THE GIGANTIC RESPONSE TO THE TRAILER WOULD RESULT IN A CONFIRMATION OF THE EVENT’S THEMING AND AN EXPANDED POTENTIAL SCOPE FOR THE PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN.
AN EXAMPLE OF THE INCREASED SCALING WOULD BE THE CREATION OF THE IMMENSELY SUCCESSFUL ‘EARLY BIRD PLUS’ TICKETS FOR REGEN 2024, WHICH COST £75 (£15 MORE THAN A REGULAR EARLY BIRD TICKET).
THESE WERE LIMITED EDITION TICKETS THAT’D ALLOW THE FIRST 100 PURCHASERS TO HAVE THEIR FAVOURITE SMASH BROS CHARACTER AND THEIR GAMERTAG FEATURED ON A RANDOM INDIVIDUALISED FILM POSTER RECREATION ALONGSIDE OTHER ‘EARLY BIRD PLUS’ ATTENDEES IN GROUPS RANGING FROM 3-8, DEPENDANT ON THE POSTER’S DESIGN.
TO FURTHER ENTICE ATTENDEES, IT WAS STATED THAT THEY WOULD ALSO RECEIVE THEIR POSTER DIGITALLY, ONCE THEIRS IS POSTED ONLINE DURING THE PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN, AND PHYSICALLY, WHEN ATTENDING REGEN 2024 IN PERSON.
EARLY BIRD PLUS SOLD OUT IN 8 MINUTES.
CONTEXT
EARLY BIRD PLUS’ CHAIN OF BENEFITS
100 PLAYERS PAYING £15 MORE FOR ENTRY WILL RESULT IN AN ADDITIONAL £1500 OF BUDGET.
MAKES 100 SEPARATE PEOPLE PERSONALLY INVOLVED IN THE PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN, DRASTICALLY INCREASING THE LIKELIHOOD OF THEM AND THEIR FRIENDS SHARING THE FILM POSTER THEY’RE FEATURED IN AS WELL AS PROVIDING ADDITIONAL WORD OF MOUTH ADVERTISING FROM ANYONE THEY SHOW.
IN BEING PROVIDED AN INDIVIDUALISED DESIGN FEATURING THEM, AVERAGE ENTRANTS ARE SHOWN A LEVEL OF APPRECIATION THEY’D LIKELY NEVER EXPERIENCED BEFORE FROM AN EVENT ORGANISATION, AS THIS TREATMENT IS USUALLY ONLY RESERVED FOR TOP PLAYERS. THIS PAID-FOR NOVELTY WOULD CREATE A LARGE AMOUNT OF BRAND LOYALTY FOR FUTURE EVENTS.
EACH EARLY BIRD PLUS POSTER BEING CREATED WITH HIGH STANDARDS OF QUALITY DISPLAYED AN ENHANCED LEVEL OF PRESTIGE FOR THE BRAND AND EVENT THAT’D BE RECOGNISED BY PEOPLE WHO HADN’T ALREADY SIGNED UP. THIS WOULD CREATE A ‘FEAR OF MISSING OUT’ AS POTENTIAL ENTRANTS WOULD BE LEAD TO UNDERSTAND THAT IF THE PRODUCTION WAS AT SUCH A HIGH STANDARD, THE EVENT WAS GUARANTEED TO BE GOOD. ON TOP OF ADDITIONAL ENTRY PASSES SOLD, THIS WOULD ALSO RESULT IN FURTHER BRAND LOYALTY AND EXCITEMENT FOR LATER EVENTS’ CAMPAIGNS AS THEY MAY WANT TO BE RECEIVE SOMETHING SIMILAR TO AN EARLY BIRD PLUS POSTER NEXT TIME.
ALLOWED FOR THE CREATION OF 22 MORE DESIGNS. THIS LEAD TO THE EVENT’S ADVERTISING BEING MORE CONSISTENT FOR A LONGER DURATION, AND LATER RESULTED IN THE ABILITY TO SELL MORE DESIGNS AS ADDITIONAL MERCHANDISE.
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100 PLAYERS PAYING £15 MORE FOR ENTRY WILL RESULT IN AN ADDITIONAL £1500 OF BUDGET
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MAKES 100 SEPARATE PEOPLE PERSONALLY INVOLVED IN THE PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN, DRASTICALLY INCREASING THE LIKELIHOOD OF THEM AND THEIR FRIENDS SHARING THE FILM POSTER THEY’RE FEATURED IN AS WELL AS PROVIDING ADDITIONAL WORD OF MOUTH ADVERTISING FROM ANYONE THEY SHOW.
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IN BEING PROVIDED AN INDIVIDUALISED DESIGN FEATURING THEM, AVERAGE ENTRANTS ARE SHOWN A LEVEL OF APPRECIATION THEY’D LIKELY NEVER EXPERIENCED BEFORE FROM AN EVENT ORGANISATION, AS THIS TREATMENT IS USUALLY ONLY RESERVED FOR TOP PLAYERS. THIS PAID-FOR NOVELTY WOULD CREATE A LARGE AMOUNT OF BRAND LOYALTY FOR FUTURE EVENTS.
