What do you think of Valves yoyo marketing campaign?

[Mr-Fusion]

wonkers coined this phrase in another thread but it perfectly explains how Half-Life 2 has been promoted.

For those who don't get it, a yoyo goes up and down, i know it's complicated but just hang in there. Valves marketing also consists of ups and downs.

We get periods when there's loads of new info and videos.
We get periods when there is sweet **** all to talk about except whether or not Mossman is attractive (refer to the "is Mossman attractive" thread)

We're happy for a short period of time when everything seems positive. Then they go quiet again and suddenly the anger and frustration builds up as the ambiguity of the status of the game increases!!

So what do you guys think of this? Is it a good way to market the game or is it not?

 

[marksmanHL2 :)]

Well I think it.....


Doesn't exist!




I just think they have been thown arround themselves a fair bit and we are in for the ride if we are going to stay so close to them.

 

[Axyon]

I don't know if it's especially good, but it certainly keeps us begging for more in the dry period, and when that new information trickles in, the hype machine goes into overtime again. It's certainly kept us interested for this past year.

 

[Wolf]

We're lucky to get so much media. How do you think D3 fans feel?

 

[Lanton]

Like the boom/bust economic theories?

Seems like we're at the bottom of the loop now, no new official info for a while.

 

[Dr0ndeh]

it would become boring and samey if they released like a screenshot a week or something. i like it.

 

[Lanton]

We're lucky to get so much media. How do you think D3 fans feel?

At least we know that D3 will be coming out by September at the latest (i've been told it will be out in the UK in 6 weeks time), who knows what season HL2 will be out.

 

[Mr-Fusion]

Valve probably aren't even concious they're doing it. It just sort of happened like that.

But looking over the past year you can certainly see a pattern. Compare it to the marketing of Doom 3. There's quite a few screenshots and a couple of videos. All at least a year old. Doom 3 promotion remains at a steady rate of nothingness while Half-Life 2 promotion is in a constant state of building up hype, lowering it, building it up, lowering it. Yadada blah blah blah.

 

[Icarus]

Admittedly this is the best way to do it...lets say(HYPOTHETICLY!!!) that lsat year in september they knew it would be delayed 1 year. This would be the best way to do it...any attention including anger, prevents people from forgeting about you. And although some could not buy it because they forgot about the game and arn't hyped about it anymore, not one of you is going to say "damn you valve you lied, I'm not playing Half-Life 2"

In Soviet Russia, yo-yo swings you!

 

[The Monkey]

Well, once they have released the game, it will be a lot of news in the same time

 

[clarky003]

they know that all of this will be forgotten when the game is on our computers.

 

[SubKamran]

they know that all of this will be forgotten when the game is on our computers.

Exactly.

 

[Naveed]

We're lucky to get so much media. How do you think D3 fans feel?

Wrong comparison! It should have been: How do you think Duke Nukem Forever fans feel? Id never said "We are aiming for Summer" or other hypothetical release date, they always stuck with "When it is done!". On other hand 3D Realm initially gave many release dates and are now stuck with "When it is done!". Valve will learn :|

 

[Gorgon]

Well I voted for NO.

 

[PvtRyan]

Oh.... I thought yo-yo marketing had something to do with gangsta rappers

 

[Wildhound]

I voted for "On Tuesdays".

 

[Ry102]

I like it!!!!!! :cheers:

 

[iamaelephant]

Wrong comparison! It should have been: How do you think Duke Nukem Forever fans feel? Id never said "We are aiming for Summer" or other hypothetical release date, they always stuck with "When it is done!". On other hand 3D Realm initially gave many release dates and are now stuck with "When it is done!". Valve will learn :|

I dont remember there being any release dates for DN:F (on a side note, isn't it ironic that it's abbreviated to DNF, which, in motorsport terms, means Did Not Finish?). Erm, anyway, I think it's good for Valve because it keeps people aware of the game, but it's bad for us fans because it keeps us confused and often angered.

 

[wonkers]

You know how I feel about it. But on a side note!

CHECK OUT BUNGIE!

They give weekly updates and tell all kinds of neat stuff about Halo2 and the developement process. It's the perfect example of keeping your fanbase informed. You can't argue with how well they do what they do.

It's enough to keep you interested until the game comes out. It makes you wait for the next update every week. It's actually amazing. Check it out.

www.bungie.net

It's really a new concept for die-hard HLfans.

 

[lans]

You know how I feel about it. But on a side note!

CHECK OUT BUNGIE!

They give weekly updates and tell all kinds of neat stuff about Halo2 and the developement process. It's the perfect example of keeping your fanbase informed. You can't argue with how well they do what they do.

It's enough to keep you interested until the game comes out. It makes you wait for the next update every week. It's actually amazing. Check it out.

www.bungie.net

It's really a new concept for die-hard HLfans.

