game?

I never thought Call of Duty was anything special until they pushed the he'll out of Modern Warfare. Now I know it's a HUGE game. I also don't purchase them. Cut I know God dawn well they shove that cap out to make a quick buck and care little for the actual gameplay.

 

[pong lenis]

I'm sure it's just a coincidence that the most heavily advertised games sell the most.

 

[Kelvrick]

If they don't advertise, their competitors will. That means you'll have the competing brands in mind when you think about certain products.

 

[Red Storm]

This may be surprising, but everyday there are new people born into the world, and they don't come in already knowing what Coke or Pepsi or GTA is. As they grow up they will more than likely see an advertisement that will affect their purchasing decisions.

It's kinda like asking why elementary math courses exist because you already know that 2+2=4.

 

[SMOGZINN]

I believe that this is the thinking behind it, but I'm not sure it works that way in real life. Maybe I underestimate the general public in being steered by such things.

You are very much underestimating the ability for marketing to manipulate your psych. You are affected by marketing in large ways. It literally changes the way you think.

Our memory works on associations. We remember things via a web of interconnected thoughts. Advertising barrages you with sounds and images that you associate with things in your everyday life then they connect those sounds and images with the products and brands that they want you to remember. So when I think about something, say a snow day, the thoughts of polar bears drinking coke comes to mind. Their product has been inserted into that thought web, and there is nothing I can do to prevent or change it.

 

[Clinkster]

GTA5 would have made just as much money with a 1/100th of the marketing budget. Same as Bioshock Infinite, Last of Us, or any other huge game. They could save a lot of money on game production costs by just not doing any of that wasteful spending. We don't need to see a tv commercial or billboards for these games.

Uh no...visibility and hype is instrumental in pushing people towards buying a product.

You PERSONALLY may not need it, but it certainly helps with the general populace.

 

[Rhezuss]

So they can hype their games which results in even more sales even if the game is complete garbage.

The first days sales make up for everything they spent and more so why would they not do it?

That's how it is now, lots of money is spent so more people know about the game. In those publicities only show some quick action scenes in pre-rendered videos so you can have amazing visual quality. Then profit on launch day.

Sad

 

[Rakehellion]

GTA5 would have made just as much money with a 1/100th of the marketing budget. Same as Bioshock Infinite, Last of Us, or any other huge game. They could save a lot of money on game production costs by just not doing any of that wasteful spending. We don't need to see a tv commercial or billboards for these games.

This is why you're not a CEO.

Nerds in a gaming forum who know about every game 2 years before it's released != the general public