mlbstarscream Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 One thing I've long wondered is why SWTOR doesn't utilize its "baked in" advertising stage with respect to theatrical films at the very least. With the box office juggernaut that is Disney, why not slap some 30 second ads onto the front end of Disney movies. I mean from its name sake, Star Wars films, to Marvel films, Disney could give the game an immeasurable amount of exposure by attaching swtor spots to their films. Can you imagine if they had stuck a SWTOR ad on the front end of Infinity War or Black Panther? Anyway, I'm no expert, and there may be reasons why we don't see things like this happen with media giants like Disney. And it could be as simple as Disney wanting to reserve those preview ad blocks for projects (mainly films) they have more confidence in as money makers. But, still, as a SWTOR player/fanboy since launch, I'd love to see them try and grow the player base by utilizing what I would assume for the Disney family is free ad space affixed to their monstrously successful theatrical films. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xordevoreaux Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 The game is owned by Electronic Arts. The license to distribute the game to the public is owned by Disney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andryah Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 (edited) But, still, as a SWTOR player/fanboy since launch, I'd love to see them try and grow the player base by utilizing what I would assume for the Disney family is free ad space affixed to their monstrously successful theatrical films. 1) Nothing is free in the advertising world, and most especially not in movie theaters. Disney does NOT own or control advertising in movie theaters, and if you take time to research it a bit.. you will find that movie studios actually pay theaters for any "pull-through" advertising in conjunction with some popular IP (like Star Wars). Said payments are usually discounts on screening fees (which is what the theaters have to pay to the movie studios, based on actual tickets sold + a minimum fee). 2) Historically, movie and TV advertising is one of the worst ways to advertise and ongoing game property like an MMO. It is very low leverage and very high cost, which means it may happen ahead of the launch of a brand new game heading into the holiday season, but even that is low leverage in terms of "bang for the buck" If your idea was actually free and high leverage, we would be inundated with ads for games everywhere. Edited August 22, 2018 by Andryah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlbstarscream Posted August 22, 2018 Author Share Posted August 22, 2018 Thanks for the clarification. All makes sense. I guess I assumed most studios would basically package at least one or two preview spots with their films under negotiated terms where they weren't really out that much financially. Not saying they own the advertising space, but they certainly own the film and can basically say to any given theatre, if you want Infinity War, you gotta take our ad for whatever with it. I'd think a studio like Disney with guaranteed cash cows would have the upper hand in leverage there with the theatre. But, again appreciate the info. I think my frame of reference is probably not sufficiently analogous as well. I was thinking of this idea in the same vein as network television. As in, say CBS airs the Superbowl this year. Ad spots will be sold to whoever, but CBS will also stick about a thousand promos for their television shows in every commercial break. I just figured film studios had similar perks baked into their contracts with theatres. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlameYOL Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 1) Nothing is free in the advertising world, and most especially not in movie theaters. Disney does NOT own or control advertising in movie theaters, and if you take time to research it a bit.. you will find that movie studios actually pay theaters for any "pull-through" advertising in conjunction with some popular IP (like Star Wars). Said payments are usually discounts on screening fees (which is what the theaters have to pay to the movie studios, based on actual tickets sold + a minimum fee). 2) Historically, movie and TV advertising is one of the worst ways to advertise and ongoing game property like an MMO. It is very low leverage and very high cost, which means it may happen ahead of the launch of a brand new game heading into the holiday season, but even that is low leverage in terms of "bang for the buck" If your idea was actually free and high leverage, we would be inundated with ads for games everywhere. Pretty much this, might I also add my own thoughts on the matter however they're subjected to my own opinion of course. The majority of people who will go to the theaters to see the new SW movie might not necessarily enjoy MMOs or games in general, the SW fanbase is huge but the majority of people who are SW fans merely watch the movies and are content with that type of content. I honestly doubt that if we were to have SWTOR ads play before SW movies that we would get that much of an increase in playerbase, a minimal one perhaps but nothing on the levels of people going into the movies. Of course I could be wrong, again this is my own opinion so anybody is free to disagree, but I doubt that the investment would be worth it on the long