Cut the "die hard fan" bull :frown: , your as much as a "fanboy" as some say than anyone else on this site - otherwise why would you waste your life on this forum?

That aside, yes Bungie's informative weekly update system is pretty good.

 

[un0x]

I don't like the mystery around the release date, and the long periods of having no news about the game. The good thing about this is that its even cooler if there is new footage/news again..

 

[wonkers]

I want this game more than I want D3 or halo2. I invest a fraction of my time to keep people aware of proper bussiness practices.

Seriously I have never invested this much time to a game ever. This is really a first. It intrigues me. I wonder what happens at their office or if they even realise what's going on.

I would never call myself a "fanboy" considering that I rate Vavle at about 50% right now. I am teetering on the edge of buying their competetition entirely out of spite.

They keep telling us how important the "community" is but all they needed to do was deny this Fall release thing with one post. THIS SITE IS SUPPORTED BY VALVE. They have to know what we are talking about.

So again. If they are conciously not posting a denial then it must true and the yo-yo marketing is true too.

 

[ShadowFox]

Ahh, so much to respond to. That die hard fan comment irked me as well. Do you think that because we like HL, that it is the only game we like?

What competition are you going to buy? I can't think of any game like HL2 coming out. Doom 3 is horror, Halo 2 is console, STALKER is open-ended.

As for the original question, it isn't really a yo-yo campaign. They just release a lot of information around E3 and when they anticipate the release. I'm not sure if I like the way they promote it, but it certainly seems to be working with all of the people here chomping at the bit for anything HL2 related.

 

[RoguePsi]

I believe this is merely the calm before the storm.

Besides, once the games out no-one will ever mentioed the delay again (until the run up till HL3). I hope for our sakes (and Valves) that they keep it under wraps until they're pretty much done.

 

[petey]

Valve had the very best marketing strategy ever conceived. I say "had" because they don't anymore. It was the very best strategy until September 30th 2003. Once the game was delayed, it became the worst marketing strategy of all time. Let me elaborate.

Why it was the best: With the exception of some far-fetched rumors and conspiracy theories, no one knew about Half-Life 2 for the first four and a half years of its development. We were totally shocked when Valve announced that they were making the Uber Sequel of All Time and that it would be available later that year. Then we got to see it at E3. In a massive media presentation that put all other game demonstrations to hopeless shame, we were shown the gorgeous graphics, awe-inspiring artwork and phantastic physics that we would soon be able to partake of ourselves. Then we were given the Binks; game-derived videos that looked like the real thing! Over and over again we were told; "We are still shooting for Sept. 30." Man, this is GREAT!!!



Man, this SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!

Why it is the worst: September 30th came and went. No Half-Life 2. No Half-Life 2 media either. It wasn't until nearly the one year anniversary of HL2's announcement that they started showing any new content (that is, of course, negating whatever we got to sneak a peak at in the leak)! Then Valve was caught in something of a bind. They had intended to only show the E3 '03 presentation before the game's release, and now, to regenerate hype, they would have to scrounge together another monster presentation; giving away more of the game in pre-release than they had intended to.

It would have been the best marketing strategy of all time: Work on the game secretly for five years, announce it out of nowhere, execute the biggest media blitz in gaming history and just as everyone is catching their breathe, RELEASE!

Instead, it became the biggest anticlimax of all time: Work on the game secretly for five years, announce it out of nowhere, execute the biggest media blitz in gaming history and just as everyone is catching their breathe, DELAY! Then go into PR stealth mode, let simmer for one year, execute the second biggest media blitz in gaming history, leave the fans hanging in release-date-netherland, and then, one year behind schedule, presumably, RELEASE!

I'm not saying they shouldn't have delayed the game. If that's what was needed, then that was the right decision. I'm saying the optimal thing to do, if they had made a better estimate of the time it would take to finish the game, would be to announce it out of nowhere early this year, hype it up at E3, and then release it, on time, this summer/fall. It was (and still is) a best-ever plan for marketing a game, but it just doesn't work when you don't release when you say you will.

 

[Dalamari]

Just imagine being a DNF forum member.....

Im sure that they would kill for the amount of info we get.

 

[Asuka]

I dont get it..::starts to play with yoyo and wonders:: :rolling:

 

[Someone]

Valve had the very best marketing strategy ever conceived. I say "had" because they don't anymore. It was the very best strategy until September 30th 2003. Once the game was delayed, it became the worst marketing strategy of all time. Let me elaborate. --snip

This is exaclty my feeling too.

I think valve had the perfect set up and were doing great, but incredibly poor planning and bad luck screwed them, as well as the fans.

From that point on they have been playing catch up and, no matter what they say, fans are always doubting or calling them liars.

