next »

[thewojnartist]

Hello. Not too long ago, I posted a thread ( http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=49302.0 ) in Playtesting looking for suggestions on what I could do to get a good "elevator pitch," or quick, attention-grabbing, one-sentence description of my game. Soon I realized that that wasn't exactly the best place to ask for that, since it is more of a question of marketing. So now I was wondering if anyone here could give some general advice in developing that pitch. Any responses are appreciated!

[Christian Knudsen]

http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=29975.0

[thewojnartist]

Thanks! I think that thread will come in handy.

Edit:
Also, I'm not sure if I want to revive that thread or not, so I think I'll just post what I have of my elevator pitch right here:

o   Dribble and bounce your way through creative platforming worlds on your iOS or Android device.

[del]

I'm not totally getting it.

"creative platforming worlds" doesn't really say much. I'd just cut creative and look for a better work. Just say platfomer instead of platforming. What kind of worlds? Fantasy, a basketball court?

Dribble and bounce what? So am I bouncing a basketball with my finger? Is the a skilled runner game?

Otherwise sounds unique! Good luck!

[ironbelly]

Too short!

Elevator pitches are supposed to be delivered in the time it takes to travel with someone in an evelator. It isn't a one sentence kinda deal. Aim for 3-4 sentences or so. A small paragraph.

Focus on the benefits, emotions, and how it makes you feel to play the game. Ignore features and checklists, and speak directly to the person reading.

[Calico70]

Hi,

totally new here to Tig Forum but your 'positioning' or elavator pitch as you call it has to work in a specific way, basically you need to look at it from the consumers point of view.

Ideally you want the shortest most direct positioning for your product you can create, longer more drawn out positioning can be harder to remember. A good example of positioning is to look at the TV listings for movies, listing the entire movie storyline as described on the back of the DVD case isn’t possible so the TV stations find the crux of the films story, character and theme.

For example,Jaws, the horror film that did for beach holidays what Fatal Attraction did for having an affair. Positioning this film is fairly simple and direct – “When a gigantic great white shark begins to menace the small island community of Amity, a police chief, a marine scientist and grizzled fisherman set out to stop it.”

You have the characters, the location and the dilemma all rolled into a short description. The same thing is what you’re trying to achieve when positioning your own product, the hook and the premise or feature need to stand out.
When you list your games features rated from most important to least important you then need to figure out what benefits or ‘positional advantages’ as they are known provide your potential customer, pre-emptive – cannot easily be countered or emulated by a competitor therefore making it unique, important – means what it says, it highlights its importance to the consumer, Distinctive – it’s a standout feature that sets it apart.

Sorry it's a long drawn out answer, 20 years of videogame marketing is to blame.