Hey guys...been a way for a while. Lost a few family members to cancer and have decided to only chime in when I have some value to ad. I don't know much about making a pinball machine or repairing one, but I do know a lot about marketing. If you are interested in this topic would love your feedback. Also, Colton got paid for Felix, my LOTR is still broken, KLOV banned me again...that should settle us up Enjoy.

Have you ever wondered why Pinball marketing and communication is usually so poor? As someone who’s worked in marketing for 15 years, the answers are quite simple. Some are quite obvious, others not so much. But here’s why Pinball marketing and communication leaves many of us endlessly frustrated for years.

1. It doesn’t need much marketing at all: Pinball has a rabid following. I’ve never been on a forum where people are so actively wanting more. Which is a good thing. And anyone who’s looking to sell a new pin knows that. There’s far more demand for new pins than supply. So you don’t need to drum up a lot of interest, initially. It’s already there.

(important note: this does not apply to new IPs and unlicensed games. Look at AMH, that kind of theme needs a lot more marketing help to get people emotionally connected to the game. That connection may not even be possible considering every other option out there is tapping into HUGE equity that the male buyer is into: TBL, WWE, Hobbit, Ironman, etc.). Now imagine if Spooky had a better them out right now while everyone is frustrated with the waiting game. Spooky could have sold 1,000 Predators right now. Selling a licensed game will help their marketing 1000x.

2. Pinball marketing starts with bang and ends with a whimper: this is the complete opposite of effective marketing. When you have something special, you want to slowly build excitement over time. And you never show anything final until it’s ready to be made the next day. Mostly all boutiques hype the hell out of their game on day one. They do this because they are trying to raise capital, not market a product. And this is a VERY important point. Usually there isn’t even a product to market when guys like Skit-B announce a title. There’s simply a dream. In my honest opinion, this approach is amateur and not professional at all. They should be giving that sales pitch to investors, showing them how pinball can make money and using other people’s money to make the pin and THEN reveal it to the world with proper marketing. If they had done that, they could have charged $7,500 - $8,000 per pin because you know what? People would pay for that theme and a working pin if they could have it in a week. And this is just one example. Look at Lebowski. They came out strong, but then waa waa. No games ready. A whistle blowing soap opera ensued. And then all of a sudden a company that looked like pros was knocked back into looking like “just another sloppy boutique”. Now I think Dutch will be fine, but what a waste of an amazing reveal. That reveal should have been made when license was locked and games were ready to be made next month. Again, they would have sold LOTS more if this were the case.

3. You can’t turn on marketing before a release date is set. This is marketing 101. We work backwards from a release date. 100% of the time. Oreo doesn’t come to me and say, “Well, we’d love to make Red Velvet Oreos, not sure when they’ll be ready, but go get people excited!” Instead, it’s “They’ll be out on February 2.” And we know that date about 6 months in advance. Now I’m not saying a pinball company can operate with this level of certainty (building pinball is harder than making OREOS), BUT it can be done.

4. You can’t say how much something will cost until you know for sure. This one really separates the men from the boys. Part of marketing is selling people on, what we call, RTBs (reasons to believe). One major RTB in pinball is price. A pinball marketer wants people to feel they can get “THAT EXPERIENCE” for “THIS PRICE.” I spend countless nights pondering why people price their games the way they do. I love JPOP and I know his games will prove to be worth it, but he had a price out there BEFORE he embarked on his journey. Again, like most boutiques, he needed the capital to get things moving, but this approach, as I mentioned before, is really a recipe for disaster. 4 years later, John has made MG something truly spectacular and with the amount of effort and innovation found in MG, it’s easily 2-3X more than anything on the market. But besides production cost, there’s also exclusivity and prestige elements that some of these boutiques need to factor into price. Do you think Ferrari does not charge you A LOT more for the badge? They do. JPOP is building the Ferrari of pins and should price it accordingly. My point about price is once these guys are locked into a price, that’s it. They can’t change it. Or else they come across as liars and swindlers. But then they have to stick to something that could make their company fail. It’s a vicious cycles that needs to stop. Games should be priced AFTER they are done. That’s what car companies do. That’s what all real companies do.

5. Pinside is nightmare for a communication’s professional: When I worked in the video game industry, we didn’t really care about the enthusiast sites. Why? Because we knew they’d buy the game no matter what. Same is true for Pinside. Pinside often demands info/answers on a minute by minute basis, but if I’m Kevin at Skit-B, why would I bother coming on? He knows that if he makes the game, you’ll buy it. He knows that if loses the license, he’s fucked. Coming onto a forum to ease fears is something he would do if HE COULD ease fears. He can’t. So what’s the point? Also there’s just so many people who are not even in on a game weighing in that it’s a futile place to have a discussion. If I were handling a Pinball company’s PR, I would not ignore pinside, but I would not jump into threads very often. But again, if I were handling a company’s marketing / PR, we would not even get to the point where bad threads would occur. The only time you’d hear from me would moments that blew your socks off and got you super excited to by my pin.

