There was a lot of build-up leading to the April 29 release of Grand Theft Auto IV (GTA IV), the Take-Two Interactive Software and Rockstar Games product for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but it's finally here.
Leading up to this event were fake wanted posters, giant murals, bus wraps and billboards in North American and Europe promoting the game and its Eastern European, anti-hero gangster, Niko Bellic.
"If you look at their marketing, that's not a selling point at all," Steve Fowler, VP of Strategy of Ayzenberg Group told CBC. "They've gone with this comic book look and feel. It's not about graphic violence. It's not about profanity. It's more about the feeling, expression and the emotional attachment to the characters and the world."
If you haven't been able to get a copy yourself yet, why not help build up the excitement by checking out the following trends, all of them related to promotion the Grand Theft Auto games?
Key Themes Behind This Trend
- Fake Wanted Posters
- Creating fake wanted posters as a marketing campaign could be a disruptive innovation opportunity for businesses in the gaming industry.
- Giant Murals
- Creating giant murals to promote brand awareness could be a disruptive innovation opportunity for businesses in the advertising industry.
- Emotional Attachment
- Focusing on emotional attachment to characters and storylines as a selling point could be a disruptive innovation opportunity for businesses in the gaming industry.
Where This Applies
- Gaming Industry
- Exploring new ways to promote games through unconventional marketing campaigns could be a disruptive innovation opportunity for businesses in the gaming industry.
- Advertising Industry
- Embracing the use of murals and other unconventional marketing techniques to promote brand awareness could be a disruptive innovation opportunity for businesses in the advertising industry.
- Entertainment Industry
- Focusing on creating emotional attachment to characters and storylines as a way to increase audience engagement could be a disruptive innovation opportunity for businesses in the entertainment industry.
