Taking your character one step beyond - bring it to life!

[SteveZ]

Hello guys,

Over the last 3 months, I have been developing a secret project to materialized a character in my game as a marketing gimmick.

You all have probably heard of Cactus Bruce the Pirate in the game Cactus Bruce and the Corporate Monkeys (http://www.blueteagames.com)

Here is a picture of Cactus Bruce in the game, he's the one in the center: Screenshot (http://www.blueteagames.com/images/Screen1.jpg)

Now here is a picture of Cactus Bruce in real life: Image (http://www.kungpaocactus.com/images/Prod_CB1_Large.jpg)

The website for the cactus plant is: www.kungpaocactus.com (http://www.kungpaocactus.com)

In addition, you can find the first plant for auction here on EBAY (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1467&item=5586084283&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW)

The purpose of this website is to draw users who are interested in the plant to try the game out - thus expanding my potential customer base.

What do you guys think?

-Steve Z.

[ManuelFLara]

Probably the best (and most hilarious) indie marketing stuff I've ever seen.

It'll be better if it works, thought ;)

[soniCron]

Now that is marketing! Congrats, and keep us updated!

[Sharpfish]

I always knew marketing was a prickly subject.. but this..? ;)

[Didier]

Nice but i think your website URL is missing on the merchandise.

This way people will re-visit your site (and maybe try your other games) in the future. ;)

Didier

[PoV]

Hahaha... that's great. Nice. :D

[terin]

Steve, you are brilliant. No idea if that is going to work OR be time-efficient (who puts all the cute hats and eyes on them?) but its certainly a step SOME direction of insanity...

Sadly, I bet you could make more money figuring out how to merchandise indie games than you could from making the games themselves! LOL

-Joe

[PeterM]

Great idea!

Expanding on it a little, you could look into having a cuddly toy made of your character. Perhaps you could contact the eMule people to see how they went about getting theirs made.

I'd love a cuddly toy made from a game character... for my girlfriend, of course...

[z3lda]

I think PeterM has a point. When I saw it, I was impressed but then I looked more carefully and it seems like it will fall apart or die :).

I think a plush is defnitely the way to go. You can find manufactures to make them at about $3-5 for a 4"-6" plush toy, but you need to order around 2,000 units.

Also on the Ebay link, I think you should show a picture of the girl and a guy holding the cactus. :)

[SteveZ]

Good comments guys!

Unfortunately, I couldn't add links to my auction (Ebay regulations)

The Cactus is not as fragile as it looks, it has been glued very well =). I've done some testing on the cactus, and it can survive without watering for over 3 weeks (and doesn't look much different too). Home lighting is sufficient as well.

I'm not even sure if the Kung Pao Cactus can be a viable self substaining business. I'm just hoping to get the word out, so people who visits Ebay listing / Kung Pao Cactus site will eventually drop by Blue Tea Games.

So far here is a start:
http://outrageous-ebay.blogspot.com/

=)

Steve Z.

[Fry Crayola]

Not bad. Bringing a game beyond mere code.

I'd love to do some good marketing for my game, but it may require a little more than cacti...

Still, I have my plans and I'll stick by them!

[Didier]

Good comments guys!

Unfortunately, I couldn't add links to my auction (Ebay regulations)


No, i mean printing your website URL on the merchandise itself (the pot for example)