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

Slide 1: Square Enix: Building a Social Network for Enthusiasts Bob Troia, Founder and President Affinitive Word of Mouth Basic Training April 18, 2007

Slide 2: Some Background... 1989 2005 Dragon Warrior I Dragon Quest VIII: (NES) Journey of the Cursed King (PS2)

Slide 3: 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

Slide 4: 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!

Slide 5: Fragmented Marketing Landscape Official Sites General Social Network and Social Media Sites Fan Sites Video Game Information Sites, Blogs and Communities

Slide 6: The Passion Pyramid e or c rd Brand Ha Pa Champions ss io n/ Bu Customers / zzS pi Brand Enthusiasts lls Ou t Niche Consumers l a su Ca General Consumers

Slide 7: Engage, Empower, and Connect Passionate Consumers Edu cati on n Consumers tio a iv ot M n atio Engage Measure cre Co- Customers Anticipation Recommendation

Slide 8: “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

Slide 9: Activities and Content Creation “Quests”: • 50% Fun and Engaging • 50% Reinforce the key selling points of the game

Slide 10: 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

Slide 11: 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:

Slide 12: Project Slimeway

Slide 13: Halloween Activity

Slide 14: Fan-Created Ads

Slide 15: 140+ Quests 27,000+ Submissions

Slide 16: Spreading the Word IM Icons Messageboard Desktop Wallpapers Banners

Slide 17: Customized MySpace Profiles

Slide 18: Activism

Slide 19: Sharing Personal Experiences & Research

Slide 20: 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.”

Slide 21: Membership Growth

Slide 22: Membership Growth

Slide 23: Sales Trend

Slide 24: 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!

Slide 25: 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.

Slide 26: More Information Bob Troia Founder and President New York bob [ at ] beaffinitive.com 135 West 26th Street 8th Floor www.beaffinitive.com New York, NY 10001 (212) 684-9100 California 665 3rd Street Suite 230 San Francisco, CA 94107 (415) 278-9700