On May 27th, a long-awaited title in the video game industry was released: Watch Dogs - and the producer was not disappointed. Ubisoft announced that Watch Dogs now holds the company’s record for most sales in the first 24 hours of a release. However, the path to success was not perfect and so we will take a moment to analyze the roadblocks that the firm had to overcome.
Developed by Ubisoft Montreal, the adventures of Aiden Pearce created an instant buzz, surprising the gaming world as an unexpected trailer coming at the end of the Ubisoft presentation, during the 2012 E3 in L.A. The multitude of different reporters from around the world left the conference with high hopes, with the game announced to be released for November 19th of 2013. At that point, Ubisoft’s marketing department had taken a risky bet to announce one of their most promising title 1.5 year before its release.
Unfortunately, the strategy backfired and the product was not at its best for the announced date. The developing team was then faced with a tough dilemma: release an unpolished version and surf on the buzz created in 2012 or improve the product to offer the best experience. They made the hard decision to postpone the release date.
In this situation, the marketing team likely had to change most of their launch strategy. However, as a result we now have the chance to admire their promotional prowess. Starred on Jimmy Fallon’s show, the game benefited from great exposure throughout the year, mainly through fans sharing the teasers and trailers. Also, Ubisoft was smart in offering 5 different editions of their game to please their hardcore fans and gain extra revenue out of their pockets. Different retail locations also offered various incentives for pre-order, a secured source of revenue for the seller and producers.
However, the promotional piece that attracted our attention and interest was a viral video put out on the web. In only 17 days, the “AMAZING STREET HACK” attracted more than 12.8 millions viewers!!!
In this situation, the marketing team likely had to change most of their launch strategy. However, as a result we now have the chance to admire their promotional prowess. Starred on Jimmy Fallon’s show, the game benefited from great exposure throughout the year, mainly through fans sharing the teasers and trailers. Also, Ubisoft was smart in offering 5 different editions of their game to please their hardcore fans and gain extra revenue out of their pockets. Different retail locations also offered various incentives for pre-order, a secured source of revenue for the seller and producers.
In the end, Ubisoft did great in sustaining the huge buzz they had created in 2012, and their decision to focus on selling a great product ended up to be a positive one. From a marketing standpoint, we believe the lesson is straightforward: no matter how great your early promotions are, you should make sure to release a great product - even though it requires extra work. The result of these efforts will be worth much more in the long run and will allow you to build a new product line (or franchise) on solid bases.
Have you ever heard of other delayed products, in any industry, that ended up as great success stories?
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