Selling the Experience

(from Comics & Games Retailer #162)

My daughter received Bop It for her birthday last week. You’ve probably seen this thing. It’s an electronic game from Hasbro that gives you a command ala Simon that you have to follow before time runs out. The idea is to go for as long as you can before you are too slow to comply. When that happens, the game screams as though it was flung off a cliff and then ends.

My daughter is not very good at it. Nor do I expect she ever will be, because she lacks the discipline and willpower to play enough to get better. To be sure, it’s hard. You don’t get a lot of time to follow its commands. As a result, I foresee her eventually getting frustrated and discarding it along with other toys with which she doesn’t like to play.

Why would she want one then? If it’s too hard, where’s the attraction? The packaging doesn’t make it look all that interesting. There are no pictures of people playing and having a good time. It’s just a big wand in a blister pack.

The answer is because she saw it at a friend’s house, and it looked like fun. They played there, and it was exciting to listen to the drumbeat and the commands and the screaming. The game made noise, and all the girls at that sleepover had fun causing it to make those funny sounds.

There’s a lesson here that you have probably heard before. Demos sell games. If customers see a game played and it looks like fun, they will be encouraged to buy. To run an effective demo (i.e., one that results in sales), you need to show the experience of the game, not just the game itself. Here are a few tips on how to accomplish that.

It Has to Look Fun

A demo should be fun not just to play but to see. Watching two people silently play a card game with serious expressions on their faces does not induce a bystander to want to share the experience. What you need is a friendly game, where the players trash talk each other (politely), make sound effects, toss their cards down triumphantly, and laugh. For the most part, people like to see other people having fun. It makes them want to be a part of it, even if they’re just watching.

So start your card demos with games between experienced players who can put on a show. When teaching new players, the demonstrator has to do more than teach the rules. He or she needs to put on a performance for the newbie so that the experience is memorable. If the demonstration is animated, I guarantee casual shoppers will ask, “What are they doing?”

This is doubly true for role-playing game demos. The GM must be over the top. A few experienced players in the group will help things go smoothly, since they can help explain rules and otherwise assist the learners. They can also ham it up with their own characters to enhance that entertainment experience that will help move books off the shelf.

Accommodate New Arrivals

Remember that the purpose of the demo is not to actually play the game but to sell it. Thus, whenever new shoppers want in, they should be accommodated. Start the current game over, split some players off it, or find a way to add them in midstream. If they want to share the experience that they are seeing, they should get the chance. If they don’t, they might not decide to buy. Games are supposed to be fun. Let your customers have fun with the games, and they’ll give you their cash in exchange.

Throw the Game

If the game is a competitive one like a card or a board game, the demonstrator needs to lose. He or she should spend time putting on a great performance, teaching the rules, and pretending to compete against the newbie. Then he should fold up like a card table, giving the learner the most satisfying experience of all: winning the game. Remember, the more fun a customer has, the more likely he or she is to buy.

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