In 2004, the Detroit Symphony was one of the very first orchestras to present performances of the music from the video game ‘Final Fantasy’. This provided an ideal tool to test and explore viral marketing on the web. This specialized audience was cultivated with a full traditional marketing plan of direct mail, TV, radio, Postering, Banners, etc.
The web portion of the plan included visits to game chat rooms and ‘talking up’ this cool event by providing ‘inside scoops’. The ‘talking up’ part was provided by ‘actual’ game players who could ensure that the voices online were authentic and appropriate. Their job was to influence the opinion leaders of the web. This would never have been successful if non-gamers had gone in with no understanding of the jargon and game-speak.
Other web activities in support of these concerts included partnerships and promotions on game and video sites such as that of ‘Final Fantasy’ developer Square-Enix and on animation sites like anime.com.
