Ashleigh Rousselle Plans Book

Her Interactive Plans Book

Nancy Drew Adventure Games

Ashleigh Rousselle

May 22, 2012

“Call Me Nancy”

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Table of Contents

1. Target market analysis.....................................................................................................3

2. Product situation analysis..............................................................................................10

3. Advertising objectives...................................................................................................22

4. Creative brief.................................................................................................................23

5. Creative concept.............................................................................................................30

6. Media plan.....................................................................................................................33

7. References......................................................................................................................40

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Target Market Analysis

1. Primary and Secondary demand

According to the Entertainment Software Association (2011), 72 percent of

American households play computer or video games. Eighteen percent of players are

under 18, 53 percent are between 18- and 49-years old and 29 percent are 50-years-old or

older. Fifty-eight percent of gamers are male and the remaining 42 percent are women.

Computer games are sometimes lumped together with video games, which cover multiple

platforms, so the data isn’t always as specific as it could be.

To put the demand for computer games in perspective, it’s important to contrast

the computer game sales against the video games sales for 2010. The Entertainment

Software Association (ESA) helped define the difference for the demand of computer

games versus the demand for video games. In a table of the U.S. computer and video

game unit sales growth from 2010, it’s clear that computer games are a relatively small

part of the gaming market. Computer games sold 24.6 million units while video games

sold 232.5 million units. The combined total of units for 2010 was 257.2 million, which

was down 41.1 million from 2008. It looks as if video games and computer games appear

to be moving toward decline. However, that’s because the ESA only had information

regarding physical copies of the games. Many games, Nancy Drew included, are now

available in purely digital form. And, with 72 percent of American households still

playing the games and $15.9 billion dollars in sales growth in 2010 (up $4.2 billion from

2008), the demand for the products is far from over.

As far as the Nancy Drew Her Interactive computer games are concerned,

Nieuwenhuis (2011a) said, “Her Interactive's Nancy Drew games have sold more than 9

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million copies…As the number-one PC mystery franchise since 2004, unit sales of the

Nancy Drew series have exceeded those of Harry Potter, Myst and Tomb Raider.” Her

Interactive’s Facebook page said, “Known for creating the No. 1 PC Adventure series,

Her Interactive is the pioneer in creating games for girls of all ages.” Although games are

sold directly from the Her Interactive website and in retail locations such as Target,

Walmart, and others, the latest game, Alibi in Ashes, reached 1,579 on Amazon’s Best

Sellers Rank in the category of video games. The game before it, Captive Curse, reached

2,143—2th in Mac Games and 27th in PC adventure games. Because the game before

Captive Curse, Shadow at the Water’s Edge, held a rank of 2,697, it’s possible that more

people are purchasing each new game or that more people are just ordering the games on

Amazon. Merrick (2010) said that the fastest growing demographics for gaming were

girls and women and that thousands of mothers, who grew up with Nancy Drew, are now

playing games with their daughters. Overall, Her Interactive appears to be fairly

confident in the performance and demand for their games.

2. Defining the target market

Her Interactive has made it clear that the company’s primary target market is girls

of 10-years-old and up or, as the Nancy Drew PC Games Facebook said, the product is

intended to be “high quality, fun and inspiring games for girls of all ages.” The Tomb of

the Lost Queen trailer (2012) is most popular with 13- to 17-year-old girls and with 45- to

54-year-old women. Meanwhile, there was other information out there, such as how the

games were “targeted to female play preferences” (Murfin, 2011) and that, although the

games were targeted toward the “traditional tween demographic,” the games were also

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reaching boys and men (Her Interactive, 2004). With 41 being the average age of a game

purchaser (Entertainment Software Association, 2011) and women of all ages being

encouraged to play the game, it’s important to select the target market carefully.

Often a product is made for one demographic but is used or purchased by another.

Sometimes marketing to the people who buy the product but don’t use it can be effective,

such as marketing to women so they’ll buy Old Spice for their boyfriends. However, the

average age of people who frequently purchase any type of game is 41 (Entertainment

Software Association), and it seems odd to target advertisements for a Nancy Drew game

at 41-year-olds. This seems to be more like a cereal situation—the commercials target the

kids who get their parents to buy what they want.

Of course, targeting a certain demographic won’t and shouldn’t stop other

demographics from using the product if they want to. For instance, the television show,

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, was made and marketed for young girls but ended

up attracting a demographic of 20- to 35-year-old men. Nancy herself has men who play

her games, the most prominent example being Michael Gray, a 26-year-old known as

Arglefumph on YouTube, who makes very popular Nancy Drew game walkthroughs.

Products need to be accessible to as many people as possible, so it’s best that ads don’t

try to alienate any age group or gender, even if females are specifically being targeted.

The ads should also not alienate the parents who might purchase it for their child. Most of

the Nancy Drew games are rated E for everyone and the ads should reflect that rating.

It’s important to focus on recruiting new players because if they get one game and

like it, there are 26 other Nancy Drew computer games they might want to solve. After

all, the Entertainment Software Association (2011) said that one of the main reasons

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gamers make a purchase is if it’s a sequel to a favorite game. A lot of the kids who played

the games when they first came out in 1998 are still playing today, 14 years later.

Children and teens have time to play these games and marketing should serve to convert

them to loyal users. Another statistic to pay attention to is that 65 percent of players play

games with other people in person (Entertainment Software Association). This is an

important statistic for the Nancy Drew games in particular. The first scenario is that a

family is playing together—mother and daughter or siblings—and that’s good because if

the gaming experience doubles as a bonding experience, the two participants are more

likely to purchase more games in the future. The second scenario is if a young child has a

friend over to their house and they play Nancy Drew together, that interaction can lead to

the creation of a new customer.

