As someone who works in marketing and has worked in the tabletop gaming industry.

Marketing these games is extremely difficult, though it has gotten MUCH easier with the internet and the board game renaissance we are currently living in. to be clear, FFG IS marketing X-Wing and they are experimenting with a lot of different tactics to do so for a few reasons. Now, this is all coming from my outside view, and I have extremely limited knowledge of what is happening inside FFG. Also, their license has helped with everything that I am about to describe immensely, I won't reference it every time I make a point but it is always there.

The first reason that the industry is still young. There are no tried and true ways to market a tabletop game. You have to remember that GW did as little marketing as possible until quite recently and they were essentially the founder of this industry. So, now that tabletop games are cool (ok less not cool) all the major players are trying new and interesting ways of marketing. FFG has followed the (new, we can forget about their foray into retail for now) WoTC model of having Organized play efforts to increase their visibility in the market and become the most represented product in their market. They also leveraged the license to get into big box retailers and tap new customers.

They also secured the license. THAT IS MARKETING.

Now then, does that mean that they are doing a great job of it? eh, they could be doing better. Their OP is (from what I understand) finally getting a larger budget in time for L5R which will be huge. Their online and social presence is OK but could do a lot better engaging to gain meaningful metrics. They definitely rep well at cons and their L5R stuff at Gencon was actually impressive. Their hype machine for releases is IMO not ideal, they shotgun out news too sporadically to collect meaningful data on interest in the release. Now, dealing with Disney is a PitA from what I understand so that probably has a lot of influence.

In the end, marketing is hard at the best of times. Even with the **** TON of data that I have access to (which they almost certainly don't) we are wrong A LOT. But luckily all it takes is for us to be right enough. The idea that they do not "need to market" is ludicrous and why GW got their asses handed to them over the last 10 years and are only beginning to recover now that they ARE marketing. To be clear, having good customer relations and a positive company image IS 110% MARKETING.

14 minutes ago, Timathius said:

As someone who works in marketing and has worked in the tabletop gaming industry. [...]

Thank you very much for the insight! A question if you don't mind:

Any idea why there is not more interaction with the online community, or how such an interaction could work?
WotC feedback forms are one thing I'm familiar with, or the sage advice for D&D 5e rules questions. They give me at least the illusion that my opinion matters and keep me engaged and loyal.

25 minutes ago, GreenDragoon said:

Thank you very much for the insight! A question if you don't mind:

Any idea why there is not more interaction with the online community, or how such an interaction could work?
WotC feedback forms are one thing I'm familiar with, or the sage advice for D&D 5e rules questions. They give me at least the illusion that my opinion matters and keep me engaged and loyal.

In general I am more in favor of being hands on with a community. That said, it can backfire which is probably why FFG is so stand offish. Also, you have to understand that all of this, everything I posted, costs. FFG probably doesn't want to spend the money on the resources to have a better online presence. Social Media and Electronic marketing managers (good ones) are not cheap.

On 9/23/2017 at 10:28 AM, Drasnighta said:

They tried putting starter sets in Big-Box Retailers (WalMart and Target, to state a few), and that apparently flopped for them.

Probably because the starter set is a terrible entry point.

The starter set should be $50 retail and include an x-wing, y-wing, two ties and a tie advanced so you can build a 50pt vs 50pt army out of the box. That might be sufficient to be played as a standalone board game.

On 9/23/2017 at 5:51 PM, RedHotDice said:

Why are you guys talking about performing free marketing for FFG?

I'd say it's more about building a local playerbase. As a once and (hopefully) future game store owner I'm very interested in this subject (moreso than a lot of the "BROKEN META" threads I'm seeing). I feel like working with the local movie theater is a step in the right direction. I think getting your FLGS to run a demo night maybe even once a quarter with a discount on starter sets also wouldn't be a bad idea.

On 9/23/2017 at 5:51 PM, RedHotDice said:

Why are you guys talking about performing free marketing for FFG?

Double post

33 minutes ago, Jetfire said:

Probably because the starter set is a terrible entry point.

The starter set should be $50 retail and include an x-wing, y-wing, two ties and a tie advanced so you can build a 50pt vs 50pt army out of the box. That might be sufficient to be played as a standalone board game.

Yea and it should maybe include an actual board to play on....without ANY flyiers for Warhammer inside, and without any subtitles that say "miniatures game".

Oh and official 2v2 rules.

Basically anything that makes the starter set feel more like the simple board game it kinda already can be is better as an initial hook in my opinion.

It still can be the complicated nuanced game we all enjoy here.

But I think the box is part of the problem for general audiences that would really dig the game, maybe call it:

"Star Wars Space Battles: The Board Game"

Call it that, downplay the miniatures tag, add clear 2v2 or co-op rules and everyone who isnt a memeber of the elite Table Top Master race would be more likely to consider buying it in December.

I mean Destiny is crazy boring and uninteresting in comparison to all immediate visceral feels you get from X-Wing but way better packaged in my opinion.

On 9/23/2017 at 5:51 PM, RedHotDice said:

Why are you guys talking about performing free marketing for FFG?

and triple post, I give up on interneting today

46 minutes ago, ChuckBTY said:

and triple post, I give up on interneting today

Wow, I think this is the first time I've seen a triple post interrupted by another post. Sorry for the rabbit trail, but this seems to be happening more lately. Is that just me, or do other people get that vibe?

Nope

Nope

Nope