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AS EACH EARLY BIRD PLUS POSTER WAS CREATED WITH HIGH STANDARDS OF QUALITY IN MIND, WHEN EACH WAS RELEASED IN THE PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN, IT DISPLAYED A LEVEL OF PRESTIGE FOR THE BRAND AND EVENT THAT’D BE RECOGNISED BY PEOPLE WHO HADN’T ALREADY SIGNED UP. THIS WOULD CREATE A ‘FEAR OF MISSING OUT’ AS POTENTIAL ENTRANTS WOULD BE LEAD TO UNDERSTAND THAT IF THE PRODUCTION WAS AT SUCH A HIGH STANDARD, THE EVENT WAS GUARANTEED TO BE GOOD. ON TOP OF ADDITIONAL ENTRY PASSES SOLD, THIS WOULD ALSO RESULT IN FURTHER BRAND LOYALTY AND EXCITEMENT FOR LATER EVENTS’ CAMPAIGNS AS THEY MAY WANT TO BE FEATURED IN THE SAME WAY.
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ALLOWED FOR THE CREATION OF 22 MORE DESIGNS. THIS LEAD TO THE EVENT’S ADVERTISING BEING MORE CONSISTENT FOR A LONGER DURATION, AND LATER RESULTED IN THE ABILITY TO SELL MORE DESIGNS AS ADDITIONAL MERCHANDISE.
ABOVE: AN EARLY BIRD PLUS POSTER WITH PLAYERS’ GAMERTAGS REPLACED BY CHARACTER NAMES
GRASSROOTS TOURNAMENTS, SUCH AS REGEN 2024, ARE SUPPORTED FINANCIALLY BY A WIDE POOL OF PARTICIPANTS, WITH THE SUPERMAJORITY OF ENTRANTS NEVER PLACING HIGH ENOUGH IN THE COMPETITION TO SEE ANY OF THE PRIZE POT; FOR REGEN 2024 THIS LUMP SUM WAS £5000.
IN GENERAL, THE ONLY RECIPIENTS OF THIS PRIZE ARE THE GAME’S TOP PLAYERS, WHO ARE ALSO USUALLY ENTICED TO ENTER THROUGH BEING PROVIDED FREE FLIGHTS, ACCOMMODATION AND BY HAVING THEIR ATTENDANCE PUBLICISED IN AN EVENT’S PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN. IN MANY CASES, IN SPITE OF BUDGET AND TIME BEING SPENT TO HAVE PARTICULAR TOP PLAYERS ATTEND, THEY WILL UNFORTUNATELY DROP OUT AND ATTEND ANOTHER EVENT IF IT’S MORE CONVENIENT FOR THEM.
ULTIMATELY, I CAME TO REALISE IT’S MORE FINANCIALLY PROFITABLE AND GENERALLY ADVANTAGEOUS TO REWARD THE AVERAGE PARTICIPANT FOR THEIR ATTENDANCE, RATHER THAN A TOP PLAYER.
ADDITIONALLY, A RAFFLE WAS HELD IN JULY TO PROVIDE 5 MORE ENTRANTS AN INDIVIDUALISED POSTER DUE TO HIGH DEMAND FROM PEOPLE WHO’D SEEN THE CAMPAIGN’S DESIGNS BUT HADN’T BEEN ABLE TO BE FEATURED IN ONE.
RAFFLE PARTICIPANTS HAD TO BE SIGNED UP FOR REGEN 2024 AND LIKE AND SHARE THE POST BY A CERTAIN DATE TO ENTER.
GO ON TO SAY IT WAS A BIG SUCCESS AND THAT WE MADE A LOT OF MONEY FROM POSTERS AND ALSO THAT WE CAN SELL THEM AT ALL FUTURE EVENTS
FOUR POSTERS WITH THEIR ORIGINAL COMPARISONS
ABSOLUTE CINEMA
IN DECIDING THE THEMING FOR REGEN 2024, I SUGGESTED TO THE TEAM THAT WE STYLE THE EVENT AROUND FILMS, CONSIDERING THE HISTORY OF THE ATHENA AS A MOVIE THEATRE.
THIS SUGGESTION WAS ADDITIONALLY MADE AS THE THEMING WOULD PROVIDE A LARGE LIST OF BENEFITS:
FAMOUS FILM POSTERS ARE WIDELY RECOGNISED, AND IF THE CAMPAIGN WAS EXECUTED WELL IT COULD START DISCUSSIONS (“DID YOU SEE THE SMASH BROS ‘JAWS’ POSTER?”) AND DRAW ATTENTION TO THE EVENT
FILM POSTERS HAVE INCREDIBLY DIVERSE DESIGNS, ALLOWING FOR A WIDE RANGE OF STYLES TO FIT SMASH ULTIMATE’S 89 CHARACTERS
A CAMPAIGN UTILISING UNIQUE POSTERS FOR EACH PROMOTION CREATES ANTICIPATION FOR FOLLOWING ONES, AS PEOPLE WOULD BEGIN TO HOPE THEIR FAVOURITE FILM IS REFERENCED
RECREATING EXISTING DESIGNS REDUCES THE TIME SPENT CREATING NEW COMPOSITIONS, ALLOWING FOR FAR MORE PROMOTIONAL PIECES FOR THE EVENT
IT WOULD BE A UNIQUE STYLING FOR AN EVENT ON A SCALE NEVER SEEN BEFORE IN THE HISTORY OF SMASH BROS TOURNAMENTS
WHEN THE LIVE EVENT FINALLY TAKES PLACE, THE MOST LIKED FILM POSTER RECREATIONS CAN BE (LEGALLY) SOLD AS MERCHANDISE
THE THEME WAS REVEALED IN APRIL 2024, THROUGH REGEN 2024'S DEBUT TRAILER AT TEAM REGEN’S INVASION, TO HUGE ACCLAIM, BOTH IN-PERSON AND ONLINE.