Neon Retro Arcade
Digital Marketing Plan
Project Objective
As a group project, we were assigned to put together a full digital marketing plan for a client of our choice; Neon Retro Arcade. Our purpose was to learn about the company and their challenges, then solve them with with a cohesive digital markting campaign.
About Neon Retro Arcade
Opened First Location in 2015 (Pasadena)
Opened Second Location in 2018 (Northridge)
Started From Personal Collection of Classic Arcade Machines
Key Industry Insights
Revenue
The estimated revenue for the arcade industry is at $2.5 billion with a minimal annual growth rate.
Challenge
The home console industry has been a significant contributor towards the decline of the arcade industry, giving consumers a larger preference to game at home.
Competitors
The One Up
Gamer’s Grub Gaming Lounge
Dave & Buster’s
Current Marketing Activities
Website
Instagram & Facebook (Organic)
FIVESTAR (Loyalty App)
Neon Arcade’s Marketing Challenge
This Northridge location, even though it is located less than one block away from the CSUN campus, lacks student visitors. Also, as our group did more research, college students unsurprisingly said that alcohol would increase their willingness to go. Neon Retro Arcade though is a proud, family friendly place of business.
How do we maintain a family environment and appeal to local college students?
Goal: Increase CSUN student visits
Strategy
Appealing to the inner child within college students
We chose to focus on the “Retro” in Neon Retro Arcade which is a differentiator from home consoles and games that currently dominate the consumer choice. We also believe that by poking at this nostalgic emotion, we will trigger previous memories and a desire to relive through our destination.
Campaign
“Unlock Your Inner Child”
Tactics:
- Pop-Up Arcade x Loyalty Badges
- Mobile App
- Google Ads (Website)
- Social Media
- Youtube
Timeline:
Spring Semester (Mid-January – Early May)
Deals:
15% Student Discount
10% Off Gameplay
25% Off Gameplay
Get Your 2nd Hour Free
Pop-Up Arcade
Located in 2-3 High-Traffic Areas on Campus
Step 1: Choose a game to play
Step 2: Have fun
Step 3: Receive a loyalty badge
Step 4: Get deals, collect points, redeem rewards
Loyalty Badges
- Promotional Swag
- Connects to Mobile App
- Easy Check-In Every Visit
- Redeem Real-Time Deals
- Various Styles
Mobile App
Social Media
Google Ads
Action Plan
For the launching of this campaign, the video titled “Unlock your Inner Child” will be featured on all digital platforms; Website, Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube. This video will communicate our campaign message, “Unlock Your Inner Child”. This is the core of the campaign and desired brand image that will raise awareness for Neon Retro Arcade. By this time, Google Ads will be set up for local searches that are relevant to the Neon Retro Arcade.
The biggest part of this campaign will be the “Pop-Up Arcades” that are featured in high traffic areas across the CSUN campus. The goal of this is to bring the Neon Retro Arcade experience directly to our target, and then give prizes that are also incentives for them to visit the physical location. The “Pop-Up” Arcades will gain much traffic from this environment which will set the tone and social media word of mouth positively. In this phase, paid social media will be utilized more and targeting students in the Northridge area with friends and interests that tie back to Neon Retro Arcade. There will be 3 different ads that are chosen to run when a certain ad is most necessary. Ads will be running every day during the campaign until the daily budget has been spent. The Neon Retro Arcade mobile app will also be introduced in this phase. Frequent visitors will be able to view their loyalty and rewards information on-demand, high-scores, and any announcements made by management. This app can also connect with the person’s loyalty badge to automatically sync information.
Set up in high traffic locations (i.e; Campus Bookstore, Oviatt Lawn, USU), the “Pop-Up” Arcade offers students a chance to play one of the most popular arcade games available at no cost to them. These games can last anywhere from one minute to five minutes. After they finish playing, each student interested in the gameplay and experience will be given a loyalty badge (Appendices 1.2). These digital loyalty badges store individual loyalty profile information as well as individualized deals and offers sent by the marketing team. The very first deal that can be redeemed with the badge is buy one hour of Gameplay and receive another hour free. This incentivizes students to keep their badge, bring it to the arcade, and experience Neon Retro Arcade’s large selection. 200 of these badges will be given out at the “Pop-Up” to maintain a certain level of exclusivity for those that receive them. Those who do not receive badges will be given a physical coupon to get their loyalty badge for a 10% discount when they visit the arcade.
For the final weeks of this campaign, there will only be new social media ads aimed to bring in students as the school year comes to a close. Before and after finals, students can visit the Neon Retro Arcade to take a mental break, separate themselves from school, and have fun.
Once the campaign and spring semester has come to a close, this will be the time to analyze the financial and business results of the campaign. Based on these results, a decision will be made to re-launch the campaign for the fall semester.
Key Performance Indicators
Micro:
Mobile App Downloads
Ad Conversion Rates
Video Plays
Social Media Follows
Macro:
Store Visits
Reward Point Redemption
