GTA 5 Case Study

Media Case Study:

Name of the game: Grand Theft Auto 5 (GTA 5) 

Release date: September 17th 2013 

Institutions behind the game: Rockstar North, Rockstar Games

Print:

1) Billboards, bus shelters, phone boxes, buses and vans were used to advertise GTA 5.

2) The print advert conventions visible on the advert for for GTA 5 are the product name - Grand Theft Auto 5, modern sans serif font, the central image is a collage of parts from the game, and the colour scheme uses mostly dull colours like brown signifying it is not a game for little kids.

3) Mostly good reviews but some negative ones as well.

-Great script and most fully structured game in the history of the GTA franchise.

-Los Santos has been brought to life with its incredible size, scope, and realism.

-Open-world play lacks the unfettered thrills of earlier games.

4) It has appeared on a couple of different magazines. This is a good way of promoting the game to its target audience, because when they see a professional gaming magazine they are most likely going to take it out and what they first notice is the GTA 5 which can then lead them to buying the game to see if it's actually as good as the reviews say.

Broadcast:

1) The only TV commercial for GTA 5 I could find is:

2) The trailer for GTA 5 is effective because it shows what the audience can expect from the game and what the game is about- the narrative. If it's something they are interested in, after the trailer they are most likely going to see gameplays as well to see if they look like what they saw in the trailer.

                                      

3) Gameplay:

Interviews can promote a game really well as it's different people talking about how they feel about the game, what it's like and what their experiences with it are. Especially if the person is a celebrity or famous it can have an impact on the audience's opinion of it and persuade them to buy it. The gameplays are also very useful, since they show the audience what the game is like and what the whole idea of t the game is. When they see that it's something they would be interested in, they will buy the game. 

E-Media:

1) I was unable to access the official GTA 5 website.

2) 

3) The YouTube channel is: Rockstar Games

4) Use generated videos:

5) User generated content such as gameplays help to promote the game because they show the audience what the game is like. Before watching it the person might not be sure about purchasing it because they have not played it before but seeing gameplays on YouTube makes it clear on what the point of the game is.

6) GTA 5 has had 1.9 million likes on Facebook.

7)  

This post appeals to the GTA V audience as it asks them about their opinion, making the feel powerful and like their opinion is actually appreciated in the game industry. It can make them feel powerful because other people might not understand it.

 

This post can appeal to the target audience as it is the funny moments from GTA V made by other players which for them are entertaining because they are interested in GTA and everything to do with it which means this would appeal to them.

This post would probably appeal to the target audience because it gives them a chance to have their questions answered maybe about the game or a trick that they can later on use in their own game.

This post can attract the GTA V gamers since it is a competition that allows them to win prizes to do with the game, that can help and improve their game. 

8) #gta5

9) Twitter was used to promote this game, by putting up pictures of some parts of the game, countdowns to the day of the release. Also competitions were set up to enable the audience to win GTA V. Getting the audience involved really helped with the promotion, as it helped to attract more people by using direct addressing in posts.

10) The hashtag #gta5 drew attention to the game because when the audience saw that hashtag on for example Instagram, they could click on it and then it takes them to the page where there are different pictures with that same hashtag. Then the audience can see all the different videos and pictures from that game.

Overall, the GTA V promoting campaign was really widely spread bringing huge results. A variety of different adverts have been used and that is why the campaign was so good. The fact that they had adverts everywhere, on buildings, buses, bus shelters and others made the game to really stand out and it was impossible to not know anything about it.