1. PROMOTION
Research Of Red Dead Redemptionʼs Marketing Mix.
Red Dead Redemption was is a western, action-adventure video game, made my Rockstar San
Diego and published by Rockstar Games on May 28th, 2010. The game is based in the year 1911
and follows a former outlaw called John Marston. His wife and son are taken hostage by the
government in ransom for his services as a bounty hunter. Having no other choice, he sets out to
bring his three former gang members to justice.
Outdoor Advertising
This type of marking was used in their promotion campaign because its a good way to reaching out
to a huge audience. It also draws in a wider audience because now a days people will take photos
and share with friends and online. Some example of their outdoor promotion. Is that in New York
City, they painted a huge poster onto the side of a building. This was hugely effective because of
the fact it was painted on, it was unique and people were amazed by the sheer size it. This lead
people to take photos and share them mostly online. Once people start to do this it creates a ripple
effect of other sharing it globally and also others coming to see the building and then posting it for
themselves. They also used the conventional methods
of billboards and digital billboards in Times Square and
other places.
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2. In-store Promotion
To promote Red Dead Redemption Rockstar had to use In-store
promotion because it is a tried and tested successful way to
advertise. It is mainly aimed at hardcore gamers as a reminder
to purchase the game when they are buying other games.
However it can also intrigue casual gamers if they think it looks
interesting enough for them to look research and pre order or
even buy straight away. In-store promotion normally consists of
posters in stores which are known for selling games such as
HMV, GAME and Tesco. It can also include deals if you pre-
order in that certain store, this more promotion for the actual
store but can have positive effects for the game as well. The
positives of this method is that you reach a market that are
already slightly if not hugely interested in games. The negatives
are that you may only have a short timespan to promote as you
may have competition from other producers and games being
released close to yours.
Guerilla Marketing
Red Dead Redemption is a extremely high budget game, so
they did not use much guerilla marketing, as it is known for
being low budget. I have found some some of the stickers
that are given out with the game, being posted in public
area. I would call this unofficial guerilla marketing because it
is not something that rockstar planned and yet it still
happened and promoted the game.
Web Promotion
Is a hugely successful way of advertising a product
when the game is coming from a successful, well
known and recognized brand name. This is what
happened with Red Dead Redemption, because
Rockstar have created a fan following people will
always check their website for updates on sequels
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PROMOTION

3. and new games that will be coming out. So when they see Red Dead Redemption spread all over
the website as their next huge game, people are bound to be interesting in looking and watching
the trailers. Rockstar also do a good job as directing people to where they can pre order easily in
all of the different countries that they may be watching from. This promotion method can have very
varying results as it only works if people go onto the website and if they donʼt then it is a waste of
time. Also people may just ignore these advertisements because they think they will not live up to
other Rockstar games.
Digital Marketing
This type of marketing is growing more popular everyday because it is mainly done over social
networking sites such as Youtube, Facebook and Twitter. This works well for the promotion of
games as the target audience for these types of games all have accounts and spend large
amounts of time of them. Rockstar have a verified twitter account where they tweet updates on
their new game as well as previews and trailers. This encourages their target audience to follow
them to be aware when the trailers are released, but for rockstar this gives them a chance to keep
reminding them about the games release date and how great the game is going to be. On
Facebook its similar but its more done by sharing the page and then your friends see that you have
been on it and want to also see what it is about and then they will share it and it becomes a
sharing cycle with spreads the game into a wide market that it would have not been able to do
without it. This method spreads to such a huge audience and this is a positive because more
people will know about the game. However just because they have seen the name and the logo
does not mean they are suddenly going to buy the game and become a huge fan. Most of the
people who see the advertisement or the page will click straight off it and then forget all about it,
because their are so many other products and companies doing the exact thing.
Direct Marketing
Red Dead Redemption used a direct website in a way
of promotion. This could be found through many
different means including google and links off the
Rockstar website. This method of marketing is good
because it look professional and well presented as
they have their own space that they can design to be
how they want to to be. It is also a great place for them
to put up information about the game to give to their
audience. The audience and potential gamers always
react well to being able to find all the information,
pictures and trailers in own easy to find place.
