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[META] ILB A History Maker?

[Phaedra]

I'm interested in it from a marketing standpoint.

As a consumer, my response is, "Yes! Finally. If you want me to buy your product, don't bombard me with junk mail and bad commercials; ENTERTAIN me, and I'll love you and your product for it."

From the other side, however, eek -- the time and effort on their part. Is it really worth it, I wonder? Did they really attract that many new customers? It seems like while they may have gotten a few more people to buy xBoxes and/or Halo 2 that might not have otherwise, for the most part they were preaching to the choir.

[OmegaX]

I know one thing: Before, I was content to just have my PS2 and rent occasionally an XBOX from Blockbuster; now I am saving up as much money as I can for four things: XBOX, Halo, Halo 2 (after the 9th), and gamecards for City of Heroes (yes, I'm almost addicted to the game, and no, it has nothing to do with ilb, but )

[TridenT]

Actually, Phae, from their end it actually has been pretty profitable. The time and effort might not entirely weigh in, but the internet buzz extended far, far beyond here. We've got more lurkers than we'd probably like to have. For instance, ANY message forum with anything to do with video games (GameFAQs, the Penny Arcade forums, etc.) had a massive ILB splurge back in August. Sure, most of those people were probably going to buy Halo 2 anyway, but I'm betting it turned a lot of "Well, I might go pick up a used copy next year" folks into "I've got the Collector's Edition pre-ordered already" folks. EDIT: ^^^Case in point. And btw, CoH rocks!

Also, nothing strengthens the love for a company than interaction with the consumer. I bet money that anything Bungie puts out in the future will be eyed suspiciously by Beekeepers and Halo fans. I dunno about you, but future money already aimed towards my pocket = time well spent.

But really, I doubt this was done solely for the marketing, I think the crew at Bungie wanted to have some fun (which, if you can't tell, they do in all their games anyway) with us. I'm betting that, all hard work and effort aside, this is probably about as much fun for them as it is for us.

[HalfMoon]

[thebruce]

and, if you think about it, like you said, this will extend beyond just this game... in a sense, they're putting out another novel. Do novels bring in more customers for a product? meh. Their intent is to create a story, an immersive world... ilovebees may be partially marketing, but most of it is set to expand the Halo universe. We now have 3 novels, 2 video games, and one ARG in the Haloverse... that's a lot of plot!

IE - this ARG wasn't a commercial, mainly. It was a telling of a story, which had the bonus of attracting customers, future customers, and potential customers.

[Nightmare Tony]

And while some of us may never get an Xbox to play the game along, how many of us WOULD line up to get a new novel or movie based on the ILB storyline work?

As another plus, CONSUMER AWARENESS has increased tremendously, alerting a LOT more people that the game exists. IF there was smerely a spam email put out, we all shine and ignore it. But the entire phenomenon of ILB...article in NY Times, things on Tech TV, Gamespot...those are an extra marketing angle which pays off in dividends down the road. today's non buyer may very well BE a buyer for the future, and Bungie's product is now looked at with a LOT more respect....

[TridenT]

I dunno... if a book was made using the ILB characters and plot, it would probably be the first book I ever buy in audio format... ^_^

[krystyn]

It's not like non-xbox-beekeepers won't be buying gifts for friends and family. Indirect response is good, too. I've gotten gifts of several video games from people who've said, "Well, I know how you love that Myst game, or when you used to talk about Abe's Oddysee, so this game was kinda like that!" sort of thing.

They've got you thinking about that world. You may not be the end of the marketing chain.

[HitsHerMark]

I have to agree with Toney... Brand awareness is the ultimate goal of advertising... Short term gain is only half of it... Let me give you an example...

Here in So Cal there are three auto dealerships in particular who have been using the same advertising jingles consistantly for decades... Pete Ellis Dodge, Worthington Dodge, and Toyota of Orange.

I've lived in Southern CA all my life, and they've been playing their jingles on the radio and on tv for as long as I can remember. I'm 30, those songs are engraned.

My first car was a Volkswagon which... Well, it exploded. Then I had an Acura, then a Mitsubishi. (All used)

Not long ago, my Mitsubishi was stolen, so I needed a new car... But websites like Autonation don't have very good customer service. And I didn't want to go to the automall in Tustin for reasons I don't want to get into...

So I'm sitting at my computer, racking my brain, trying to think of where else to buy a car... And who do you think came to mind?

Long term goals baby.

Long term goals.

At some point in the future, you'll need some honey... And you'll think of Margret... Or... No... Wait....

I think I've confused the issue...

[Phaedra]