The Deep Sleep Initiative: Marketing by Communication

I’ll be honest, I hadn’t heard of the Deep Sleep Initiative before I read today’s ECA newsletter, to make matters worse, I’m a huge fan of Alternate Reality Games (ARGs), you know, games that use the real and virtual world as the platform.

There are two things that struck me when I read Bitmob’s article on good customer service.

I was immediately intrigued by the Deep Sleep Initiative.  I read the review Jay Henningsen wrote and had to check it out.  I downloaded the PDF and started scouring it.  It’s almost Lovecraftian in tone, with scrawled images, diary pages, lost child pictures and near-madness inducing imagery.  Just merely scanning the material in the PDF (here’s the PDF from Dreamers Often Lie) led me to deeper curiosity.  I then found the reverse dated blog for the Deep Sleep Initiative.  Again, what I found was brilliant.  I had to pull myself away from what would be an irresistible, nearly primal and gravitational force to focus on my other, more immediate tasks at hand.  Nevertheless, with the mystery now firmly lodged in my brain, I’m going to pursue this later on tonight.

However, this being a blog about video game marketing, and me being a professional marketer, it struck me how cool it was for the development team to respond to Jay’s email.

He received emails from Nicole Epps (Designer/ Programmer) and Karin Ray (Designer/ Creative) thanking him for his response.

Tracy and I were down in Culver City for Indiecade when we got it, and seriously ran around reading it to everyone at the festival. We pretty much made the game for players just like you and we were beyond ecstatic that you liked it (and my dopey interview). I’m really honored and humbled that you not only took the time to play our game but even emailed us! You rock!

Not only was the enthusiasm from the staff immediately felt in the response, I immediately “liked” them.  The fact that they would take the time to respond to someone I’d presume that they didn’t already know, was phenomenal.

This is a clear example of how a game and a company can use the power of direct, human conversation and response in a genuine fashion to cut through the clutter of so many games out there.  When I read the emails, I noted that they were in Culver City, not too far from where I live and I had an almost immediate desire to meet them, talk to them and pick their brains not only about their particular game, but alternate reality games in general, the indie game industry and other creative things they may happen to be doing.

I could be wrong on this, but their response seemed less of a “social marketing strategy” and much more of a genuine appreciation of one gamer’s feedback.  To me, this is the holy grail of all marketing.  Companies like Valve have a great reputation for interaction with their consumers, Penny Arcade hosts massive fan events for gamers which, at its core, is designed as a giant and fun “thank you”.

The only problem that I could see is how does a company, as they grow, expand and adopt more responsibilities, maintain that level of personalization, of genuine appreciation and customer contact.  But for now, for the designers of the Deep Sleep Initiative, the press they’re getting, what I’d imagine as a much higher rate of interest that they’re getting is well worth the effort of sending two thankful emails.

I don’t often promote games, products or other gaming things on my blog because I want to remain somewhat neutral in my analysis, but I encourage you to take a look at their game.  I’m just entering their alternate reality game and what I’m finding is a satisfying, challenging, maddening and fun experience.

The Deep Sleep Initiative: Marketing by Communication