The game industry has changed rapidly since 2005 console games have become higher budget and smaller in number, yet the advent of smartphones, social network gaming and free-to-play titles has made the industry more multi-tiered and made marketing more complex. Vice president of strategy at the Ayzenberg Group Steve Fowler said to DFC that one of the most significant changes is the rise of social tools and how they are used in marketing.

“Especially with the downturn in the economy, marketers have been looking at alternatives to get their message across,” Fowler notes. “We’ve found that the tastemakers, the content evangelists, appreciate when they have a direct communicatio link. They feel empowered that way, and will actually do more work for you, helping spread the word of whatever your product is to their social networks,” Fowler explains.

While Facebook reigns supreme over all other social networks, they’ve developed a reputation for not listening to outside sources. Sometimes they’ll change features or take down apps without warning, though Fowler indicates things are looking up. They’re starting to listen to those things, says Fowler of Facebook, though he noted, “Sometimes it’s hard to find who is the person I need to talk to internally there.”

Still, Fowler says that social media advertising is not enough, and that the more platforms you can reach, the better. “We always preach that you want to surround your consumer. It s not going to work if you’re just advertising on Facebook,” said Fowler.

With so much of the industry headed online, Fowler believes the fire and forget philosophy of old won’t cut it in most cases. It’s going to be less about the two-week window that you have to sell 60 percent of your sell-in. That really is an artificial restriction that retailers put in, based on the lack of shelf space, and the lack of ability to create endcaps. Now you don’t need to take ninety-five percent of your budget and spend it in two weeks.

‘Even traditional, packaged goods publishers are going to change the way they approach marketing products especially when more and more of those dollars come from digital,” added Fowler.

Source: DFC Dossier {link no longer active}