Were you at MC Minneapolis or thinking about being at an upcoming Magic Con? If so, then you should see this – and maybe even use it!
In the course of writing about Magic the Gathering, as reviewers, reporters and community members, we frequently have to critique corporate communication, game design and instructional design.
And if we’re going to be *very* honest there is usually a great deal of room for substantial, respectful constructive critique.
So it gives me immense pleasure to share a Really Good Thing: the most useful multimedia promotion I believe I have ever seen from Wizards of the Coast! Behold the social media promotion for the Art of Magic at #MCMinneapolis!
Please watch this video promoted by Wizards Organized Play on Twitter all the way through and then we’ll break down everything it did right!
So many amazing faces! The Art of Magic at #MCMinneapolis is going to be amazing. Here's a quick look at where to find your favorite artists who will be at the show! pic.twitter.com/SSvSSNL90o
— PlayMTG (@PlayMTG) May 1, 2023
Let’s Celebrate!
These MagicCons are celebrations of 30 years of Magic, but the folk who will be attending span all kinds of MtG audience niches and many haven’t got deep habits of attending either traditional conventions or Magic Organized Play. Figuring out what to do at a convention or how to find things you are interested in is a challenge for both experienced and neophyte attendees at Magic events, which are frequently still trying to find their groove as live events.
This Art of Magic Minneapolis Video is perfect!
– It acts as a marketing commercial – “look who we’ve got!”
– It shows the layout of the space it’s advertising – folk will KNOW how much art being sold directly by the artists is going to be part of the dealers room
– It shows the FACES of ALL the artists! You don’t have to wonder, or guess, you’ll recognize the artist whose work you admire BEFORE you get to the booth and do not have to mistake them for staff!
It also still performs the mission of any form of advertising – all of this use value is firmly bracketed by the brand identity of the current set release “March of the Machines” while still calling back to our seriously old school fans on name recognition.
This video has just the right amount of “call to action” background music, wisely taking its cue from the form of musical integration used in video games.
What are the negatives? Sadly this video is not embedded in either the website or the app in a way I was able to access when I searched the sites It would have been VERY useful as a thing to have handy when planning things onsite.
But we linked it here! Enjoy finding your faves and let’s hope this trend continues at future Magic Cons!
Adrienne Reynolds (she/her) has the DCI number 7801. She is conducting a longitudinal ethnographic study of Cultural Actors in Magic: The Gathering initially undertaken at Bryn Mawr College and continued independently. You can find her on Twitter as @DreamtimeDrinne and on Discord at DreamtimeDrinne#9349. When not desperately seeking a game of Magic, she is working towards making our workspaces more human centered.