Hype Needed for All-Pro Football 2K8 |
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Written by Scott Hemphill
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Friday, 09 February 2007 |
If you haven't already checked it out linked on the front page of OS, be sure to check out Clay T. Shavers's article "The Ball Is Loose" at 5w-g.com:
http://www.5w-g.com/?p=115
Great article, Clay.
It's hard to disagree with him about a HUGE missed chance for 2K marketing by not hyping All Pro Football 2K8 with an add during the Super Bowl when most of the world was watching.
Lets face it, for anybody other than us hardcores, this game is going to need every marketing edge it can get. 2K has been habitually laxed in marketing though, and always has. Bangpow even wrote an article in October of 2006 about how 2K barely promotes its own stellar College Hoops 2K games on here.
http://consolesports.net/index.php?o...d=40&Itemid=57
I'm of the opinion that 2K doesn't do a whole heckuva lot to promote any of its sports games, come to think of it. It's ironic that a tried-and-true brand like 2K sports, known for some great games, seems to ONLY hype its NBA2K Basketball game (and even then, not as much as EA hypes "LIVE")
For a licensed product, maybe you can get away with a few ads here and there, some good reviews, and lots of word of mouth on sites like OS, etc., but I REALLY hope 2K realizes that they need to SERIOUSLY promote All Pro Football 2K8, just so people other than us "hardcores" are aware of it.
Some people will say "Well, maybe they don't want to show EA their hand"- but I don't think that holds too much water. Madden is already well into development and don't think you'd see a huge deviation from that build focus. Besides, I don't think a screenshot or a video or two would give away some secret recipe. (What's EA going to realize from a commercial? "OH my, 2K is now making an unlicensed football game with great graphics? What will we do???"-
...hardly.
So I don't think we can blame 2K paranoia regarding EA seeing any small portion of their goods... but I think what we see is a laxed trend in 2K marketing overall. Heck, i wouldn't so much call it a trend, other than to say that marketing-wise "Its never been good."
But the bottom line is, that approach (or lack of approach) is not going to help them with an unlicensed football product. They need hype, and they need a media blitz. Period.
So they missed the Super Bowl opportunity... okay. Probably not a good idea. But they had better not miss NFL Draft Day- a time when EA is showing a few pictures from its Madden build in the form of rookies in uniform, etc. Bottom line: Football fans are watching the draft..particularly of the hard-core variety.
They missed their opportunity to build market awareness to EVERYBODY with passing on a super bowl ad, but if they pass on the draft, I think we'll be forced to ask if 2K really has what it takes to market its games effectively.
But I'm with Clay, because for an unlicensed football product's success, they had better step it up- and FAST. 2K's lackluster "Minimalist Marketing" isn't going to cut it with this one.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 25 February 2007 )
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