Square Enix: Building a Social Network for Enthusiasts (from WOMMA's Word of Mouth Basic Training 2007 Conference)

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+ guest8bd653 8 months ago
That is the beauty of Social Networking and how we can utilize it’s power
to reach the world. I see this happening
at http://www.buuuz.com with musicians getting the youth of the world t
listen to what they have to offer. Pretty Clever.
+ warren ackerman 3 years ago
very nice idea!
+ affinibob 3 years ago
Due to the limited time speakers were given to present, I was only able to provide a ‘big picture’ view of the program so hopefully this has left you with more questions than answers and has gotten you thinking about how you can truly engage and inspire your most passionate consumers. There is so much more information and data I would have loved to share – drop me a line and we can speak further!
+ affinibob 3 years ago
To put it simply, Slime Knights has been a huge success, and a mutually rewarding experience for both consumers and the brand. Another key metric of note is that a pre-order drive resulted in over 40% of members reserving a copy of the game in advance of release – a big factor in the process retailers use to determine how many copies of a game they will order.
+ affinibob 3 years ago
And here is the most important result!
+ affinibob 3 years ago
This chart shows a typical video game sales trend (in orange, in this case for the game Final Fantasy XII), along with the resulting sales trend for Dragon Quest VIII (in blue).
+ affinibob 3 years ago
Another interesting note is that after release launch buzz ended, while the official site had lost most of it’s reach, Slime Knights was able to overtake it and actually continued to grow!
+ affinibob 3 years ago
This chart shows the organic growth of Slime Knights since it’s inception through last fall, with the release of Dragon Quest VIII superimposed over it. Something to note is that nearly 40% of all members joined via member-to-member referrals
+ affinibob 3 years ago
The surveys have also provided lots of anecdotal insight into members’ personal experiences. For example, as a result of Slime Knights, people:

* are more willing and comfortable talking about other games and products
* have gained expanded knowledge and are able to make more educated recommendations
* have developed increased loyalty

In fact, game loyalty has spread to brand loyalty – so much so, in fact, that Square Enix is looking to expand the program into an overall brand initiative!
+ affinibob 3 years ago
Another benefit of having an easily-accessible pool of brand advocates is that you essentially have a 24-hour focus group, which has been invaluable for Marketing Feedback and Market Research.

A number of surveys have been conducted among members to gauge not only their change in attitude about Square Enix and Slime Knights, but about they interact with and speak to others about things they are passionate about.

Comments 1 - 10 of 28 previous next

Hey, you found my speaking notes – cool! Hopefully they will assist you in better digesting all of the information in this presentation from The Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA’s) Word of Mouth Basic Training (WOMBAT) Conference in New Orleans on April 18, 2007. By the way, my name is Bob and I’m Founder and President of a word of mouth and social media marketing and technology company called Affinitive . Ok, sales pitch over. In this presentation, I will walk through a real-world case study where a video game publisher was able to engage, empower, and connect their most passionate consumers and thereby help generate awareness for a yet-to-be-released game. But the concepts presented are applicable to any brand, product, or service, regardless of your industry.

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Square Enix: Building a Social Network for Enthusiasts (from WOMMA's Word of Mouth Basic Training 2007 Conference) - Presentation Transcript

Square Enix: Building a Social Network for Enthusiasts Word of Mouth Basic Training April 18, 2007 Bob Troia, Founder and President Affinitive
Some Background... 1989 Dragon Warrior I (NES) 2005 Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (PS2)
Brand Challenges
- 40 million+ worldwide sales
- Dragon Quest VIII launched in Japan previous year – 3million
- units sold in 3 days
- Diminished North American presence
- Single-player game with no online component
- Gaming community uneducated about series
- First PS2 release – no previous DQ Playstation release had
- exceeded 200,000 units sold
RPG Genre Challenges
- Subset of the “hardcore gaming” audience
- Historically sell less than 150-200k copies
- Non-social / single player
- Difficult to play (40-100 hours to complete)
- Cerebral action with heavy focus on story telling
- ‘ Dungeons and Dragons’ – geeky!
Fragmented Marketing Landscape Official Sites Fan Sites General Social Network and Social Media Sites Video Game Information Sites, Blogs and Communities
The Passion Pyramid General Consumers Niche Consumers Brand Champions Customers / Brand Enthusiasts Casual Hardcore Passion/Buzz Spills Out
Engage, Empower, and Connect Passionate Consumers Anticipation Co-creation Education Motivation Engage Recommendation Consumers Customers Measure
“ Slime Knights”
- An enthusiast community for fans of the Dragon Quest series combining elements of:
- Social Networking
- Education
- Loyalty
- Activities
- Research
- Word of Mouth, Viral and
- Buzz
Activities and Content Creation
- “ Quests”:
- 50% Fun and Engaging
- 50% Reinforce the key selling points of the game
Selling Point: Unique and distinct cel-shading art style of Dragon Quest artist Akira Toriyama: Quest: Mimic the cel-shading art style of Dragon Quest
Selling Point: Open, non-linear story and environment that players can explore endlessly in their own way Quest: Create your own hero and back-story for Dragon Quest VIII :
Project Slimeway
Halloween Activity
Fan-Created Ads
140+ Quests 27,000+ Submissions
Spreading the Word IM Icons Messageboard Banners Desktop Wallpapers
Customized MySpace Profiles
Activism
Sharing Personal Experiences & Research
Sharing Personal Experiences & Research “ After being a member of Slime Knights, I have become more willing to talk about other games and products that I love both online and offline . Now I don’t care who knows I’m a gamer!” “ Being a part of this community has expanded my knowledge of how others feel about the Dragon Quest series. I can make more educated recommendations of its titles to others , knowing how so many people here fell in love with the games.” “ I just want to say that Slime Knights really increased my loyalty to Dragon Quest . The fact that you are taking note of what consumers want is very important to me.”
Membership Growth
Membership Growth
Sales Trend
Results
- 14,000+ members
- 140+ quests
- 27,000+ submissions
- 160,000 WOM
- recommendations
- (58% online, 42% offline)
- 167,000 member
- interactions
- 38,000 hours of brand
- engagement in past 9
- months!
Results 600,000+ units sold to date Dragon Quest VIII has been the most successful release since the original Dragon Warrior , which sold approximately 500,000 units.
New York 135 West 26 th Street 8 th Floor New York, NY 10001 (212) 684-9100 Bob Troia Founder and President bob [ at ] beaffinitive.com www.beaffinitive.com More Information California 665 3rd Street Suite 230 San Francisco, CA 94107 (415) 278-9700