In an ideal situation, the love for Nancy Drew games will spread among a group

of friends and they’ll become loyal Nancy Drew game players who ask for the new game

every Christmas, start buying the games for themselves as they get older and then

eventually share the games with their children, who will share them with their friends and

keep the cycle going. Getting the friends involved is important because it will turn Nancy

Drew into a common interest and activity so that every time a new game comes out

children will have to get it to be a member of the “club” and to try to solve the mystery

first and earn bragging rights and so on.

Targeting 20-year-olds and older doesn’t make sense because they’re past the age

of “play dates” and are unlikely to start playing Nancy Drew games if they haven’t

already done so. The trick is to attract new players, welcome them into the Nancy Drew

community and get them to the point where they’ve solved so many cases that Nancy

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Drew games become a part of their identity. That way, when they’re in their 20s, they

won’t think twice about buying a game for 10-year-olds and up. Her Interactive is already

reaping the benefits of this system, even though their advertising is limited. Current

promotion of the games comes from seeing the product in-store, trailers on YouTube, the

Nancy Drew PC Games Facebook page, Facebook ads and school book fairs. It’d be

interesting to see how games sales would change if a Nancy Drew commercial ran on the

on some kids shows every once and a while.

-Relevant demographics: Female, ages 10-18, mainly targeting the elementary and

middle school-aged children with a family size of 2-4, so that family members and

playmates can work together on the game.

-Behaviors: Purchase occasion—this should be what kids are asking their parents for on

birthdays and holidays, as well as what they’re giving each other. Targeting potential

users, first time users and nonusers with the hopes of turning them into strong or absolute

loyal users of the Nancy Drew games.

-Psychographics: Girls of all types should be able to play the Nancy Drew games, but

Nancy herself is ambitious, lives a goal-oriented lifestyle and actively seeks out

information. The girls who enjoy these games the most are probably the thinkers,

achievers and experiencers. As Strategic Business Insights (2012) said, thinkers “value

order, knowledge and responsibility;” they “actively seek out information” and are “well-

informed about world.” Nancy Drew games are all about locating and using information,

and aside from the constant trespassing and stealing, Nancy is incredibly responsible. The

games are set all over the world, locations include: Ireland, Germany, Japan and Egypt.

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Strategic Business Insights (SBI) said that “Achievers have goal-oriented lifestyles.” So,

they will appreciate the task list included in the games and the fact that every game has a

goal: solve a mystery, catch a culprit. SBI also said that “Image is important to

Achievers; they favor established, prestige products and services that demonstrate

success to their peers.” Nancy’s games are established and prestigious; there are 27 of

them, and they’ve won tons of awards—all listed on the Her Interactive website.

Additionally, the games offer in-game achievements that can be won and are announced

at the end of each game—thus giving players an opportunity to “demonstrate success to

their peers.” Meanwhile, experiencers are into entertainment, and each Nancy Drew game

offers an entertaining experience. Her Interactive’s product is an experience. Lastly,

survivors will like that Her Interactive occasionally puts a game on sale and that they can

find some of the games in-store for as little as $4.99.

-Benefits Sought: Good taste—nonviolent, semi-educational, high quality—good

mystery, good suspects, good puzzles and challenges, good price—some of the older

games are only $4.99 and newer are $19.99. Also, Her Interactive does discounts through

their Facebook page sometimes, status—member of the “Nancy Drew Clue Crew,”

something to do when a friend comes over or to bond with family, also bragging rights

for earning certain awards, completing challenges without help and so on.

-Geographic: Not placing limits on this, Nancy Drew is a role model and ads should run

wherever young girls are.

3. The most useful methods of segmentation are behavioristic and demographic. Her

Interactive’s main specification is that the Nancy Drew games are made for girls, and

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that’s about it. The plan here was to look at the behaviors that the company wants to

cultivate—the behavior of current fans—and then narrow down an age range from there.

Many players who started playing the games when they first came out in 1998 are still

playing them, so it’s important to go after those younger players who will become the next

generation of loyal Nancy Drew games players and spread the love for the game to their

friends. The psychographic analysis would likely be more helpful if Her Interactive wasn’t

marketing to children.

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Product Situation Analysis

The Company

The first Nancy Drew Adventure game, Secrets Can Kill, came out in 1998.

According to Barton’s interview with Jessica Chiang, a marketing producer, Her

Interactive’s history actually began with American Laser Games, which went bankrupt in

1995 (2010). Before making the Nancy Drew games, Her Interactive made McKenzie &

Co. games, which Chiang said were among the first computer games to be marketed for

girls. After creating a Vampire Diaries game, the company acquired the license to the

Nancy Drew character and started making the Nancy Drew adventure games. There are

currently 27 Nancy Drew adventure games and a new game, The Deadly Device, has just

been announced. Nancy is now Her Interactive’s main focus, as Chiang said, “That’s a

very empowering female character. She’s smart; she’s forceful; she’s intelligent.

Everyone wants to be Nancy Drew. Plus, who hasn’t read Nancy Drew?”

On the Her Interactive’s “about us” page, the company’s core values are defined

as “Quality in Games—synergy of high quality elements to create fun and engaging

games, Quality in Environment—a fun, productive, and respectful workplace, Quality in

Staff—smart, creative, and resourceful employees” (2011). The goal, or “vision,” of the

company is to be the “undisputed leader in creating high quality, fun and inspiring games

for girls of all ages.” The products offered by the company include 27 Nancy Drew

Adventures series games, strategy guides for games six-25, two Nancy Drew Dossier

Series games, The Hardy Boys: Treasure on the Tracks Nintendo DS game, The White

Wolf of Icicle Creek for Wii and a Nancy Drew mobile mystery, Shadow Ranch,

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available for iPad, iPhone or iPod. The company also launched a merchandise store with

Ivoke, and the merchandise is only available online.