Since they themselves have said the theft had nothing to do with the delay, I have to say that they have the worst planners ever. How can you be making a game for 5 years and announce it's release and end up delaying for a year anyway? Why not wait until you are POSITIVE it's done and ready to go? I mean no one knew about it so why announce it that early? That's the one thing I will always scratch my head at.

It's frustrating as hell as a fan, but what ya gonna do after all? As long as the game is good, I really don't mind a delay or two. If a delay means the game will be even better, than that's fine with me. Look how HL1 turned out after all.

I still think they are a good bunch of people with good intentions, but they just blew it in the PR department.

 

[Alec_85]

*snip*

Quoted for Emphasism! Best post ever by a low-postcounter :thumbs:

 

[Logic]

Valve's marketing? It means absolutely nothing to me, I'm in it for the game Liking or disliking Valve's marketing isn't going to have any impact on when you get your hands on the game itself. Besides, marketing exists so that people become aware of the game (at which point they will want it if it interests them), and I think it's been extremely successful at doing that. It shouldn't be very important to us anyway, we obviously already know about, and want, the game.

Ever heard the phrase "no such thing as bad publicity"? From that point of view, Valve's marketing campaign has been about as successful as it possibly could.

 

[lans]

Valve had the very best marketing strategy ever conceived. I say "had" because they don't anymore. It was the very best strategy until September 30th 2003. Once the game was delayed, it became the worst marketing strategy of all time. Let me elaborate. --snip

Let me remind you that for that matter valve's marketing strategy was never good - the first HL was also delayed a whole year and while it wasn't as hyped as the sequel is now, it pissed many people who were following the game. The result? well isn't it infront of you? A game that has won more than 50 GOTY awards even after a years delay. Might I remind you that 1998 too was a paradigm shift - upto 1997 we had games that were 2D (mostly) and only in 1998 developers got serious into making 3D games.

 

[DiSTuRbEd]

At least we know that D3 will be coming out by September at the latest (i've been told it will be out in the UK in 6 weeks time), who knows what season HL2 will be out.

How do we know? They can blow by that august date if it isn't gold this month.

 

[wonkers]

I am getting this vibe that most of you don't care what happens as long as you get the game.

Why are you people going off on tangents too? I can't believe some people are for it. Why would anyone like to be jerked around. People keep saying they get enough updates and that it's more than DNF.

Screw DNF, that's not the point. I say... give credit where credit is due. I agree that HL is a great success despite it's delay. It was and still is a good game.

I still don't like hype. Hype is not a good thing. (unless your benifitting from it) The fans don't benifit from hype, we're getting screwed with hype.

 

[MindCrafter]

Well all I know is that there is one certain activity that I would rather like to be up and down with :bounce:

 

[Logic]

I still don't like hype. Hype is not a good thing. (unless your benifitting from it) The fans don't benifit from hype, we're getting screwed with hype.

You're only affected by as much hype as you look for and read It's not like you're bombarded by HL2 hype on TV. The best way to avoid being screwed by hype or angered by bad marketing is to be involved in various other goals and aspects of life (many of which are more important than games anyway), though I can certainly relate to this being difficult, especially when you're stuck in the oppressive environment of school.

My advice to anyone who's bothered by waiting for HL2 is to find other things to work towards or look forward to. You'll have the game before you can say "well would you look at that, I have the game!"

 

[ShadowFox]

Let me remind you that for that matter valve's marketing strategy was never good - the first HL was also delayed a whole year and while it wasn't as hyped as the sequel is now, it pissed many people who were following the game. The result? well isn't it infront of you? A game that has won more than 50 GOTY awards even after a years delay. Might I remind you that 1998 too was a paradigm shift - upto 1997 we had games that were 2D (mostly) and only in 1998 developers got serious into making 3D games.

I'd bet a lot of the folks here had no idea what HL was until it was a hit.

 

[petey]

I had no idea what Half-Life was until Half-Life 2 was hyped!

 

[Quixote]

I think Valve's marking is run by a bunch of yo-yo's.

 

[FoxDie]

It's not like their marketing makes that much of an impact on us (except for their image. But we're still going to buy the game.) I even put together a chain today keeping track of the days until August (that's how desperately I want the game :|) It's made out of cut up pages from a Simpson's page a day calender

EDIT: Sorry it's sideways, I'm too lazy to fix it

 

[mayro]

Guys whats today? Atleast for another 15 minutes or so anyway... its july 4th... everyone is at home asleep or partying or both! But wait... Whats tomarrow? The 5th!AKA a day after a holiday... Now as long as the 3 main game companys arent hung over and are working tomarrow... Id say you could almost guarante some new info or the start of the BEAST! Media giant!

PS: If it doesnt start tomarrow im gona to start fearing *no pun intended* Doom3's augest 3rd release.