6. Lack of marketing expertise in the industry. While there’s many many talented pinball makers / designers out there, when it comes to great marketers / communications professionals involved with pinball, the number is low. Mainly because of reason #1, it doesn’t require a full-time day job to do it. Marketing however is a skill that needs to be learned over time. Same with communications. What people embarking on a pinball venture don’t realize is the role of your communications person is often to STOP YOU from talking. And often times when you’re MOST EXCITED. No communications pro would have said, “Mission Accomplished” for Predator, or “December 17 Reveal for Magic Girl”. People may think PR / Marketing is easy…just be transparent and everything will be OK. That is 100% not true at all. The best rule is to speak when it’s time to speak. And never promise something you can’t deliver.

7. There’s only one company doing it right. Code issues aside, Stern Pinball is the only company that operates like a real company. They have someone in a dedicated communications role. Jody is a great guy and I enjoyed working with him on our RadioShack (god bless them) / Ironman tournament. They don’t reveal a game until it’s ready to ship soon. This means they are never behind schedule, never caught in a lie, never under-delivering. It also means they can market their games properly. Now that being said, I do feel Stern’s marketing could go above and beyond. Just pulling back the drape at CES for WWE? They could have done something more with wrestlers. I would have sold LE games only to people who uploaded a video of themselves ripping off their shirt like a Hulk-A-Maniac. Your initial payment would be mailing the ripped shirt to Stern. Just SO MUCH you could do with that fun theme. But like I said in #1, they know they don’t have to do much because nobody is even on their level. If you want to go buy a new game, there’s a good chance that 95% of the time it would have to be a Stern. They must be laughing everyday to the bank, especially when their only competition is busy brushing Smaug’s teeth for months.

I know this is a lot. But the key take things to remember are:

- Pre-Order hype is piss poor marketing and will only make you suffer
- Communication will improve when companies seek out that expertise
- You can’t build a game and a marketing plan separately
- A great game will sell itself
- Pinball is fun, but hard to make

Oh my friend. So much of the pain on pinside would settle if real marketing was taking place. Again, marketing is more than just the parts meant to excite us. The behind the scenes work of putting a plan in place and keeping a lid on info before it's time is where the expertise comes into play. Have you seen one pinball machine launch recently where you said, "they really did a great job launching that game?"

Actually the kind of marketing required for pinball is not very expensive at all. Simply because you don't have to spend ANY money to drum up excitement. Well hardly any. If you have a new, unknown product, then yes, you'd have to place ads where people would see them. You'd have to really spend a lot to get people aware. But Pinball doesn't have an awareness issue. It has a communications issue and product promise issue.

While I agree that I would drop the largest chunk of my marketing dollars on a license, I do think to grow the buyer base, pinball companies should look outside of the enthusiast space. Take Magic Girl...that game would appeal to the person who just wants the finest examples of things. Those kind of guys aren't lurking on message boards. There's a huge pinball loving world out there and only 1% is on pinside.

Imagine if Magic Girl had a feature story in the New York Times. John would have guys who own hedge funds and love pinball banging down his door to get the pin.

So it's a combination of better communications planning and making sure your marketing follows your product development schedule, and not the other way around.

But very good points.

Exactly. Dutch was on fire. Their expo reveal was perfect. What I wouldn't have done was just plop the games in the back of Modern like they did. You set the stage perfectly. Playing lebowski in a hotel room with white russians flowing. Then you bring it to a place that doesn't serve booze? No dice. Part of marketing is consistency

Well, thanks...I've been checked up since. It's hit the women on my Mom's side. And my mom was just diagnosed with breast cancer, which sucks. But it's stage 1 and all the tests are looking good.

Was the Stern TWDLE lie with regards to making a Premium? When they said they wouldn't. If that's the case, then yes, that type of disingenuous act is not good for business at all. The problem is Stern can abuse us all because there are no other options. Competition helps us as buyers. But right now, there is none. So we're all getting jerked around.

It depends, right? A game that comes off of an assembly line like Stern, yes. They are milking it for these LE's. But JPOP is basically making a hand crafted masterpiece. It's just like cars. You've got $10,000 cars and $1,000,0000 cars now. They all get you from A to B. I'm not sure why pinball all has to be priced the same. Back in the 90's, everything was on an assembly line and games were all meant to be LE's without being LE's. But that industry collapsed. If you want that level of pinball, you know have to pay for all of what goes into making a game like that, but WITHOUT the factories, the huge teams helping out. It's now become an artisan skill that only a few have.