The Nancy Drew computer games have sold over 10 million copies since 1998

and have been the No. 1 PC mystery franchise since 2004, outselling big names, such as

Harry Potter and Tomb Raider (Nieuwenhuis, 2011a; “Her Interactive,” 2004). Chiang

clarified that the outselling was possible because Her Interactive has a larger quantity of

games than the other titles. Even though the games are available for purchase from many

different retailers, Alibi in Ashes, reached 1,579 on Amazon’s Best Sellers Rank in the

category of video games. The game before it, Captive Curse, reached 2,143—2nd in Mac

Games and 27th in PC games.

Her Interactive’s success was a surprise to many people. When Her Interactive

tried to sell the first Nancy Drew game, many sellers wouldn’t touch it because they

thought that girls were technophobes (Barton, 2010; Herold, 2000). Luckily the skeptics

were wrong and the games sold well. Now, the games, and the company behind them,

have a great reputation. Her Interactive’s website has an entire page devoted to all of the

awards that the games have won. The games consistently win Parents' Choice Gold

Awards in the Best Software category for ages 10 and older. In the past, games have won

iParenting Media Awards, awards from Children’s Software Revue, and the early games

won various awards from Amazon, such as Best Software of 2000, Best Children’s

Software of 2001 and Editor’s Choice. According to Nieuwenhuis, the Chief Creative

Strategy Officer of Her Interactive, Megan Gaiser, won an honorary trailblazer award at

Indiecase (2011b). The award “honors pioneering videogame industry veterans whose

careers and contributions embody the indie spirit and provide inspiration to others.”

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Gaiser also made it onto lists as “one of the Game Industry's 100 Most Influential

Women by Next Generation and one of the Top 10 Most Influential Women of the

Decade by Kotaku.” All these awards point to the fact the Her Interactive has a good

reputation among the gaming community, consumers and parents of the consumers.

The Product

Product description and positioning

The Nancy Drew adventure games have different prices, depending on how long

the game has been out, if the game is a physical copy or a digital download and where the

games are purchased. Two of the games have been discontinued, but the rest are typically

priced at $4.99, $9.99, $14.99 or $19.99. The games can be purchased from the Her

Interactive website, Amazon, Walmart, Target, Fred Meyer, Best Buy, Toys “R” Us and

numerous other retail stores.

In 2000, the New York Times writer, Herold, called the Nancy Drew games the

“Un-Barbie.” This is an important development because there actually are two Detective

Barbie computer games, one released in 1998 and the second in 2001. Although the

Barbie games are discontinued now, the existence of the Barbie mystery games help in

discussing differentiating qualities in adventure/mystery games. Her Interactive often

states that the Nancy Drew games out-sell Harry Potter games. Because Harry Potter is

character also based on books and frequently compared to the Nancy Drew games in

terms of sales, the Potter games are also valuable to compare and contrast Nancy’s games

with. One difference, possibly the most notable, is that players never see Nancy in the

games. In Harry Potter and Barbie games, players control the characters; they lead them

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around, watch them walk and listen to conversations they have. Her Interactive has a

phrase used in-game and in trailers, “It’s up to you as Nancy Drew,” which is appropriate

because players control Nancy and are Nancy. They see what she sees, they choose what

she says from a dialogue list and they get around by clicking arrows. Nancy Drew

adventure games provide a more interactive experience than other adventure games.

Another difference is that Nancy Drew games can be played as a senior detective or a

junior detective. Each mode has different puzzles, and junior mode is easier than senior

mode. The Barbie and Harry Potter computer games only have one level of difficulty. In

Harry Potter, if a player gets stuck on a timed Quidditch challenge, they’re just stuck. If a

player gets stuck on a challenge in a Nancy Drew game on senior detective mode, they

can start a game in junior mode and that puzzle will probably be easier. Nancy Drew

games also often hints in various forms, such as a hint hotline on Nancy’s cell phone or

advice from Nancy’s friends, Bess, George, Ned and the Hardy Boys.

In her conversation with Barton, Chiang says that the Nancy Drew games are

difficult, which is why so many fans of the game play with friends, siblings or parents

(2010). However, the Barbie games were fairly simple. For instance, in the Carnival

Caper game, clues would light up under a magnifying glass but all the clues did was to

lead the player to another location; they didn’t reveal anything about the culprit. In Nancy

Drew games, clues, like keys, papers and other items, can be picked up and carried

around to solve puzzles. The clues logically lead to other clues and eventually to a

solution. Another key difference between typical adventure games and Nancy Drew

games is that Nancy Drew games always have the same endings but sometimes one part

is changed depending on players’ actions during the game. Players can also unlock

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special titles and bloopers by doing certain things during the game. However, in the

Detective Barbie games, the culprit was randomized each time the game was played and

there was no way to figure out the crook’s identity until the end. Harry Potter games are

more individualized, and though games will usually end the same, player’s actions still

matter for things like how many Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans or wizard cards were

collected. Of course, the thing that differentiates the Nancy Drew games from other

games in the adventure category is the fact the games are solvable mysteries, nonviolent

and made specifically for girl players.

Although some features and benefits were discussed in the differentiating

qualities paragraph, there are still more to discuss. Continuing on the topic of player

individuality, Nancy Drew games feature customizable options in the in-game phone,

occasionally in dress and in game settings. The games also have a second chance option,

which a player can use if they make a fatal error. If Nancy gets lost at sea and dies, the

players don’t have to replay the entire game, they can choose “second chance” and try to

avoid whatever killed them the first time. Historical information and chances to use real-

life logic are other common features in Nancy Drew games. A benefit is that children

learn and don’t mind doing so. In one game, Nancy travels by a bicycle and if the player

tries to ride it without first putting on a helmet, Nancy dies. Junior detective mode

features a task list, so if a player doesn’t have time to play the game for a few days, when

they come back, they’ll have a list of everything they need to do. The games also feature

reoccurring characters, jokes and allusions to other games that loyal Nancy Drew fans

will enjoy. These inside jokes give fans something to talk and laugh about together and

help to turn people who play the games into an unofficial club.

