Communication evolving on Twitter for Modern Warfare 2!
Modern Warfare 2 Twitter is one of the highest volume search terms on Google at the moment and it is easy to see why. There is an un-precidented buzz around twitter for the new game, the community manager has a vast following with over 90,000 followers, their is also 30,000 followers of game Developer Infinity Ward, most of them started following in the last few months. The trending topic #MW2 has been hugely popular with people posting almost every 10 seconds when Infinity Ward releases new footage or details.
As a marketing tool twitter has been invaluable to Infinity Ward, they can interact directly with their target audience on a day to day basis. It is one of the fastest growing websites and not to be involved with it would be ludicrous considering the hype they are trying to generate around this title. the community manager is constantly discussing all aspects of the new game with fans which is aiding Infinity Ward to make a game that the fans really want to see? there is a debate about which controller type is best concave or convex? from these questions he can get an instant response from fans across the world.
Infinity Ward uses twitter to keep fans of the title up to date with all the happenings on the inside of the game developers giving gamers inside access to the companies plans and actions. Robert Bowling posted a video of him unveiling the prestige Edition on you tube and then posted the link on twitter, this sent hoards of fans directly to the site and was no doubt one of the main reasons why the prestige Ed. sold out so quickly. The hype generated by twitter on the prestige edition has meant it has sold out in the UK on the HMV website (the only place it was available to pre-order).
Infinity Ward will use the ever growing social networking site for a variety of reasons, they will include getting feedback on trailers, game modification discussions and to generate new ideas for multiplayer discussions. I think we could see a massive increase of the search term Modern Warfare 2 Twitter in the coming months as the release date for the game approaches.
Launch set to be largest in industry history
The advertising agency that will be responsible for the launch of Modern Warfare 2 expects it to be one of the biggest product launches of all time. TBWA, an advertising agency, very well respected and based in America, has the job of making the MW2 launch as successful as possible. This agency has a lot to live up to after the last game sold well over fourteen million members.
The agency is planning to get gamers from all over the world who are not the usual hard core gamers to buy the game. The Chief Creative Officer at Activision was quoted as saying, “The strategic objective is not to just run advertising on day one and say ‘Go to a retailer and buy the game,’ but it is to really start building a movement and start broadening the audience for (Modern Warfare 2) beyond a core gamer audience.”
Janco Partners’ Mike Hickey had already said that Activision may not have much to worry about. According to varying sources sales are expected to smash the 11 million mark in the first 2 months, a truly amazing figure considering it the first title managed 14 million in total. He said Modern Warfare 2 could potentially sell through 7.8 million units globally with an estimated retail value of more than 0 million in the first week.
The promotional campaign has taken months to complete and it is now ready to be implemented. The company is planning to start an aggressive marketing campaign for the title in August, maybe we can expect to see smoke bombs being let of in down town New York or Laser dot sights being waved around in London! Pre-order numbers look set to go through the roof when this campaign gets underway. Sources also report that many rewards and incentives will also be offered to get gamers to plunk down their deposit for Modern Warfare 2 early, whatever happens this game will be massive.