Chapter Five: Spreading The Word Like Wildfire 

To continue to build anticipation, Bungie began seeding information about Destiny wherever and whenever possible.

For many video game companies, one of the primary places to cast their message wide, and get in front of highly targeted audiences, is at tech-related conferences such as E3. In June of 2013, Bungie headed to E3 to release the Reveal Trailer for Destiny to gaming and tech enthusiasts.

After E3, the developers continued to drive their message out to as many people as possible.

Here are just a few of the many examples of marketing that Bungie employed when marketing Destiny :

  • Partnership with PlayStation - Bungie and Activision partnered with Sony (PlayStation) and gave them exclusive rights to use Destiny in promotions. They also began selling a special white PlayStation 4 that was bundled with Destiny for $10 less than the two would cost separately.Microsoft, creator of the Xbox, came out with a tongue-in-cheek advertisement to sell the Destiny fragrance after it was prohibited from running advertisements on the Xbox One.
  • Live Action TV Advertisement - the company created a beautiful live action trailer for Destiny and promoted it during football and sitcoms, such as The Simpsons, for a cool $6.7 million. That investment paid for two different ads to air more than 900 times across 21 networks. While most of the impressions occurred during the FXX network's 12-day-long marathon of The Simpsons, Activision spent the most on football. $2 million went directly to placing ads during pro NFL games.
  • Strong Visuals in Major Cities - Destiny appeared in major cities around the world in the most unassuming of places. They took over Oxford Circus in London and they took over buses and subway stations and buildings in New York City. The Destiny brand felt like it was everywhere.
While it would be impossible to recount here every marketing activity that Bungie and Activision partook in during the launch of Destiny, it is quite evident that the goal was to create brand awareness across multiple demographics.