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The main use of a Nancy Drew is to entertain and challenge the customer. Yet, as

will be discussed further in the section about current customers, avid Her Interactive fans

often use the games as competitions, bonding experiences and distractions from their

every day lives. Likewise, while the main goal of every Nancy Drew game is to solve the

mystery and catch the culprit, players can play the game to see how fast they can finish it,

to find “Easter eggs” hidden by the game creators and to win special awards at the end of

the game, sometimes including a blooper reel.

Because the Nancy Drew adventure games are the main focus of Her Interactive,

the reputation of the company and the games are essentially the same. As established in

the history section, the games have won many awards. Meanwhile, Her Interactive’s

Nancy Drew PC Games Facebook page has 113,675 likes. The games have also spawned

several Tumblr fan accounts, such as littlenancydrewthings, sarahplaysnancydrew,

daretoplay and others. Fans also post video walkthroughs of the games on YouTube.

Arglefumph is the most popular. His 23-video walkthrough for Alibi in Ashes totals

nearly 338,000 views.

Product sales

As stated earlier, the Nancy Drew Adventure games have sold over 10 million

copies since 1998, have been the No. 1 PC mystery franchise since 2004 and sell better

than popular games, such as Harry Potter and Tomb Raider (Nieuwenhuis, 2011a; “Her

Interactive,” 2004). Although the games don’t appear to break into the top 100 Ranking

under the video game category, the games often make it into the top 100 lists for Mac and

PC adventure games on Amazon. As of March 22, 2012 in the category of bestseller in

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Mac Adventure Games, The Captive Curse, Secrets Can Kill Remastered and Shadow at

the Water’s Edge are in the top ten. This development is especially important because of

the 27 games, only six of them are compatible with Macintosh computers. With the new

games being more accessible, sales for the company seem to be stronger than ever. Her

Interactive wouldn’t have been able to make nearly 30 games if no one was purchasing

them.

The Market

Current customers:

Although the boxes recommend the games for girl age 10 and older, Chiang

described the majority of Her Interactive’s customers as between 12- and 16-years-old

(Barton, 2010). She also mentioned that women aged 35-years-old and older were excited

about the games, because they grew up with the books. “Once they play it, they share it

with their daughters…you’ve got generations of women who are playing Nancy Drew

together,” Chiang told Matt Barton on his YouTube series, Matt Chat.

Her Interactive’s website hosts five pages of fan testimonials, after scanning the

first page, certain patterns began to emerge. The type of Nancy Drew fans avid enough to

write a testimonial were often introduced to the games as elementary school students,

frequently in second grade. Many fans that started playing the games in the 90s have been

playing the games for over eight years and are now over 20-years-old, but still continue

to purchase and play the games. Although the majority of customers were girls, several

testimonials were from boys and one testimonial revealed the existence of a 65-year-old

Sunday School teacher who plays the games. Some received the games as presents, while

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others found the game in the library, in various stores, on an order form or in a school

book fair.

Fans of the games often commented on how fun, challenging, exciting and scary

the games could be. They often shared the games and/or gaming experience with friends,

siblings and parents. One customer recounted how the games helped get her through her

first pregnancy, another explained how the games helped her bond with her college

roommates and one boy said the games helped distract him from her mother’s death. In

other words, the games, like the books, are a form of escape, distraction and club. Some

stated an intention to one day introduce their children to the Nancy Drew mysteries.

Although many of them have read the books, others simply enjoy the games. Many

mentioned their appreciation for the educational value of the games, which often discuss

historical figures, such as Marie Antoinette, Edgar Allen Poe and Nikola Tesla and

contain puzzles, riddles and quick thinking. As one boy, Bryce, put it, “I cannot even

count how many times a day I say, ‘I learned it from a Nancy Drew game.’” Bex, a

customer, said that she and her male cousin would race to see who could beat the games

first. Herold (2000) had a few ideas about reasons why girls like the games, “Girls like a

reason for what they're doing, they like a story, they like character interaction.

HerInteractive created games to fulfill these criteria.” He also said that girls like the

Nancy Drew games because they like mysteries.

Target market:

The market this campaign is targeting is girls between the ages of 10 and 18, with

an emphasis on the elementary and middle-school-aged children, who have a family size

of 2-4 members. The ads will target potential users, nonusers and first time users.

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Hopefully after becoming aware of the product they’ll be moved to action, either

purchasing or asking their parents to purchase one game. Then, that first game should

convince them to buy the others as well and to spread the games among their friends.

New customers will be seeking benefits from the Nancy Drew games, such as

good pricing. Although new games are priced at $19.99, older games can be purchased

from the Her Interactive website for as little as $9.99 and stores sometimes sell them for

$4.99. Players, and their parents, will be glad that the games are in good taste. They’re

nonviolent, semi-educational and are fun to play and replay—the perfect leisure activity.

The games are also high quality; they provide good mysteries, suspects and challenges.

The games also provide something to do when a friend comes over, family bonding and

the opportunity to earn “bragging rights” for earning certain awards, completing

challenges without help and so on. A Nancy Drew game is the perfect present for any

occasion, and the new release of any new game is an occasion in its own right. Any girl

should enjoy the opportunity to play detective. Possibly the most important feature of the

game is that the players plays as Nancy but never sees her, this allows any player to see

themselves as Nancy. Although Nancy is a Caucasian character established in the 1930s,

any girl of any race still see herself as Nancy. Characters of all ethnicities appear

throughout the series. Also, the games provide travel opportunities, taking players to

exotic locations, such as Japan and Egypt.

