Mortal Kombat 1 "It's in Our Blood" Trailer Review
When I was in middle school, a friend of mine dared another friend to go to the middle of the cafeteria during lunch time and yell: "MORTAL KOMBAT!!!" Without hesitation he did it. This didn't inspire anyone to join in, and it was probably just my table of friends laughing (or even understanding the reference)
This trailer for Mortal Kombat operates on a totally different level than anything I've ever made in my career and probably ever will. If you didn't know, this trailer is a direct call back to the classic Mortal Kombat TV commercial from the 1990s. This is an iconic commercial that is about as big a part of Mortal Kombat history as the music from the first film and the film itself.
How and why do these trailers work?
I think live-action trailers for games are a good example of marketing materials which are on the upper upper stratospherically high part of the marketing funnel. These are made to reach a WIDE audience. Even really well captured and edited game trailers are still pretty niche because you need to have a certain level of game literacy to understand even the clearest trailer.
A direct call back to the original commercial for the fans who are now in their 40s and 50s, haha
But a live-action trailer (led by a major Hollywood star) telling the story of something primal within people that causes them to scream out and gather together is intriguing and accessible. What is this about? What has these people so riled up? If nothing else, we can connect emotionally to the feeling created by the trailer's story. This is about as far as a trailer can get from a bullet point list of features. A list of features and specifications (e.g. 16 weapons, 20 playable characters, 3 boss battles, 200 costumes!) is raw data. People running through the streets screaming "MORTAL KOMBAT" is raw emotion. This can connect to a bigger audience because they don't need prior knowledge to feel.
On a more practical level, the mainstream appeal of a trailer like this makes it good for broadcast TV, digital spots, and maybe even movie theaters. The conversion rate for a spot like this (how many people decide to wishlist or purchase the game) is probably incredibly low, but I'm sure that's bolstered by the sheer view count numbers a trailer like this can achieve. This is what I mean when I say it's TOP of the funnel. An ad for a game doesn't get much more mainstream than this.
The games industry might make more money than the film industry, but the average number of eyeballs on movie trailers absolutely dwarfs game trailers (unless they're as big as Call of Duty). The official teaser for the Netflix movie Maestro has nearly 2 million views. Even though that has star power behind it, it's an artsy biopic about Leonard Bernstein; not exactly the most mainstream movie. The trailer for NAPOLEON directed by Ridley Scott and starring Joaquin Phoenix has 30 million views on YouTube. Much bigger film, but still not really a mainstream blockbuster film. People aren't going to tune into a gameplay only trailer at these kinds of numbers (again, Call of Duty excluded)
The star power and appeal of Hollywood actors like Karl Urban, Rainn Wilson, and Ming-Na Wen can bring in some crazy numbers by game trailer standards so it makes sense to produce them for AAA games at that scale. I think these live-action trailers also bring with them a level of prestige and brand value to the games. The AAA games industry, as huge as it is, has often sought the "legitimacy" and "prestige" of the film industry. Showing that a game has the budget to make trailers like this can create a perception of value in the audience. In other words: This game is so big they can hire Hollywood talent, they must be amazing.
This barista actress deserves a raise. I think she got me even more pumped than Dave Bautista.
The Mortal Kombat trailer also works as a way to extend the universe of Mortal Kombat. It's not so direct an extension as something like the Deus Ex: Human Revolution live-action trailer but it does feel like a story that could be happening in the universe of Mortal Kombat (which deals with other dimensions and warriors from Earth). I think these live-action trailers which add to the game world are best because they feel less like ads and more like fan service.
Fan service is the other massive pillar I think these live-action trailers sit upon. For the people who are already committed to purchasing the game, these trailers serve as validation. The percentage number of people who come into these trailers completely cold, and then become a "warm" audience is probably pretty low. The people who are already kind of warm who are driven to purchase after seeing the trailer is likely higher. And people who are the blazing hot audience who wanted to buy the game from day one are burning even hotter after seeing a trailer like this.
Based on comments in the Mortal Kombat trailer and comments for live-action trailers like this one for Halo 3: ODST, these trailers are like jet fuel. In a way, these live-action trailers are both TOP of the funnel marketing assets (for the cold audience) and very bottom of the funnel (for the hot audience). Both bringing in new eyeballs, and validation for the old ones.
My brain isn't at all calibrated to conceive of game trailer ideas in this realm, but I really do appreciate when I see them done so remarkably well. I don't know how this trailer did as far as conversions or metrics, but I know that it made me feel something even if it communicated very little information. Even before I analyze the editing or storytelling, I first ask myself if I felt something while watching the trailer. The emotional and physical effect of a trailer is what I'm always on the lookout for in trailers, and this one has it in spades.