Again, I'm not talking about billboards in Times Square marketing. I'm simply talking about a plan that communicates properly, has a timeline for activities, and builds excitement. I don't see any pinball companies doing this.

Haha...did you even read my post? I addressed this. Colton and I are all squared away and have been friends for a while. On to the next...

Really? Instead of calling me names, please explain part of post was "talking out of my ass?" I've marketed the best selling product in OREO's history. I developed a campaign for Dr Pepper that got the most ROI in the history of the brands 100 year marketing efforts. For the past 15 years, I've spent every day helping brands improve their marketing. Yet you think I'm talking out of my ass. Have you ever marketed anything? Have you ever put together a marketing plan? Have you ever written a communications plan for a company?

Ugh, don't get me started This guy picked it up to repair and it just sat for 3 months. Heading to Paul D. in NJ to get fixed once and for all.

So here's a list of what went wrong with it:

- Left flipper stuck up
- Transistor replaced by Eddie at Modern
- When turned back on, game started smoking from back box
- DMD died
- Boards sent back to Stern. They replaced power board
- New boards put in...game turned on and goes haywire...VUK just keeps going off and that's all
- Replaced DMD with color one. That works, but now game won't start

It's been a nightmare trying to get this thing fixed. I relied on people saying they could fix it, and have totally been taken. Good thing is no money changed hands and I'll only pay when it's done.

Well, yes. But I did pay them to pick it up. And was quoted a price, which I was fine with. But to not fix it is crummy. I wouldn't agree to fix something if I didn't know how.

Very, very good points. It's a shame because if people didn't buy a Stern game until finished code was ready, we'd always get finished code games. But they are the only company that can scratch the itch for a new game, so they can sort of do what they like. However, I would argue that the Stern headaches and far less severe than the headaches created by the pre-order / boutique companies out there. I'd rather have an almost complete game waiting for code than no game at all. Stern knows that and ships accordingly with that insight in mind.

What amazes me is this: when someone has an idea for a pinball machine, do they even tap a marketer / communications pro for advice? Well, the first advice they should seek is a financial advisor who can lay it out flat for them. Everyone is right, dollars for marketing come AFTER you've got money lined up to build the product. But that money should never come from your customer base. That one action alone is the reason why the house of cards continues to fall on start up pinball.

I know it's a hard pill to swallow, but pinball prices are going to keep rising. It's a luxury toy for your home now, and that means the sky's the limit. Within 10 years, we will see $50,000 HUO machines. Trust me. Too much passion and love to no have "unique" pinball machines that cater to rich out there. I think that's the market JPOP should fill. He's putting the attention of a Bentley into a desire to appease the masses (Honda). Silly approach.

I own real estate long before I ever paid for a pinball machine. No mortgage before I bought my first pin. And golf clap to your LOTR trade. Game is with 5x that. And I said that in 10 years someone will make a super high end pin. That's all. Why are you so angry?

Yes

The only way for pinball makers to grow is to attract new buyers. And marketing can help expand the base. But again, you are right. You can't market something that's not ready. And yes a great pin will market itself. That was my very first point.

Well, I have lots of ideas on how to market pinball to a larger part of the public. The thing that works the best is just getting more pins on location. Pinball transcends generations and even the couch potato Xbox kid will want to get better once he understands there's much more than keeping the ball from draining. Modern Pinball has done a great job marketing their product here in NYC. Although they could use some help on expanding their clientele...I've given them some ideas. One...how about playing music or at least raising the volume of the games. I also wonder if they could somehow get a license to serve beer/wine. Not sure if that's possible. But pinball does so well in bars because of the social aspect.

I agree that pinball industry is not massive, but for it to grow it needs to attract new fans. I also think machines need to break down less. That's the one big hurdle for most home buyers. I applaud people who love working on games, but 99.9% of car buyers don't want to change their oil. Making machines more bullet proof or easy to fix is the innovation I'm most excited about.

And, there needs to be cheaper entry level pins for people. Not some old pin that costs $1,000. But a new, bullet proof game that is affordable.

Also, making the pins connected over the internet is an awesome innovation that's coming. Playing your friends over the web in real time is SO COOL. If pinball can figure out how to do this right, with webcams and all, where you can invite your friends to play, and maybe the topper starts flashing when an invite is coming in. Just so many cool things right around the corner.

So yes, my post may have been a tad myopic, but that's only because I'm focused on helping specific games right now, not the the category as a whole. Thanks for pointing that out.

Big Juicy Mellons will cost $6,500. If I'm wrong, I'll send you $100, deal?

Constant lying? What have I ever lied about? If you read up on this thread, Colton already chimed in and said we're all cool.