Product SWOT analysis

Strengths:

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The games feature an iconic female role model. The games have quality and

quantity, in that there are many games available and they are all high quality. The new

games work on Macintosh and PC computers. The Nancy Drew PC Games Facebook

page keeps fans updated on everything going on in the company and in game

development. Her Interactive often runs promotions on Facebook, such as opportunities

to win merchandise, to use a discount on a digital download or to get one’s picture into

the next game. The newest game, Tomb of The Lost Queen just was released to the

public, and the next game, The Deadly Device was announced. Her Interactive just

worked with the Make-A-Wish foundation and dedicated Tomb of the Lost Queen to

Rachel Vaughn; her pictures can be seen throughout the game. An online merchandise

store, available on the Her Interactive website, was just launched. Her Interactive just

announced a new user interface; one of the changes includes a basic task list for Senior

Detectives, which fans are excited about. Her Interactive now ships the games anywhere

in the world.

Weaknesses:

Digital copies can have glitches in the downloading process. The games are so

difficult that some players give up and never return to them. Recent games have been too

scary for some players. A fan favorite, Stay Tuned for Danger, has been discontinued and

Her Interactive doesn’t currently have plans to re-master it. Some of the older games only

work on PC computers. Her Interactive has limited advertisements. Although the

company posts trailers on YouTube and ads in the backs of some Nancy Drew books, the

games don’t appear on television.

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Opportunities:

According to the Entertainment Software Association (2011), 72 percent of

American households play computer or video games. Forty-two percent of gamers are

women, which signals a cultural shift toward more women playing video games than in

the past. As a company that makes computer games specifically for women, Her

Interactive stands to profit from this trend. Americans are also spending more money on

video games. Americans spent $15.9 billion dollars on games in 2010, which is $4.2

million dollars more than they spent in 2008. Her Interactive seems to have more

potential buyers than ever before, now might be a good time to place some Nancy Drew

games on the end caps of popular stores, such as Walmart and Target. Another important

trend is that 45 percent of parents play computer or video games with their children—

weekly (Entertainment Software Association). An increase in parent-child game play is

an opportunity for Her Interactive because parents are more likely to purchase new or

upcoming games if they are part of a bonding experience and not just a solo activity for

the child. Once Her Interactive holds a place in the hearts of the people as a bonding

activity, the games gain more importance. A good opportunity might be to be featured in

a parenting magazine as a good mother-daughter bonding activity.

Threats:

Competition in the gaming world is fiercer than ever, now that applications for

phones and other devices are so popular. These games are always accessible, cheap,

portable and fairly hassle-free. According to Entertainment Software Association, 55

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percent of gamers play games on their phones or handheld device. Her Interactive is

trying to turn a threat into an opportunity by releasing an iPhone version of the Nancy

Drew Shadow Ranch game, but their main product is the computer game and any money

that’s being spent on apps could have been put toward a Nancy Drew computer game.

Likewise, any time spent on the forever-present apps, is potential time being taken away

from Nancy Drew computer game time. Why do computer games even need to exist

anymore when you can fit nearly infinite free games in the palm of your hand?

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Advertising Objectives

Because Her Interactive hasn’t done any major advertising until now, the primary

objective of the ads should be the create awareness of the product. You can’t know that

you want something if you’ve never seen it before. Although many current fans like the

Nancy Drew games because they’ve read the books, there are other fans who have never

read the books and simply like the mysteries. Essentially, children who know who Nancy

Drew is but have never heard of the games should be informed by the ad, and children

who don’t know who Nancy Drew is but like the idea of solving a mystery should also be

informed by the ad. The secondary objective of this ad is to convert nonusers to users.

Hopefully simply seeing a bit of the game play will get children interested enough to

want to try the games, bring it up to their parents or buy the games themselves. The

tertiary objective is to build the product image of quality. The quality of the games is one

of the most important things to Her Interactive; and because the games are high quality,

showing actual game play should be enough to start establishing that image. All of the

objectives work together by aiming to make nonusers aware of a product of quality.

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Creative Brief

The basic problem or opportunity the ad must address (What should consumers do

differently? Why?)

Because Her Interactive has done very minimal advertising, a lot of consumers

are not aware that Nancy Drew computer games exist. Therefore, they are also unaware

that the games are high quality, offer a bonding opportunity with family and friends and

allow the players to put their detective skills to use as Nancy.

The communication objectives (How will messages affect consumer knowledge, beliefs

and actions?)

The objectives are to create awareness of the product, convert nonusers to users

and to build an image of quality. Two of the campaign’s objectives—creating awareness

and converting nonusers to users—go hand in hand. According to the handy-dandy

advertising pyramid, creating awareness of a product is the first step in the process that

will eventually lead nonusers to take action, buy the product and become a user. In a best-

case scenario, awareness will happen alongside with comprehension—a basic

understanding of the product, conviction—of the product’s value, desire and the action of

either buying the product or asking a parent to buy it. Convincing consumers that Nancy

Drew games are quality products matches up with the advertising pyramid and is also one

of Her Interactive’s main goals as a company. The fact of the matter is that the games are

high quality, so any game play shown or conversation regarding the game should reflect

that.

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The target audience (Who is the target audience and what is their shared need that the

brand can fulfill?)

The target audience is girls between the ages of 10- and 18-years-old. They are

looking for something interesting, exciting and/or challenging to spend some time on and

to share with their friends and/or family. They may or may not recognize Nancy Drew

from her book series. They may be interested in the game because they like mysteries,

because they’re academically inclined or because they have a group of friends who are

part of the fandom. They may be seeking a physical copy of the game or a digital copy,

which they can download without leaving the comfort of their home. Because some

games are priced as low as $4.99, the girls don’t need a lot of money to be able to afford

the games, although newer games are usually priced at $19.99. Of course, the secondary

target audience is the parents and grandparents of girls between the ages of 10- and 18-

years-old, who might witness the ad and identify the product as a good gift idea.

