I am doing a pitch to a company who distributes computer and console games. The company is purely a distributor but in a recent press release stated that they would like to be transparent to gamers even though they do not sell directly to gamers, they have started a gamers-club but I feel that there is more they can do. The gamers-club invites members to take part in competitions etc. I need to show them the benefits of hosting an event at various game shops – since they sell directly to these shops they would obviously not lose anything as it will promote the stores which sales rising. The biggest problem I’m facing is how to prove to a distributor that getting their name associated with games will increase their sales. Shops do promotions regularly because they sell directly to people but will this work with a distributor who sells to stores and not consumers? Also, what would a event entail? This is also my first pitch that I will be doing so any pointers on what I need to present them with would also be a great help.

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Jay’s Answer: If the distributor’s games target a similar demographic or category, then you have an opportunity for presenting “…if you like that, then you might also like this game…” (or “…people who bought this, often buy this game…”).

However, if the distributor simply has a wide inventory, then their name won’t mean much, and probably isn’t worth building on.

Holding events at game shops may bring awareness to a single title of theirs, but given the effort it’ll take to promote each of these one-shot events, it’s unlikely to result in the ROI they’re looking for.

Instead, have the distributor have a contest for best new game idea (in different categories). The winner would get a gift certificate for a selection of games and perhaps a meeting with a game company or two’s principals (to pitch the game itself). Something like this could easily go viral and result in the name of the distributor being mentioned frequently.