Social Media and Marketing with Gaming's Victoria Young

I met Victoria Young a little over a year ago in working on the social media and digital campaigns for King of Fighters XII and Muramasa. I was quickly impressed by her ability to create order out of chaos, and soak up information like a sponge. I don’t think there was one conference regarding Social Media in the Los Angeles area that she missed out on, or one article that slid by without her reading it.

I hope that Victoria represents a new type of marketer, especially for the video game industry. One that truly tries to understand her customers, and realizes the power that Social Media wields, and when it’s NOT the best tool to use as well.

Ryan: What was your experience like at Disney Interactive Studios?

Victoria Young: It’s always interesting to work for the Goliaths of the world because you get a lot of insight into how a company that big functions. Disney Interactive has so many components that all fit together like clockwork to put out all the products for each quarter. You get to see the level of attention to detail that Disney has for the branding of its products, the messaging, and quality control. For instance, the shade of blue has to be a specific shade for the front of box of a game or it can’t go to print. The artists, brand managers, and PR people have to really be aware of all branding guidelines and craft all messaging very carefully. They are conservative for a reason and the time and money that goes into each of the products is clear when you see it on the shelf next to some other products.

Ryan: What were some of your responsibilities over at Ignition Entertainment?

Victoria Young: Ignition Entertainment is on the opposite end of the spectrum from Disney Interactive Studios–I really wanted to experience both worlds, huge company and start-up. Since Ignition is a very young company with few employees in the LA offices, everyone does a little bit of everything. While at Disney, everyone has a very specific role, from the moment I started at Ignition, I was immediately thrust into two non-specific, all-encompassing roles in Channel Marketing and Social Media. Social media has been my main focus, which is great because it basically is an integral part to every other department: channel/retail marketing, brand marketing, and PR. I essentially created all of the social media pages for Ignition and promoted them creatively and strategically so that we could find and engage all of the fans that we did have out there.

Ryan: Since you’ve started working at Ignition, what games have you helped to market and promote, digitally?

Victoria Young: My favorite titles thus far have been King of Fighters and Muramasa. I had the most creative freedom while brainstorming and executing for these campaigns. We had great engagement levels with the campaigns we ran for these two games, like King of Fighters Throwdown Thursdays, the Muramasa/Justin.TV livestreaming gameplay event, and our fan art contests. It’s so rewarding and such a blast to see fans enjoying the opportunity to participate and to see their enthusiasm.

Ryan: How much did you dread me calling for our Social Media strategy meetings ?

Victoria Young: I actually assign a special, horrible sounding ringtone for your number so I know when to not pick up my phone. JUST KIDDING! Brainstorms with creative, open-minded people such a yourself are part of what kick start great ideas and make this job so much fun.

Ryan: What digital tactics do you feel are sometimes overlooked, when we (as an industry) start putting together social media strategies and tactics?

Victoria Young: I know a lot of people say this, but a lot of companies and brands forget that the essence of social media is SOCIAL. Some bigger names and brands can get away with being a relatively neutral newstream of events and updates, but most brands need to really inject some personality and life into their campaigns. People want news, yeah that’s great, but at the end of the day if they don’t feel like there is a person behind that Twitter account, they won’t want to engage and interact. Also, I think it is critical that social media strategies tie in directly with long-term brand strategies and goals. Quick campaigns aren’t going to truly help you build value unless you have the goal of creating long-term relationships out of them.

Ryan: What’s your stance on community management and brand management?

Victoria Young: People are very nervous about putting their brands out on social media sometimes, and in a way it is like public speaking or something where you really put yourself out there. But at the end of the day, if you’ve got a great brand, a quality product, and a professional, savvy community manager, there is no fire that can’t be put out. If the manager understands the brand and properly communicates it, you can really get an extremely active and enthusiastic community going. Give the community what they need and want in terms of interaction, content, and creativity…as long as you stick to these basics, your community will thrive.

Ryan: Thank you for your time, Victoria. I can’t wait to see what you work on next.

You can contact Victoria here -> @victoria_young