The brand personality or brand character:

-How the brand addresses the shared need

Children often complain about how bored they are, and Nancy Drew computer

games make the perfect remedy. They’re entertaining and challenging, which means they

can be time-consuming. At the very least, the games provide something to do, and once

the games are beaten the first time, they can still be replayed over and over again. This

phenomenon of needing something to do also transfers over to when friends are over and

children need something to do together. Nancy Drew games are good for those situations

as well.

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Additionally, the games operate similarly to the books in that people can escape

into them, become another person, solve mysteries and forget about their own troubles

for a while.

-How the brand experience should be defined

Other than simply providing a product to take up time, the games are useful in

that children learn things while playing them. Fans of the games, such as Bryce, often

find themselves saying, “I learned that in a Nancy Drew game” (Fan testimonials, 2012).

In real life, and in circles of friends, participation in the Nancy Drew game experience

can be somewhat of a status symbol, allowing people to brag about how long it took them

to beat a new game, what achievements they earned by the end or what title the game

awarded them. Fans can also speculate on which suspect is the culprit, as well as help

each other out when they get stuck on a certain challenge or puzzle. Fans of the games

are fairly present in online communities; they compete to get their picture put in the

games on Her Interactive’s Facebook page, they post video walkthroughs and parodies on

YouTube, and they post all sorts of comments, thoughts and jokes about the games on

Tumblr.

The brand experience is so challenging that it often ends up being a bonding

experience with family members, roommates and friends playing together. It’s important

to remember that the games have been around for a while, since 1998, and so another part

of the brand experience is that there are 26 more games to play once you’ve played the

first one. Her Interactive also recently launched a merchandise store, so fans can have

iPhone cases, mugs and shirts featuring content from the games.

-The personality of the brand

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Herold and Barton (2000; 2010) said the games first used the benefit statement,

“For girls who aren’t afraid of a mouse.” In the past, when girls were considered

technophobic, it was difficult for girl gamers to find a game that was adventurous and

tailored for their gender. Thus “for girls” signified that the games were made specifically

with female players in mind, while the bit about the mouse was a way of saying that the

girls would face actual challenges. Both parts were benefits as it was rare to find such

games.

Currently, Her Interactive has two benefit statements, which are often seen

together. The trailer for the latest game, Tomb of the Lost Queen, on

HerInteractiveGames’ YouTube Channel (2012) contains both of Her Interactive’s

current statements, “Dare to play” and “It’s up to you as Nancy Drew.” The “dare to

play” has essentially the same connotation as the mouse, which is that the games are

challenging and only the smart, brave and daring will be up for the challenge. It also

cleverly taps into the truth or dare game, in which children, often girls, feel compelled to

do whatever they are dared. Meanwhile, “it’s up to you as Nancy Drew” implies that the

decisions that players make in the game are important, and that players will get to play as

the world famous, female detective, Nancy Drew. The fact that the player will be playing

as a female implies that the games were made for girls.

Because the games feature a cultural icon as the protagonist, the games also take

on some of Nancy characteristics or values. Nancy is driven, keeps calm under pressure

and is extremely intelligent. As a result, players always finish a mystery, even if they

receive threatening notes or if their friends, Bess Marvin and George Fayne, advise them

to give up. Players are expected to able to solve timed puzzles, put out fires and follow

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after hooded figures. Most importantly, they need to be able to reason, because solving a

mystery takes a lot of thought, from saying the right thing to suspects to figuring out how

to decipher codes to piloting a jet pack.

Her Interactive, like Nancy, can be referred to as somewhat as a perfectionist. The

company’s goal is to be the “undisputed leader in creating high quality, fun and inspiring

games for girls of all ages.” So, although there is currently no benefit statement that

directly addresses the quality of the games, the game graphics, plots and characters are all

high quality and speak for themselves.

-How the mood or tone of the ads can be matched to the personality of the brand

The mood of the ad could function as a challenge to the viewers, taking on the

spirit of the “dare to play” idea. It could show off features of the games by pairing the

script with corresponding game play footage that fits with the stated features. Because

this is the first ad that many people will see for the games, it should be structured as

somewhat of an introduction, letting the viewers know what Her Interactive and the

Nancy Drew adventures games are all about. The tone of the ad should reflect some of

the seriousness that Nancy displays in the game trailers, and because actual game play

should be shown, that will also help with the tone. Still, the ad should be somewhat

upbeat and inviting—not too scary, not too plain. Any dialogue should fit with the brand

personality. Any actor featured should be similar to Nancy herself, as far as ideas,

outlook and approach to daunting situations. Additionally, the Nancy Drew games or

trailers should use identifiable music or sound cues.

Benefits to communicate (ways in which product can satisfy consumer wants/needs)

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The games present opportunities to test one’s critical thinking skills, to choose

“second chance” to fix errors and to play with friends and family. Although Nancy talks,

players play the game as Nancy and control her without ever seeing all of her. Also, the

games are well made, with plots, graphics and characters all created to be high quality,

but are sold for reasonable prices. Good pricing allows more customers to be able to

afford the games. And, let’s not forget, the games are fun and offer a good chance for

players to escape from their lives into Nancy’s.

Support for those benefits (evidence that backs up the promised benefit)

Her Interactive’s website lists over 60 awards, which indicate that the games are

indeed high quality. The Internet, Her Interactive’s five long fan testimonial pages in

particular, provides a lot of anecdotal evidence about how the games made families

closer, children smarter and how people fell in love with the games. For instance, a fan

named Andrew said, “They're more than a CD-Rom, they're more than a game, they're a

tradition.” Miranda said, “I can now close my eyes and relive the sweaty palms and fast

heart rate I experienced when breaking into the castle's library. I learned so much from

that first game I played, and I was addicted.” Meanwhile, fans like Miriam prove that Her

Interactive’s gaming style is appreciated, “One of the things I absolutely love about these

games is how they're able to be wholesome, educational and still really fun.” The bottom

line is that Her Interactive wouldn’t be able to keep making the games, if people weren’t

enjoying them, but they’ve been making the games for nearly 14 years and have 27

games.

