Asmodee is helping the local gaming trade with a support campaign. One might think that this offer comes at just the right time for retailers to be able to resume their daily business after the week-long lockdown. There is a catch: the third Corona wave is approaching. Nevertheless, the “Back in the game” campaign remains a positive signal for the market.
Asmodee is supporting the local game trade for the second time. The Essen-based publisher launched the first "back in the game" campaign shortly after the end of the first corona lockdown at the end of April last year. Following a customer survey, various measures to support retailers were devised at the time. Among other things, Asmodee issued 33.000 free games for participating retailers and accompanied the entire campaign with advertising on the social media channels and on the project homepage www.wieder-im-spiel.de.
Game packages for trading in uncertain times
Now there are 18.000 titles that Asmodee is making available to retailers. The campaign initially wants to be a supportive measure for the specialist games trade, which has been hit by the pandemic: "The second corona lockdown was an immense burden for the local games trade," says Asmodee. In order to give retailers a helping hand once the restrictions are relaxed, the “Back in the game” campaign has been launched again.
36 games are sent per package. These include special items, such as the Drunken Sailor packaged in a high-quality wooden box, the card game adaptation of the well-known video game God of War or the Panic Mansion nominated for Children's Game of the Year 2018. Asmodee has prepared a total of 500 packages that dealers can access free of charge.
"Asmodee is supporting retailers in these difficult times with offers and conditions specially created for stationary specialist retailers as well as free game packages for campaigns in stores," the publisher explains about the campaign.
As a result of the lockdown, many retailers, including game dealers, had been able to record little or no income for a long time. Nevertheless, it was still true: Those who had not already bet on the Internet business in advance, were left behind during the lockdown. What was particularly bitter for local game retailers was the fact that the Germans' desire to shop was unbroken - but they migrated to online trading.
Stationary retailers had a hard time: rents and salaries were still to be paid, so that the financial cushion is thin for many. The aid payments from politics got off to a slow start. Now Asmodee wants to help the retailers again and at least help to stimulate day-to-day business - the next corona wave is rushing in with force. All signs are currently pointing to lockdown again. On March 16, Asmodee announced the second round of the campaign that the world was still all right for retailers, but the first dark clouds were already emerging in the form of increasing incidence values and an R-value that did not want to decrease. Now we are waiting again for the decisions of the decision-makers.
Asmodee's campaign nevertheless gives a direction and presents a message: Anyone who wants to buy board or card games from the dealer around the corner in the post-corona period must support - as a customer as well as a publisher. The core of the “Back in the game” program includes a special condition model that helps retailers to order and sell goods despite a possible financial emergency.
On the one hand, it offers Asmodee As part of the campaign, its stationary customers have 90 days until they have to pay for the games they have ordered. In addition, dealers will receive special discounts on the first order if they Asmodee Feature games in your store. Retailers can also pre-order new products that have already been announced and receive a special Corona discount. The free games are just a “sidekick” that you are happy to take with you. The greatest support lies in the payment and ordering methods.
“Board games were and are in greater demand than ever in the Corona crisis. The industry has benefited from this demand, but unfortunately our local dealers are repeatedly locked down and have to contend with adverse circumstances. With the “Back in the game” campaign, we as Asmodee want to strengthen stationary demand and expand it further in the future. We firmly believe that our games should be able to be experienced on site, ”says Yvette Vaessen, Commercial Director of Asmodee. “We hope that the players will support their stores together with us and buy novelties or gifts there. We want to reward this loyalty with the free games. "
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