Wednesday 21 November 2007

FFG to Do Television Ads


Just read this on ICV2.com, a sometimes interesting industry site, and thought I'd share:

November 21, 2007

Fantasy Flight Games has announced that it is running a TV ad campaign in select markets for the Kingdom Hearts TCG. The campaign will run four weeks, from November 19th to December 16th, in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Baltimore, Seattle, and Atlanta. It will air on Cartoon Network, Toon Disney, Sci Fi Channel (including the Battlestar Galactica movie), and Spike TV.

Retailers can also obtain copies of the ad to run with their store information at their own expense or using FFG co-op funds.



Of course, this is for a CCG with a pretty big license and there's always been TV adverts for CCGs...and we've even seen those awesome HEROSCAPE ads that features kids playing and enjoying the game with youthful gusto. If FFG is looking at doing this kind of advertising for its CCG lines, then what do you guys think the outcome would be if they put a couple of STARCRAFT or even TI3 ads up on the Sci Fi channel, G4, Cartoon Network, Spike, etc.? Conversely, what would the outcome be if Hanno put up ads for AGRICOLA on the Farming Channel, Manure TV, or in a German scheisse film?

I also think it's cool that they're supporting the FLGS by allowing them to add their branding/information- that's really cool, and provides a great opportunity to bring folks into the stores.

I think it's pretty cool news.




20 comments:

Ken B. said...

I think this is great news--I hope it works out for them.

Thaadd said...

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/kingdomhearts/

about second link from the top is the commercial in question.

(Holy crap can Melissa talk fast!)

kriz said...

I would love to see the player base for TI3 or Starcraft expanded, and I think commercials on SciFi or somewhere could do that. But it would all depend on how much it costs...I have my doubts they could get enough new players to justify the cost of airing TV commercials.

On the other hand, I went to film school. I do short films as a hobby, and would film the commercial in exchange for the TI3 expansion. Pretty good deal, right?

Michael Barnes said...

Hey, me too Kriz! But I want ROAD TO LEGEND and DAYS OF THE FOX for payment.

Thaadd said...

Kriz,

We actually have some people on Staff here - it's a matter of a fair amount of work and alot of direction. I expect a 'fan commercial' (verses fan film!) would likely look cool, but I doubt the powers-that-be would endorse (pay!) for one, because we like to keep a fair amount of control on the product's marketing and exposure to the world...

Michael Barnes said...

It's too late Thaad...Kriz and I have started scripting "Twilight Imperium: The Motion Picture Part 2: Son of the House of Thaad's Revenge Versus Rodan in 3-D". We'll be handing in our budget shortly.

Writers' Strike be damned!

Ken B. said...

Make sure to put some of those effects that people use for their really crappy Star Wars fanfic webisodes.

Having a level of acting quality equal to a Jr. High half-semester Drama class really helps.

Anonymous said...

The target market is people who watch Cartoon Network, Toon Disney, Sci Fi Channel, and Spike TV?

I never watch any of those.

And I don't play CCGs anymore.

I am completely not that kind of customer profile.

Well, they've probably reached saturation for what they can do through the internet. Here's hoping they can reach out to new markets and expand them to better entertainment than just watching freakin' TV all the time.

Ken B. said...

Right. It's Kingdom Hearts. A game featuring Final Fantasy characters (a universe blending sci-fi and fantasy) melded with Disney cartoon characters.

The Spike TV thing is a little odd--I'm guessing they're going for the VGA/older gamer market. I'd have chosen G4 as the better fit myself, and the advertising would probably be a bit cheaper. If you're doing a video game property, might as well go directly after the gamers.

Michael Barnes said...

I've already got Jeremy cast as "The Chosen One".

Michael Barnes said...

Remember too, that the target market for this property is _not_ people who will likely, within the next five years, either:

a) Commit suicide out of loneliness after one too many solo games of PUERTO RICO
b) Overdose on sausage
c) End up destitute under a heap of 30 minute filler games bought to save $3 on shipping

I call it banking on the future.

Olivia said...

Hey, how come I don't get the farming channel in Pennsyltucky. I guess I'll have to call my cable subscriber, Comcast to ask for the Farming Channel. I've saw on the cablegeek web site that the farming channel was the hottest new cable channel coming out of Germany. Now I definitely need to pre-order the Farming Channel for $70 plus postage and handling. On the other, I've already set up the Tivo for Battlestar Galactica, Razor. Now I'm going to have to watch for the ads to see the FFG advertisement.

Juniper said...

b) Overdose on sausage

We can only pray, for the sake of the stereotypical gamer, that Hickory Farms gift baskets are never offered as Tanga Deals.

Mr Skeletor said...

Unless FFG starts selling games in big stores, I can't see television adds for boardgames being anything but a massive waste of money. Do MB even advertise monopoly or operation on TV anymore?

On the other hand if Hanno advertised ANGRICOLA on TV it would be a huge hit, but the Eurosnoots would turn on that game so fast it would be out of the top 100 in 5 minutes. It would be an awsome add though : "Play Angricola or choke on your own shit!" I'd buy it.

This reminds me, whatever happened to that Midnight movie?

Thaadd said...

It's coming... they're working on it. It's just a big freaking job to accomplish.

Hey look, we're famous!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1079372/

One more thing to add to my Google trail :)

Anonymous said...

"It would be an awsome add though : "Play Angricola or choke on your own shit!" I'd buy it.
"
This is actually funny!

Anonymous said...

kingput--

It's called RFD, and it's actually not that bad. (Better than CMT, for example.) My oldest has this idea that I'm going to get her a horse one of these years, and she likes watching the horse shows on it.

--Mike L.

Michael Barnes said...

Unless FFG starts selling games in big stores, I can't see television adds for boardgames being anything but a massive waste of money. Do MB even advertise monopoly or operation on TV anymore?

Well, yes and no...not sure how it is in Oz, but here in the US, it's possible (like FFG is doing with the KINGDOM HEARTS ads) for FLGS to tag the ads with specific information for their stores. So you'd get the whole FFG ad and then a graphic or something with "Now available at Hanno's Games and Kraut, corner of 666th and Scheisse Street". So somebody sees that, thinks "where can I get that?" and then they get the info.

But yeah, in the long run an extensive advertising campaign would be best served coupled with wider distribution.

MB does advertise their board games on TV...usually around the holidays...like now.

kriz said...

[i]We actually have some people on Staff here - it's a matter of a fair amount of work and alot of direction. I expect a 'fan commercial' (verses fan film!) would likely look cool, but I doubt the powers-that-be would endorse (pay!) for one, because we like to keep a fair amount of control on the product's marketing and exposure to the world...[/i]

I'm just talking about filming the commercial, aka setting up the camera and lights etc. and doing the actual production. I assumed you guys would come up with writing the commercial. I'm serious about doing it, so if you guys decide to do a commercial at least let me send in an application with examples of my work or something.

The fan fiction movie michael barnes and I are hashing out has nothing to do with the commercial anymore, as its grown to feature length. :D

Actually, that made me think of something. Why pay thousands of dollars for a TV commercial to air, when you could just create a TI3 TV series which would be cool and sell the frickin product for you. Its the He-Man marketing model all the way. Man, a TV show would be way more fun to work on than a commercial...run that by those marketing guys. Seriously.

Anonymous said...

All discerning moms out there should buy Starcraft TBG as a christmas present for their kids who play too much Starcraft (TCG).