Tuesday, August 5

Adverts Version 2

Based on some feedback I received here I've made a few changes, do you think these are better? I've tried contacting some marketers, so assuming their prices are reasonable I might get them professionally improved.

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8 comments:

Custancia said...

I like these second ones better. Sorry to be such a font nerd but I wonder if it is worth keeping the website font the same on both adverts - so they are both the same as the It's alive one (rather than tying into the font of the advertising)? I think it won't look too odd mixing fonts, as it would seem more attached to the Reiver Games logo than the advert. My reasoning being that it's not as easy to read on the Carpe Astra box (and it's always harder to read text on www addresses anyway because they aren't instantly recognisable words.)

7:58 pm
Seth Jaffee said...

Nice first stab for someone who hasn't done ad layouts before!

I think the text is too.... texty. Perhaps something more succinct:

"Bribe. Slander. Whatever it takes to claim the throne."

or

"Bribe. Slander. Whatever it takes."
"Claim the Galactic throne!"

Also, the phrasing "to earn a 30% discount" sounds funny to me. Maybe better: "Pre-order now to save 30%" or "Pre-order by [date] for 30% savings" or something like that?

For It's Alive, similar comments... I don't like the "Cry 'It's Alive'" line. The ad and the box cover both already say that. Maybe cut that whole text down to just "BRING YOUR MONSTER TO LIFE" (getting rid of the bit about paying off villagers and collecting body parts).

And I agree with custancia, I think the URL should be plaintext (not bold) and easy to read, and consistent between ads.

Just some non-professional opinions there - do with them what you will! :)

8:23 pm
Anonymous said...

Assemble your monster!

10:04 pm
Anonymous said...

These are much better than your first ones.

They could use some graphic design love. They come off a little cheap - with some graphical polish you could convince people that Reiver is as big an operation as FFG! (whose banner ads you might want to study and rip off, as Yehuda suggested).
The cheapness comes from:
* Font choice. Not so bad on Carpe, but on It's Alive it looks like you're using Helvetica or something way too generic and plain.
* The layout of the box is way too square on and flush to the sides, it just looks wrong.
* The green background just seems like a paint fill, you should have something a little more finished back there, screened down/blurred board art, or a color or texture that at least blends with your game's look.
* Agree with Seth - less text. Concise text = more graphics. The graphics on It's Alive are awesome - show them!
* You'd have to try this, but maybe you can get away with just saying It's Alive once. I.e. you have your text, and then end with "And cry...It's Alive(tm)!" With the it's Alive part being your game's graphical red logo. The risk here is that people may think it's a slogan, and not realize its a game title, but that's where maybe a subtle trademark could help. Just a thought.
* I like your little example game photo, but it looks a little washed out - always make sure you product looks like the most tip-top high production shot you can have. Think of the shots of chef's dishes in Food magazines - show the product in the best, idealized light possible.
* I'd scale down the Reiver logo. It's good to build that brand, but it overwhelms the layout. It makes me think you are selling Reiver, when you want to sell the game.
* On the second ad, again, the cover art looks awesome - I would feature that more prominently with simplified text maybe even on top of it... You commisioned that cover for a reason - so people would pick it up - so use it on your ad.

Can you get the graphic designer who did your cards and games to help whip out a banner ad? It would probably take him or her no time at all to whip what you have into shape.

Good work and keep going! Polish, polish, polish! :)

5:53 am
Avantman42 said...

On the It's Alive advert, I'd remove "Cry 'It's Alive!"

I think it would be good to emphasise the bringing the monster to life, maybe by italicising or bolding "to life", and adding a !, ie:

Bring your monster to life!

8:34 am
Jackson Pope said...

Thanks for all the excellent advice. New version, addressing most peoples' comments coming soon.

Cheers,

Jack

10:10 am
Steve said...

Don't know if it's too late, but since these adverts will be seen internationally, make sure your dates are not culture-specific (I'm thinking DD/MM/YY v MM/DD/YY)
I guess most Americans reading BGG will be bright enough to figure out 15/8/08 - but 12/8/2008 (for example) is ambiguous and get you into trouble...
"Pre-order by Aug 15, 2008" ?

2:17 pm
Jackson Pope said...

Hiya Steve,

Yeah, someone else spotted that, I changed it to 15th August which should be unambiguous.

Cheers,

Jack

3:53 pm

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