Marketing Guru or maybe not

Work has been absolutely crazy over the last couple of months. I’ve been promoted to Marketing director, a position in this company that for some reason doesn’t come with a staff, not even a busty assistant. I’ve run some grass roots marketing campaigns in the past, when our company was one of two producing online collectable games and I knew which website to contact for coverage. Today everyone and their mother has a collectable online game and even grandma has a review site and expects to be treated as if someone cares what the old gal thinks.

I’ve been dragging myself into work between 8 and 10 in the morning and getting home no earlier then midnight with the exception of one day on the weekend when I try to spend at least a few hours not thinking about new marketing promotions. Last weekend I got out to Park City where I watched in the freezing snow, the US Bobsled team, take the gold medal with 16 other people who came out to support our Olympic athletes. The highlight of the event was when a member of the Italian team jumped out of his sled after a run down the mountain and threw my Uncle, who is the manager of the US team, a wedge of cheese that he obviously smuggled down in his pants. I was told it was a running joke between them and was given the cheese to take home.

I like to deceive myself that our company promotions are going well, however I am plagued by a feeling that I am missing opportunities that a professional with experience would find evident. I do have the support of my coworkers however. Just last week our executive producer invited me to dinner where he asked me to pull a brand new marketing promotion out of my ass that would take us in a yet unexplored direction. I’m no Italian bobsledder but I decided rather then trying to be the sparkling goldfish in a deep sea tank, I would be the Beta fish in my own bowl. My idea was to market to collectable gamers who visit hobby shops since no other online game has even attempted to capture an audience in the physical space. Saga is actually the first collectable online miniatures game.

My friend Phil has said in the past that if someone isn’t doing something I should look for the reason why. But I’m selling phoneless cords here. I don’t think anyone really knows what they are doing.

I wrote an article that will be coming out in this month’s Scrye magazine which is the bible for collectable gamers, and negotiated a deal with every major hobby distributor in the US to mail to their clients post cards that would give gamers who visit their shops access to the Saga Beta test. I’ve also designed 2 retail items that will be sold in every hobby store in America and a few in Europe and am currently working on getting the product into K-B toys, Toys R Us and most comic book stores that also sell collectable card games. Players will be able to purchase this product, enter the code they receive and get the products, delivered online. In addition to this I’ve placed Saga at every website that hosts downloads and have other online promotions, interviews and reviews scheduled.

I don’t know what else I could possibly do, and the not knowing is keeping me up at night. Yesterday the executive producer told me he really likes what we have so far and was wondering if I could pull something else out of my ass. Sure no problem I said let me sit on it.

And since it’s been awhile, here is my cat. I think he’s dead.