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Additional suggestions regarding style, approach and tone of the ad

Because the goal of the ad is to reach 10- to 18-year-olds, it’s important to

consider where to place the ad so that the target audience will see it. In this case, although

kids magazines exist, a commercial would be much more effective than a print ad. With

creating awareness as a major goal, maximum visibility is important.

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Creative Concept: TV Ad

Link: http://youtu.be/-L_7H4_uYBg or http://goo.gl/WuhRP

Script: “I believe in second chances. That every problem has a solution. I'm not just

another meddling kid. I'm a senior detective, and you can call me Nancy.”

Analysis of Script:

“I believe in second chances” – Reference to “Second Chance” feature of the game, if a

player dies, they can go back to the moment before they died and make a different

decision.

“That every problem has a solution” – Paired with the classic “It’s Locked” situation in

Nancy Drew games.

“I'm not just another meddling kid” – Indirect Scooby-Doo allusion, connotation that

Nancy takes herself seriously.

“I'm a senior detective” – Reference to in-game options: Senior Detective mode or Junior

Detective mode; the one a player selects affects the difficulty of their puzzles.

“And you can call me Nancy” – Reference to how every player plays as Nancy and is a

part of the Nancy Drew community, ties into “It’s up to you as Nancy Drew.”

Video Breakdown:

The Nancy Drew theme music from the older games was used because it’s highly

recognizable. Hearing it should create or trigger an audio cue for viewers. The “It’s up to

you as Nancy Drew” audio and the Her Interactive, Nancy Drew and Tomb of The Lost

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Queen elements were pulled straight from the Tomb of the Lost Queen trailer. That’s

classic Her Interactive branding.

The game play seen in the ad is from The Final Scene, Treasure in the Royal

Tower and Warnings at Waverly Academy. The mask on the top of the desk could be

taken as a reference to The Phantom of Venice. The game up on the screen is Shadow at

the Water’s Edge. The physical copies of the games on the desk are: Final Scene, Danger

by Design and three others, which are unidentifiable.

The actor is a fifteen-year-old girl—on the older side of the target market, which

should help attract younger players who idolize girls who are older than them. The girl is

nicely dressed, confident and, like Nancy, takes herself seriously. Additionally, most

games start out with Nancy showing players her desk, which Nancy says is her “center of

operations.” This ad mirrors that common intro. After all, the ad was designed to be an

introduction to the brand and to serve as an invitation: “Call me Nancy.”

Nancy Drew game boxes and books can be seen in the background. The Nancy

Drew yellow-bound books make a cameo to appeal to parents and children who have read

them. It’s possible that children have read the books but didn’t know about the game.

Meanwhile, parents will be more likely to buy a video game if it stars the main character

from a well-known book series.

The end shows two girls playing together, showing that the game can be a group

activity. Showing one person playing by themselves wouldn’t look as cool. A lot of

friends and families play the games together and the ad reflects that cultural trend.

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In a final version of this ad:

- The sections that ended up together would have been done in one-take.

- The diction would be cleaner and some of the inflection would have been

different.

- The game up on the computer screen would have been Tomb of the Lost Queen to

match the final image of the ad.

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Media Plan

Media Objectives

Audience objectives:

• To target girls aged 10-18 with families of 2-4 people

• To appeal to parents or grandparents who also happen to see the ad

Message-distribution objectives:

• Because this campaign is about introducing nonusers to the brand, we want the biggest

audience size possible. The goal is to generate mass awareness among the target market.

We’d like to aim for over 100,000,000 gross impressions.

• The Nancy Drew games are available in boxed form and as a digital copy downloaded

from the Internet. Therefore, it would make sense to run national ads, because the games

are available on a national level.

• This campaign will take advantage of the summer time, because the campaign targets

children, who usually have more time to partake in media once school is out. They will

also have time to complete a Nancy Drew Game, or all 27. The campaign has been

planned as if it had started on May 5, 2012. Although the full TV schedule has yet to be

announced, the ads on TV shows will run until the new episodes run out and the Internet

ads will go till September 1st.

• Seven is the magic number when it comes to desired frequency. However, the TV ads

will run once per episode and with one of the shows already well into its season, I’ll say

the lucky number is three, due to one of the shows already being in the middle of its

season. The ads should be fairly memorable.

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• To use media that will reach the target audience and to provide ads that will show that

the games are high quality, fun and mysterious.

Media Strategy

Classes of media to use in the campaign

The original plan was to run ads on broadcast and cable TV. Broadcast TV used

to run kids programming on Saturday mornings during segments such as “One Saturday

Morning,” Kids WB and ABC kids. However, most of those segments are gone, and the

kids programs that remain are either for children who are too young to be in Her’s target

market, or are shows like Yugioh, and don’t seem to be the most obvious place to

advertise Nancy Drew Games. Pace (2009) said that children are one of the hardest

markets to advertise to; however, cable stations that cater to children, such as Cartoon

Network, Disney or Nick, seem to be a good place to start.

With no applicable broadcast TV programs available, the next best thing would be

to advertise on a children’s website. Often times, however, children are not the only ones

on a children’s website. Take, for example, dino8268 on Neopets.com; he’s a father, and

he holds the high score for stamp collecting on Neopets. However, parents or other types

of people, who aren’t children but spend time on a children’s site, might also be inclined

to check out another thing intended for children, whether it be for their children or for

themselves. Still, there are children on children websites and since broadcast TV no

longer reaches girls 10-18 the way it used to, the Internet is a good place to advertise.

Especially considering how the Internet is more accessible to children than ever before—

it’s a growing medium.

