INTERVIEW: MARK SLAUGHTER, UBISOFT
the big bucks, it is about thinking in a smart and targeted way.
Social media is critical in our campaigns. The gaming industry has always had social media at its heart.
“ Mark Slaughter, Ubisoft
deliver far more effective reach than an in-house produced trailer or a TV spot. Every product is different and requires its own approach. We spend a lot of time looking at the audience and what makes them tick. We ask ourselves who we are aiming communications at and what role we want them to play. Is it that of advocate or follower? In both cases, what do we then want that consumer to think or do after seeing or engaging with our communications?
How can the use of social media help add momentum to a marketing campaign?
Social media plays a critical role in our campaigns today.
The gaming industry has always had social media at its heart: gaming forums existed way before the advent of social media in other industries. We actually have product consumers who want to really talk about games and share their opinions, ideas and experiences. It’s a powerful medium.
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Which channels (e.g. TV, print, online) do you find the most valuable, both in terms of cost- effectiveness and reach? Gone are the days of solely looking at marketing support in terms of traditional ad channels. You need to look at the mix across earned, owned and paid media and what they deliver for you in terms of reach, saliency and frequency. The lines between these areas are now more blurred than ever. A strong online campaign via earned media, a piece of YouTube content created by a fan or partner might
This year on Assassin’s, we used the power of Twitter and Facebook, as well as our forums and other channels, to drive awareness of key moments in our campaign. The announcement of Assassin’s Creed IIIand the release of the first gameplay video were good examples of this.
Which campaign of recent years are you most proud of? If I had to choose just one, it would probably be the first Just Dancecampaign. We took a quirky new IP to a mass audience and watched it fly, creating a whole new genre on the Wii in the process. We took a gamble on that product, investing strongly in the launch and the sales speak for themselves. Week one, we were sitting at 3,000 units – then after the TV campaign kicked in with an X Factor spot the following week, we had orders for 150,000. Tremendous
What other companies – both in and out of the games industry – do you draw inspiration from when creating stand-out campaigns? My background is fast-moving consumer goods, so I do have a particular perspective as a result of that and I do draw inspiration from the world of marketing outside of gaming. I love what brands like Paddy
Power do; what it did around the Olympics was clever and cheeky. I also am inspired by the big hitters like Nike. Its ‘take it to the next level’ campaign from a few years ago, with the ad Guy Ritchie directed, really stood out for me. It had impact and insight – a great
campaign with great
creative.
Within gaming, last year’s campaign for Skyrim really impressed me. It was carefully orchestrated and immaculately
implemented, taking what in essence was a core RPG game and making it relatable and appealing to a mass audience with over 1.5m sales as a result.
Benson says Ubi has big plans for Assassin’s Creed
CASE STUDY: MAKING A KILLING WITH ASSASSIN’S CREED
ASSASSIN’S CREED III represents the biggest marketing spend in Ubi’s history, its budget coming in at a whopping £4m. But as Slaughter says, success is not dependant on how much cash you splash, but where it goes. Senior brand manager Matt Benson says the publisher is keen to have all bases covered: “We’re embarking on the biggest campaign for any Assassin’s Creed ever, going big in every channel available. This game will be the most compelling Assassin’s Creed experience to date.” That £4m budget has already been spent well – trailers for Assassin’s Creed III ran before most of the summer’s biggest movies in cinemas. A massive TV campaign begins this month and lasts until November, with spots running around programming aimed at 18 to 34-year-old males. Also planned is outdoor ads, Underground takeovers, online activity –
but the Creed campaign is about more than the above-the-line activity. Ubisoft has long since experimented with how it can use its loyal community of fans to drive momentum behind new releases, typified by Facebook campaigns earlier this year around Assassin’s Creed III. The publisher promised to release the first gameplay trailer when the title’s page reached a set number of Likes. It didn’t take long. “We’re proud that the Assassin’s Creedcommunity brings together some of the most passionate, articulate and loyal fans,” says Benson. “We have a strong UK fanbase with over 200,000 followers on Facebook and 130,000 on Twitter.
“Social media has been huge for us and we’ve leveraged it in conjunction with paid media at various key pulse points to encourage fans to join the conversation. And we still have a couple of surprises in store.”
Ubisoft has also invested heavily in merchandise and other tie-in products, such as hoodies, collectable figurines, artbooks and Assassin’s Creed: Utopia,an iOS and Android title developed in collaboration with Japanese giant GREE. And novelisation Assassin’s Creed: Forsakenwill continue the million-selling series of books from Penguin. Assassin’s Creed IIIwill also get first-party support from Sony. The platform holder will also feature Vita spin-off Liberationin its main Q4 campaign, alongside FIFAand Call of Duty. That Ubi’s franchise is positioned alongside these behemoths is a testament to how big Assassin’s Creedhas become. “These are arguably the three biggest brands in the industry,” says Benson. “We believe Liberationis a real killer app for Vita.”
October 19th 2012 33
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