So, yeah, UFS sorta kinda has zero advertisement. Every time I explain to my older players how they need to get back into UFS, they always bring up that it's a "dying game" and how there's no local competition and likely never will be. While at Worlds, it seems we all agreed that the game's lack of promotion has lead to some serious downfalls.

So, I wrote a proposition, and by all means, discuss it with me. Before I EMail FFG sounding like a complete dolt, if there's any discrepencies about my letter, I'd really like to know.

Just as a brief summary for those who don't want to read the entire thing, I basically see it as such:

-Volunteer, non-profit
-FFG-supported faction
-If possible, a group in every state, and if even more possible, a group in every major city.
-Groups get large banners (anybody at Worlds remember Kazuya and Tira?), a bunch of product to sell (including free demo decks), etc
-Groups visit card shops, video game arcades/tournaments, college campuses, etc, anywhere where there would logically be potential interests
-Groups work on fliers, social networking sites to keep people updated and discuss the game, conducting both demos and tournaments
-Groups can, if possible, travel out-of-city and/or out-of-state

I know, "anybody could do that in their spare time", but hey, if Jason can get an official pro tour league, why can't I get an actual advertising campaign going on? Everytime I hear stories of people playing at their local college, I usually hear the same result: "People walked by, saw the characters, looked through my binder, and wanted to learn how to play."

That's how it needs to be...but on a bigger scale, and. supported by FFG

What do you guys think of the idea? For those who have their opinions at the ready, feel free to post. Otherwise, without further ado, here is the rough draft of the proposition:

UFS Volunteer Advertisement Group Proposition

Name: Shinji Mimura
Business: Advertisement
Focus: UFS

Dear Fantasy Flight Games,

My name is Shinji Mimura. Where I live in San Antonio, Texas, we have no playerbase. I have attempted numerous times to reinvigorate older players, but no matter how many perks I toss their way (rotation leading to a balanced game, exciting tournament opportunities, etc), they repeatedly insist that the game is dying and that it's simply too hard to catch on with other card games compeating. My case is one of many where people have small or no playerbases due to people leaving for certain reasons. While I was attending Worlds 2009, I spoke with a multitude of people about what they felt this game was missing, and we more often than not reached the same conclusion: this game, simply put, does not have advertisement. It used to be shown in magazines, occupied convention centers, and even once had some employees travel around the country.
Personally, I feel that, with the rotation, UFS has finally taken a long-needed step in the right direction. Now is the perfect time to seize opportunity and get new players hooked and old players reattached. However, it's hard to do so with a game that really has no advertisement.
Hence, I send this letter as an attempt at getting some sort of advertisement.
Because most of us UFS players are dedicated fans to this game, and have been here through the good and bad, I'm going to state that I'd like an assigned, confirmed group of volunteers, that is, people whom advertise this game for no monetary benefit, but rather, for the benefit of knowing the game has been displayed and may get new players. With an actual group, you can get a group of dedicated advertising and UFS enthusiasts who will work to get such things as banners, videos, demonstrations, tournaments, etc, arranged in a way that is appealing.
I'll admit, I've only been involved with some lower-scale advertising opportunities, but here are some things I envision:
-At Worlds 2009 (and possibly Worlds prior) you had two banners (if not more) of Kazuya Mishima and Tira. If at all possible, whenever a location is selected to having a promotional event, that location would either borrow or directly receive said banners, if not more from other franchises. The stands were, if I recall correctly, about as tall if not taller than your average person, making them very hard to miss, and if they were assorted in various spots amongst the location, they ought to be in agreeable eyesight of everybody in the area.
-A packaged bundle containing enough product to sell (up to the company's discretion, of course), as well as plenty of demo decks. When I hosted O-Con 2009 this year and had a mini promotional tournament of UFS, almost half of our entrants simply fused together 2 demo decks to compete. They did so because this meant their entrance fee was free, which in turn lead to them getting both an engaging tournament experience, firsthand learning and tips from pros, and the ability to simply play the game at no monetary setback. The product will lure people in with fully legal starter decks of their favorite characters, and for those whom picked the demo decks, should they be interested, they can simply just buy the product.
-There ought to be some sort of dedicated group in each state, if not each city. The dedicated group can, if possible, take all of the aforementioned promotional items and products, and perhaps once a week if not more go from shop to shop, arcade to arcade, college campus to college campus, city to city around their state. From what I've learned, people are more than willing and excited to travel from city to city to play the game.
In summary, the advertising group idea is simply to put an official FFG-approved stamp on an idea so that it can go from “small, local promotional” to potential state-wide/city-wide mass advertising.
Obviously, I understand that any product that is to be displayed and/or sold must be purchased first, certainly, but obviously, the intent of buying or borrowing anything from Fantasy Flight Games would be purely to advertise the game, get people into it, and get them buying the product and participating in city and state-wide tournaments.
This, of course, is just a foundation, if you will. I'd love to discuss the intricacies in-depth if the idea is liked.
Thank you for your time.