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4. Sales Promotion
This can include a huge range of different methods of promotion and Red Dead Redemption used
many of these to make their advertising campaign and game a success. The first of which is the
pre-order deals that they put across, this was mainly aimed towards college students who may be
on a tight budget but who they still want and need to buy the game. So to still draw the students
they did many reduced deals of the game if they pre-ordered a certain number of months in
advance. This works out well for Rockstar because they already have sales and guarantee of
money from the game. Students will also spread this message so others will pre-order but also
once the game is actually released other friends will play the game and like it but have to pay full
price for it. Another way they advertised the game before its release date is by allowing hardcore
Rockstar fans to play a short preview of the game before it comes out.
They did this all over the world and
had hundreds of people come and
queue so they could get a taste of the
game weeks before its release. This
has many different advantages, one
of which is that these people will stay
sweet and if they like the game will
not only buy it for themselves, but also
spread it by word of mouth and also
use social networking sites to share
their experience with other gamers
who may not have been able to attend.
The last method that Red Dead Redemption used was
they sold promotional merchandise, such as T-shirts, jumpers, and console covers. Most of
these objects were special edition and could only be brought at a certain time, hardcore fans love
this, because they think they are getting a part of the game that only they have.
Cross Promotion
Red Dead Redemption was quite unusual in some of this advertisement methods, one is that it
showed promos in cinemas. Not only this but their will also be foyer posters where consumers can
download content from the game via Bluetooth. “For the first time as a company, we will be running
an on-screen cinema advertising campaign. We think the cinematic nature of the game makes it a
perfect fit for cinema and we will be executing a nationwide ad campaign targeting the audiences
of Robin Hood, Iron Man 2 and Prince of Persia.” This method they were sure would certainly get
people attentions and make sure it is the most successful game of the year.
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5. Press Relation
This is a company that worked with the image of Red Dead Redemption and made it as popular
and well known as possible. They also work creating a positive and successful image for the game
as well as the company.
PRODUCT- Red Dead Redemption
The promotion was Red Dead Redemption was a long and expensive process which
Rockstar undertook, it took 5 years to plan and make, overall it cost them $100million (£70
million).
Rage is Rockstar;s technology group at Rockstar San Diego, they do the technology within
the games. they create for Microsoft Windows, Playstation 3, Wii and Xbox 360. Rage
supports engine libraries and tools for graphics, physics, animation, networking, character
behaviors, core systems and many more.
The IP (intellectual property) for Rockstar is
brought by Angel Studios and created into
Rockstar North. Then came Red Dead
Revolver by a company called capcom which
is a japanese game studio which then
Rockstar brought.
Content
Red Dead Redemption is an open world game western themed game, players can interact
within the game environment and engage in combat with enemies with a range of different
weapons. For transportation within the game, horses are used however they do need to be
trained before you can ride them. There are 57 missions to complete throughout the game
however there are only 10 that deal directly with the story of John Marstons.
As for quality, there are a huge range of colours that are used in the game and their 3D
graphics they are very detailed and are not glitchy or blocked in anyway.
The gameplay is quite open as it allows the player to explore the game without completing
missions. However, when missions and tasks are completed, parts of the game are
unlocked and makes the game more interesting.
Red Dead Redemption was rated at a 18+ due to the violence, nudity, strong language,
strong sexual content and use of drugs.
Audience
The target audience for Red Dead Redemption would be a hardcore gamer who enjoys
adventure and exploration games. The gamer preferably needs to have skills on this genre
of game to allow them to move up the game and be able to complete the missions. The
demographic for this game would be teenagers as they would understand the concepts of
the game and find its aspects more enjoyable.
Price
The RRP for Red Dead Redemption is £40. This price allows VAT, Retail, console license
and distribution to be taken our and R* still make a profit.
Placement
As the game is such a huge one, the placement of it is very important as there is huge
amounts of money from Rockstar resting on it. The game is sold in retail stores they they
make up to 80% of all sales. The rest of the sales come from online and downloads.
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6. UNIT04-A01 Lucy Taylor Promotion