Beyond the Game Review Pitch: PR for the Next Level

Electronic Gaming Business, May 21, 2003

You're not just pitching game reviews to fan boys anymore, a panel of PR and games journalism veterans told attendees at E3. Tom Sarris, director of public relations, LucasArts, Tina Vennegaard, SVP, Golin/Harris, Samantha Ryan, president, Monolith Productions, and high-profile games writer Marc Saltzman suggested ways in which gaming PR can grab a piece of the growing general media interest in gaming and at the same time use the Web and live events to move beyond the press altogether and speak directly to consumers.

P2P PR

Sarris and Vennegaard say they are spending much more time now speaking directly to consumers through Web-based communities. Helping LucasArts customers build their fan sites and establish an online community around the games "has paid a huge dividend for us," says Sarris. "Not a lot of PR takes these sites seriously, but it's a way for fans to feel part of the company."

For instance, Vennegaard generated a lot of advance buzz around Animal Crossing for the GameCube by distributing a small number of pre-release copies to kids and letting them chat about the game online.

Web communities are especially good at adding longevity to a title, but they work best when publishers actively support them with valuable assets. Ryan feels that user-made game mods add tremendously to a game's profile among gamers long after the initial sell-through. "But the mod community needs support and resources - source code, Q&A - that's where it works," she says.

These smaller sites often are also the breeding grounds of future games journalists, and nurturing them now can pay off later. Vennegaard says that Nintendo now has a high school outreach program that supports school newspaper reviewers. "They remember who was good to them," says Sarris. And even smaller venues often get important pick-ups elsewhere. Plugging into the online game communities of users is one of the more efficient ways smaller companies can get their titles into the flow of news and reviews that other games journalists use for story ideas as well.

Long Ball PR

Game PR increasingly is learning to look beyond and above the next looming title release, says Tina Vennegaard, head of the Nintendo account. "We're moving from a product approach to long-range positioning of the company," she says. Clarifying a unique corporate identity and differentiation from the competition is becoming increasingly important.

Likewise, the related vertical markets now demand more then a press release. When Nintendo releases a skate boarding title, for instance, Vennegaard now goes after that category of magazines much more aggressively. And as games push into these broader media markets, she also warns that it is too easy to get off target and chase the high-profile media hit even when it doesn't speak to your relevant audience. "It's not just CNN, but often Fox is better for this key demographic."

Sarris is very high on getting video coverage, "because it's such a visual medium, and there's only so much you can do in print." Video press releases and getting footage into venues like G4 TV and game-specific syndicated shows like Electric Playground are the next stage in finding public relations vehicles that show a game to best effect. Ryan adds that on the back end, publishers' PR staff can coordinate these efforts more effectively with the developers. Some features can be front-loaded in the development calendar so that a game's key selling points are visible earlier for effective previewing.

Junk-Free Junkets

Nothing beats a press junket for getting select media to focus on a specific product, especially if the publisher is reluctant to distribute prerelease code. Nevertheless, both Sarris and Saltzman warn against glitzy extraneous events like taking games writers up in fighter jets or for irrelevant luaus. It is too easy for them to distract from the product. Instead, Sarris suggests keeping junkets focused on the title involved and then complementing the game playing time with genuine socializing, building the real relationships with the journalists that pay off most in the long run.

The same holds true for the latest trend in game PR, celebrity appearances. "It's great for a hook, but if you emphasize it too much you lose the game," Sarris warns. "The press can sniff that out."

Stories, Not Games

Game journalism, especially in the general press, is not about reviews but the ways in which games fit into larger topical themes and lifestyles, so game PR has to learn to pitch story ideas, not just more titles for review. Keep in mind that the journalist has to turn around and sell his editor on the story, says Saltzman, so give the writer a hook he can use.

To that end, Sarris drills the many layers of game design, from music soundtracks, to voiceover talent and video effects to customize pitches to various writers and pubs. During E3 itself, LucasArts landed a major hit with a top-of-the-fold front page story in the Los Angeles Times. According to Sarris, the piece was two years in the making, however, and involved educating the journalist about the complexity of game design, bringing her to the LucasArts campus several times, and learning her angles and interests.