Many of our favorite games had stayed virtually the same over decades or even centuries before major changes expanded their appeal. So how have clever marketing strategies been used to boost their current popularity, and what can we learn from this?
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New Live Versions Add Variety to Roulette
The roulette wheel was possibly invented in 17th or 18th-century France before becoming a staple of casinos all over the planet. Even if you’ve never played the game or set foot inside a casino, you probably have a good idea of what it involves and that you can bet on a single number or on groups of numbers like those in black or red pockets.
The move online helped this game reach more people, but what we’ve seen recently is arguably an even more significant shift as online roulette has evolved into live dealer versions. This has allowed developers such as Evolution to add new features in their games like Gold Vault Roulette and Lightning Roulette. With classy studio settings and modern gameplay with multipliers and other bonuses, this has become a way to market roulette as a more modern game with extra features.
My Monopoly Added Customization Options
Monopoly has been around for more than a century and is still one of the most widely played board games, but one thing we can say about it is that it’s never stood still. Local versions of the game, mobile apps, and card games have all added new elements to the tried and trusted formula of buying properties as you move around a board.
Yet, the introduction of My Monopoly is an interesting marketing strategy for us to focus on here. This is a customizable version of the game where players can add a personal touch in areas like the tokens and the properties. To market this game, they carried out a clever experiential marketing campaign where mall shoppers could play on their mobile devices and watch the action unfold on a giant screen.
Dungeons & Dragons Moved into the Movie World
It might seem obvious now to base movies on the most popular games but it wasn’t at the start of the century. This is why 2000’s Dungeons & Dragons raised more than a few eyebrows. The idea of turning a cult role-playing game into a big-budget film seemed strange at the time, although work had been going on behind the screen for a couple of decades to try to bring this project to life.
The original D&D movie was a box office bomb and was savaged by critics. Yet, the idea of turning a simple board game into a huge multimedia franchise had been planted. Several other movies have followed it, culminating in 2023’s Honor Among Thieves, which received positive reviews and helped take the game to a new audience.
“Dungeons & Dragons” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by River Siren
What Can We Learn from This?
Each of these games has had an extra degree of appeal added to it in unexpected ways. This has made it easier to market them to a wider audience and can help inspire future marketing campaigns where other products and services could benefit from being viewed in a different light.