And yes, I spent 6 weeks over the holiday watching my Aunt slowly die from stage 4 cancer. Not looking for any sympathy points my friend, just saying there's a lot more to all of our lives than pinside.

bump for posterity

Yes, that's exactly what I was getting at. I would never spend a dime on advertising a pinball. Marketing is not expensive if done right.

Do you guys remember how long it took Skit B after they said Mission Accomplished to upload a good video? Why did it take so long? Tri-pod, camera, you're done.

The startups have all hit different types of walls. Look, I get it. It's not easy to make a pinball. But it is easy to make a communication plan or at least ask someone who knows how to make one help out. The problem i've seen happens when you say something and then you can't deliver. This continues to happen in this hobby and I don't know why. Why did Jack say when games would ship when he knew he had board issues? Why did John give timelines that were years off? Why did Kevin hide after he said updates every two weeks? Why? I don't know, but surely no communication plan would have allowed these things to go out the door. Again, this is pinball, and pinball companies just need to mature in this area if they want to sell $9,000 products. Don't you think so?

HAHA...I PM'd this guy asking what I lied about. Again...if you're going to call somewhat out for being a liar, how about supporting your slander? Threats? I'm like 5'8 and a weakling. I'll hug you first and then hand you $100. And then another hug. Come on buddy!

I'm like a Stern game. Eventually I'll have final code and be a joy to be around.

Thanks Jared. I 100% agree that pinball has only 1 guy dedicated to marketing and it shows. All you ever get is pulling a sheet off a game at an expo or convention. Come on, that's so 50 years ago. Half the time you don't even get that. People literally just stumbled upon WWE at CES. They had no video ready to go, nothing on social media, no content at all. Piss poor.

Also, there's so much more behind the scenes in marketing that can help pinball. For example, I wonder if any company actually does research to see who would be interested in buying what theme. And the lack of family friendly themes is silly. I bet a Frozen pinball machine would sell boatloads more than a WWE (course the license would be $$$)...

I too just roll my eyes when I see how games are released. It's beyond amateur hour. And it doesn't take much. Think of all the wasted time John has spent with his blog and pinball inventor site. One simple video showcasing what's to come would have been shareable and excited people more. But he's learning.

I would happily offer up my services to help any boutique pinball company better market their game. My going rate at my company is $370/hr. I'd do it for free. Just to see pinball marketing improve.

Ok, you guys get Kaneda's take on stuff. But Chris Kooluris' ideas for marketing and comms are much more professional and sound. That's all I'm saying.

My company bills out at that rate, I never said I owned the company. My actual take home is about a 1/3 of that. Key lesson: own the company

HAHA...Stern wishes they could have a Super Bowl commercial selling WWE pinball. And yes, they would sell A LOT more if 150 million people saw it during the Super Bowl commercial. Why do you think spots are so expensive? Not to make you laugh, to sell more shit.

Again yes...If Gary went on morning shows with Wrestlers to play the game, more eyeballs = more sales. You don't get it...this is the consumer funnel for purchasing:

AWARENESS + CONSIDERATION = CONSUMPTION

Stern doesn't exactly implement creative ways to expand the awareness at all. WHy? Because everyone working there is a pinball nut and they only cater to the die hard crowd. They need more a lifestyle PR person helping them get coverage outside of Expos. The ain't doing a great job of that.

Ok...here's a marketing scenario for you. You've got one of the hottest film franchise pins about to launch. You've worked on a pin for years. You're finally ready for the world to see it. Your company is still up and coming and you've already got the pin fanatics on board so more sales will only come from a broader audience. How do you choose to reveal your pin to the world?

Scenario 1. You reveal your pin in NYC, in Williamsburg, because almost all of the media now live there and it's the new hot bed of pinball in NYC. Garnering you tons of attention and exposure for your pin.

or....

Scenario 2. You launch it in...Duncannon, PA (outside Harrisburg)

Which would you do?

Since we're in both threads now:

So many editors that love pinball. That's all I'm saying. I know many in the media who would be all over a release party if it were closer. Look I'm just saying when you put our a press release that you're having a release party in the middle of nowhere PA, why even put out a press release? AIn't no press near by. It's just PR from 1997.
This is nothing against Joe at all...if I were Jack i'd have an NYC launch party too...OR...Even cooler, just drop it off in a hot spot in NYC and let people stumble upon it. Then go to press that the first Hobbit pinball machine is hidden somewhere in NYC. Pick a remote bar that isn't known for pins. You'll have to Journey like a hobbit to find it.
Look I'm just saying...there wasn't even a creative idea here. It's just, "here it is"...I WISH I had a fun product like pinball to launch...so much potential to drum up excitement.

HAHA...I'm just saying you have this amazing Pinball machine. This amazing theme. And you just do the basic reveal with no creativity attached to it what-so-ever. Just think it's a missed opportunity. That's all. Game looks amazing, BTW. Can't wait to play.