With the sincerest regards,
Shinji Mimura

I would like to see some form of FFG supported demo team.

A few things though: those banners are EXPENSIVE. Like really... really kind of expensive.

I just think that perhaps FFG could appoints some trustworthy volunteer to go out and recruit people to do demo-ing in different areas, with that Demo-Czar being in charge of making sure the others are getting out there and DOING it. If people DO do it (heh, I said dodo), then they will get a thumbs up by the Demo-Czar and then FFG would mail that guy some small token of respect. 6 packs or something IDK.

These demo people will receive older product and demo decks and some fliers to go out and promote the game. These will be issued in amounts to be determined by the Demo-Czar.

... just a thought.

Isnt demoing the product one of the things Scouts are supposed to do? It wouldnt hurt if they gave us more demo decks and support to actually advertise the game, but technically they should already have a pool of demo givers out there. Heck, I'd be happy with full color flyers, those can be expensive to print out and my design skills are less then stellar.

What UFS is missing is a focus on what other card games lack. If players have already invested thousands of dollars into stellar MtG card games, they are less likely to dive into another card game. UFS needs to differentiate themselves from so many other card games out there, its neat that it has a focus on fighting game characters but it needs to emphasize the game play aspects for experienced card players.

If people are making fliers or even giving demos of the game, make sure you stress that UFS is unlike MtG due to this..and this...(I'm not quite sure exactly how to compare to Magic since I've never really touched on it.)

You need to also ask yourself just how much FFG even cares about UFS. There is no way they are going to start a full fledged advertising campign on something that they don't believe is going to make them any money. You are convincing FFG to advertise simply to advertise but you have not considered the costs for FFG and that may deter them from taking on your proposition. Starting off with "So many people think UFS is a dying game" probably isn't the greatest way to get someone to throw more money into it.

When you goto the FFG website, there's not really a shread of UFS prescence on there at all. This can be easily changed that costs little money for FFG. FFG can easily tap into their existing fanbase of their current games and try to advertise there at very little cost. But trying to do a nationwide campaign for a card game this small seems just silly. In the beginning, UFS can afford to do this because its a new product and companies generally are more gutsy about spending money. You gotta spend money to receive it...right? But after these years, as the card game industry overall is declining and since UFS hasn't grabbed much market share, diving head first into a huge campaign is more than risky. Its just downright stupid.

Either way, start small. Don't ask for magazine advertisements or even huge cut outs of Ivy. Ask for small things like demo decks and give scouts more incentive for getting players into the game. Perhaps reward the scouts that gather the most players in a given period (like a month) with additional prizes.

Just do what I do to try and spark interest.

Go to different stores, and drop off packs of cards (a penny sleeve with a bunch of commons and characters), and let word of mouth do all the work for you. Also, push harder at your store. You don't know how much it helps to just jack it up one notch at your own store sometimes.

One little thing: You misspelled "competing" in the first paragraph ("...other card games compeating." is how you have it)