Marketing and Promotion of Video Games LO- to discuss the exam topic for June 2014

1. Marketing and Promotion of Video GamesLO- to discuss the exam topic for June 2014

2. Promotion and Marketing?

4. Exam Wednesday 11June 2014 • Exam brief given Monday 14th May 2014 • No formal teaching after brief given • 4 Weeks given to research, prepare • 1 hour 30 mins exam

5. Brief given in May Dear Student, The Laughter Channel is a new cable television channel specialising in a range of comedy productions. We are always on the lookout for new ideas and pride ourselves in the role we have already played in launching the careers of successful comedy writers. We are currently working on a project to reignite the previous success of British television situation comedy in attracting family audiences. We are aware that writers for television have recently moved away from this and have focused their efforts on productions for smaller and niche audiences such as The Mighty Boosh and Peep Show. In spite of this, we believe that successful mainstream comedy can cut across all age groups and social classes. However, we also recognise that it is important to respond to the concerns and identity of our modern culture and we are not interested in reproducing the out of date representations which have previously been such an important feature of television situation comedy. We are also keen to use technology to respond to changing television viewing habits, building on such successes as the iPlayer. We are planning a launch of a new comedy series for an eight week run in the autumn schedules and here is where you have a chance to become involved. We would like to commission new writers for a pilot episode of this series and to give us some ideas about how we can use new technologies to engage our target audience. Remember we want our new series to keep all the successful features of situation comedy whilst offering something fresh and relevant to the lives of our target family audience in the 21st century. We are working to a tight deadline so it would help us if you could complete the following tasks to help us draw up a short list of entries for our final selections. Remember to do the following: • keep your responses sharp and to the point • use diagrams and illustrations to support your ideas. We look forward to receiving your entry. Yours faithfully, S. C. Riter (Commissioning Editor)

6. Task 1A Give us three key Promotional and Marketing techniques of video and PC games. 15 Marks

7. Task 1B A criticism of the Video Games is that it glorifies and promotes violence, therefore being too inappropriate for many audiences. How far do you agree with this statement? Provide some examples to support your views. 15 Marks

8. Task 2A Now provide us with your pitch for a new Video Game website targeted towards teenagers. You need to think about: • genres video games • features of video games • an appropriate title • what makes it different to other video game websites today 15 Marks

9. Task 2B Either Give us your design for the homepage of a website for your new video game. You should use the A3 sheet enclosed. OR Sequences from the winning entry will be placed on the website. Storyboard a 30 second teaser trailer which advertises the new video game. You should use the ten frame storyboard sheet enclosed. 15 Marks