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Media vehicles to use in the campaign

Many things factor into deciding where it would be best to advertise Nancy Drew

computer games: Is it something someone 10-18 would watch? Will a lot of girls watch

this show? Is this the type of show that someone who likes Nancy Drew Mystery games

would like? In regards to that last question, an obvious choice, as far as current

programming, is Scooby-Doo on Cartoon Network. As Herold (2000) said, “Everybody

loves a mystery.” Both the Scooby Gang and Nancy Drew are characters who have been

around for a long time and solve mysteries. Both Nancy Drew games and Scooby-Doo

shows are things that parents and children can watch or do together. Scooby-Doo!

Mystery Incorporated is the current Scooby-Doo show, and is said to be darker than the

previous Scoobies, which is good for Nancy, because her games are often scary. The

show has been nominated for a Kids' Choice Award for two years running. Although no

viewer information appears to be available for the show, it must be somewhat popular if

it was nominated for a Kids’ Choice Award. Although, Scooby-Doo! Mystery

Incorporated is currently on hiatus, What's New, Scooby-Doo? reruns are being shown on

Cartoon Network, and the ads could run during that time if the other Scooby show was to

be canceled.

Approaching this purely from the standpoint of shows that get the most views and are

likely to have a mostly female audience, a few live action shows on Nickelodeon would

be a good match. Both Carly from iCarly and Tori from Victorious are young lady leads

who serve as good role models. They’re fun to watch. iCarly has been around for 6

seasons and averaged out at 4.4 million viewers per episode during the show’s last

season. Victorious is on its third season and averaged 4.3 million in its last season.

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However, Victorious won the Favorite TV Show award at the 2012 Kids' Choice Awards,

made it on to a list of top-five kid programs (Kidscreen Staff, 2012) and appears to have

more viewers than iCarly in its current season. Between the two shows, Victorious would

be the best place for Her Interactive to advertise.

As far as advertising on a children’s website, Neopets comes to mind. Pace (2009)

said that girls comprise 60 percent of Neopets' audience and that 39 percent of users are

under the age of 12. The site has 189,000 likes on Facebook. Neopets.com has lots of

banner ad opportunities and is said to have coined the term “immersive advertising.” For

instance, games advertising breakfast cereals and other products often appear in the game

room. Perhaps a mini game, such as number punch from Alibi in Ashes, could be

uploaded to the site for a predetermined amount of time. There’s even an “advervideo”

game where players directly watch ads to receive neopoints. Other advertisers, such as

the Caprisun “Disrespectoids” and the Arthur Christmas movie, had their own interactive

page on the site for a while. Neopets came in at No. 13 on eBizMBA’s (2012) list of 15

popular kids websites. The site estimated that Neopets gets 1,800,000 estimated unique

monthly visitors.

Nick.com is the most popular children’s website, with 4,800,000 estimated unique

monthly visitors, according to eBizMBA. Viacom owns both Neopets and Nick, so

maybe some sort of advertising deal could be made there (Grabianowski, 2006).

Additionally, the commercial should be posted on YouTube on the

HerInteractiveGames channel. ABC Family and the Disney Channel have the rights to air

the Nancy Drew movie from 2007, so if they were ever to air the movie, it would be a

good opportunity to advertise there also.

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The final vehicle in this campaign is something Her Interactive is already

involved in: Facebook ads. Children are getting Facebooks younger and younger, and

Facebook (2012) gives the advertiser the ability to “choose your audience by location,

age and interests.” It’s a no-brainer.

Size/length of ads

A :30 commercial would run during Scooby-Doo and Victorious. Under

Facebook’s “sponsored” bar would be a picture of the box for the latest Nancy Drew

game, Tomb of the Lost Queen, with either a link off-site to purchase it, or the option to

like the Nancy Drew PC Games Facebook page. Neopets would run an animated banner

that would tease a scene from Tomb of the Lost Queen and link to Her Interactive’s

website.

Positioning of ads

New episodes of Victorious air on Mondays, 8/7 Central. The last episode of

Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated aired on a Friday, but the show could air at a

different time after coming back from the hiatus. The ad on the Neopets site will be a

banner at the top, and Facebook will continue to feature the games in the sponsored link

section.

Schedule of insertions

Victorious and Scooby Doo are both weekly shows. Victorious is already in the

middle of its season, while Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated is on hiatus but set to

return this May. Taking a continuous approach, the plan is to show one Nancy Drew

commercial during every new episode that airs. We estimate the number of remaining

episodes in each season to be 9 episodes for Victorious and 25 episodes for Scooby-Doo!

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Mystery Incorporated. The Nancy Drew ad should catch attention, but showing it twice

during one episode might seem like Her Interactive was trying too hard. Showing one

commercial per episode would keep the ad fresh and let the game keep an air of mystery.

The Neopets and Facebook ads have been designed to earn a maximum of

500,000 impressions per day, until September 1st. So, they’re on a continuous schedule

too.

Budget

Media Vehicle

Ad size/length

Cost per insertion

Frequency Total cost for schedule

Audience size (or rating)

CPM (or CPP)

Scooby :30 spot $9,700 25 $242,500 2,030,000* x 25 = 50,750,000

$4.78

Victorious :30 spot $9,700 9 $87,300 4,300,000 x 9 = 38,700,000

$2.26

Neopets Banner Ad See below

115 $94, 875 500,000 x 115 = 57,500,000

$1.65

Facebook Sponsored Link

See below

115 $86,250 500,000 x 115 = 57,500,000

$1.50

Totals $510,925 204,450,000 (max)

*We used the averaged viewers from The Looney Tunes Show, which airs on the same

channel, since Scooby didn’t have its own viewer analysis.

-Facebook: 500,000 impressions max per day, is $750.00 per day until September 1st.

That’s 115 days. 115 x $750.00 = $86,250

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-Neopets: We used pricing—1.65 CPM—from The Daily Neopets (2012), a Neopets fan

site. 500,000 impressions max per day. 1.65 x 500 = 825 x 115 = $94, 875

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References

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