run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doohickeyexpress Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 One thing I've long wondered is why SWTOR doesn't utilize its "baked in" advertising stage with respect to theatrical films at the very least. With the box office juggernaut that is Disney, why not slap some 30 second ads onto the front end of Disney movies. I mean from its name sake, Star Wars films, to Marvel films, Disney could give the game an immeasurable amount of exposure by attaching swtor spots to their films. Can you imagine if they had stuck a SWTOR ad on the front end of Infinity War or Black Panther? Anyway, I'm no expert, and there may be reasons why we don't see things like this happen with media giants like Disney. And it could be as simple as Disney wanting to reserve those preview ad blocks for projects (mainly films) they have more confidence in as money makers. But, still, as a SWTOR player/fanboy since launch, I'd love to see them try and grow the player base by utilizing what I would assume for the Disney family is free ad space affixed to their monstrously successful theatrical films. I find it strange that there is almost zero advertising as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TUXs Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 I find it strange that there is almost zero advertising as well. It is unfortunate...they haven't even tried to capitalized on multiple Star Wars movies either...I don't quite understand it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lium Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 The game is owned by Electronic Arts. The license to distribute the game to the public is owned by Disney.Other way around. Disney owns Star Wars and anything related to Star Wars, such as video games and comics. EA has exclusive rights to the license to develop and distribute video games based on the IP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTurin Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 Pretty much this, might I also add my own thoughts on the matter however they're subjected to my own opinion of course. The majority of people who will go to the theaters to see the new SW movie might not necessarily enjoy MMOs or games in general, the SW fanbase is huge but the majority of people who are SW fans merely watch the movies and are content with that type of content. I honestly doubt that if we were to have SWTOR ads play before SW movies that we would get that much of an increase in playerbase, a minimal one perhaps but nothing on the levels of people going into the movies. Of course I could be wrong, again this is my own opinion so anybody is free to disagree, but I doubt that the investment would be worth it on the long run. I think (with my sum total of 0 experience in advertising) that a spot before The Force Awakens would have seen a pretty good ROI, I think a lot of folks would have gone home and downloaded the game to at least give it a try, just from the hype and nostalgia of Star Wars surrounding it. But that was a twice in a lifetime shot (the other being the Phantom Menace I think it would have worked for too), and I don't think it would be worth it for any of the other SW movies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthjody Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 You know I have always wondered why this game hasn’t been advertised the heck out of. Pretty sure you can still buy the game so why don’t the market the hell out of this again and jump on the sw craze that is going on now. They would probably get new players and the money can start coming back into this game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andryah Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 (edited) You know I have always wondered why this game hasn’t been advertised the heck out of. Pretty sure you can still buy the game so why don’t the market the hell out of this again and jump on the sw craze that is going on now. They would probably get new players and the money can start coming back into this game. Do you want more stable long term players in the game, or do you want transient "tire kickers"? When you attract non MMO game players... you also do not retain most of them.. so it becomes both a wasted effort in resources as well as disruptive to the servers (due to rapid influx of players who have no clue about how to play an MMO and who quickly decide it's not for them and they abandon the game, any guilds or friends they linked in with, etc. etc). In other words.. there is a right way and time to advertise... and piggy backing off of the movies is not likely to be effective. It would be more effective for a boxed single player SW game because these are "play and discard adventures" that are a a short term entertainment win for players and for the studio (EA specializes in the release and discard model for digital games, and this MMO is simply an anomaly to their core business model). I know this is hard for fans of the game to grasp... but in reality... you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make them stay and drink. Edited August 23, 2018 by Andryah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanNV Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 I find it strange that there is almost zero advertising as well. I thought it strange 2 or 3 or more years ago, but not now. They don't have the player base to support a good advertising campaign. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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