Marketing Gimmick

Facts are used to impress the audience. ‘200 m in 19.32 seconds’ is pretty impressive and is bound to make anyone want to read on just to find out more about this statement. These facts are called statistics, they also help to show that the developer knows what they are talking about The advert also makes good use of personal pronouns, with ‘how fast are your fingers?’ This is designed to give the reader the idea that the advert is talking to them personally and no one else.

It makes the reader feel that they are being directly addressed because of the language used such as ‘you’ and ‘your’. These are all terms used to address a single person, so you get the impression only you are being talked to. If language used did not include these words, it may not create such an intimate and cosy atmosphere between the reader and the advert. This language, along with the statement being a question, helps even more to make the reader think that only they are being addressed. You can tell it is a question because of the way it is asked, as well as the fact that there is a question mark on the end.

Logos are used to impress and reassure the reader that they are getting a quality game, not a poor quality game which has been put together at the last minute. Logos included are the official logo of the Olympic Games, the five interlinked rings, along with the logo of the Sydney 2000 games. At the foot of the page is the Eidos logo, along with the Olympic Rings with ‘official video game’ underneath them. All of these are designed to impress the reader and assure them that they are buying a quality product. A game could have all these features, but if it did not have any official logos it would not be as popular, as it would be seen as a fake or a cheap copy of the official game. It is also a good ‘marketing gimmick’ because a game has more chance of selling if it is the official game, rather than a game that has the same sports but has got to have made up venue and athlete names’ because it is not the official game.

A wide range of vocabulary is used in the advert, and very few words are repeated. One of the few words that are repeated is ‘mode’. This is only used to describe what game types you can have and ‘mode’ is the best word. All the other words are mostly only used once, twice at the most. This is good, because it stops the advert getting boring. If words like ‘the’, ‘new’, ‘it’ and ‘if’ were used, it would make the advert sound plain and boring and the reader may get bored and stop reading so, instead, words like ‘Gruelling’, ‘Virtual’ and ‘Great’ are used. This single use of each word helps to make the advert interesting for the reader and encourages them to read on. Most of the vocabulary used is positive, highlighting the games features and best points, which helps the advert to sell the game. There is no negative vocabulary used, which if there were, would just work against the good impression that the advert has given you of the game.

In conclusion, I feel that the advert for the game of the Sydney Olympics 2000 to be extremely successful. It grabs your attention with the picture of Michael Johnson’s legs being replaced with fingers. This makes the reader want to read on and find out what it is all about. The layout is clear and uncluttered and helps the reader to find any information they need about the game quickly and easily. Logos are used to their full potential and are well placed. Logos that are most likely to sell the game, like the Sydney 2000 Logo and the Olympic Rings, are placed in a main point of the advert, on the right hand page which is the side you see first.

Logos that are not as likely to sell the game, such as the Playstation, Dreamcast, and PC-CD Logos, are placed at the foot of the page, but not completely where you would not notice them. The language used is varied and interesting, yet simple enough for most people to understand. Additional pictures used, the game’s screen shots, are interesting and varied, and this also makes the advert more interesting. These all make the advert more interesting and increase its ability to grab the reader and persuade them to buy the game. I think this advert is an extremely good one and I am sure that it has helped Eidos to sell many more copies of the game than it would have without it.