Greetings to all you Raw Fury fans out there, and welcome once again to Rawcember 2021!
My name is Andrew and I only just joined Raw Fury about a month and a half ago, pleased to meet you 🙂
That’s me!
I’m on the brand/marketing team (quick shoutout to NORCO! Not even kidding, that game is awesome), so it’s not completely beyond the realm of possibility that I would be the one to write this blog – but I began to suspect something was amiss when I was unanimously and enthusiastically voluntold to write it.
“It’ll be fun,” they said. “You’ll get to meet everyone,” they said. “Make the new guy write it,” they said. “Oh, sorry Andrew, you weren’t supposed to hear that last part,” they said. And it wasn’t that I disagreed with anything ‘they’ were saying, but as a new guy I found myself at a very real disadvantage – namely: I didn’t know what Rawcember was.
I struggled with a few early drafts. What’s the deal with Rawcember? What IS Rawcember? WHY is Rawcember? When is it!? I must have looked pretty stressed out about it because one day our CEO Jónas (@jantonsson) approached me and asked what was wrong.
“Oh Jónas, I just don’t know about this whole Rawcember thing! Everyone seems so pumped about it but… I want to write a good blog, but I don’t even know what it is!”
“ANDREW,” he said, in his deep, commanding CEO voice. “Rawcember is not a ‘thing’ one conceives of here,’ he said, poking my temple. “It’s a state of being that one experiences right here,” he said, tapping my chest over my heart. I quickly dialed ‘H’ and hovered my thumb over the ‘R’ on my phone as he added cryptically:
“To find out more about Rawcember,
This simple rule you must remember;
Seek the knowledge of the Furious Four™,
And touched by the Rawcember spirit you shall be, forevermore.”
O.M.G. I was shocked. My CEO was losing his mind! – this was the perfect time to ask for that raise! But first I had to deal with this darned blog, so I decided to delegate the work to some colleagues.
I started with my fellow brand managers. I figured they would tell it to me straight, we could knock out a quick blog, then I could go get that raise. I asked them: “hey guys, put down those energy drinks for a sec and tell me about Rawcember?”
Brand Managers: “Ok, first you need a logo, it needs to pop, then you get a tight graphics package, do website takeovers, run some google ads, buy YouTube bumpers, media spend, ROI, low hanging fruit, hire a celeb host, reheat, reheat, reheat – YEA! THAT’S how you manage a brand! WOO!”
After they finished high fiving, I decided to ask the Social & Community managers instead:
“Ahem, hey SoCom team, love your @rawfury twitter handle, by the way. I was wondering if you could tell me what Rawcember is all about?”
SoCom Team: “Andrew, Andrew, Andrew, slow down, my man! Rawcember is all about our fans, man. It’s about engaging with them, and using their input to make the games better, you know? And showing them how much we care by giving away that sweet, sweet physical and digital swag :)”
Tubular. But I felt like I was harshing their mellow so I moved on to the Sales Team:
“Hey guys, I really just need a quick answer on this – … ”
Sales Team: “Sales! Rawcember is about sales! Discounts! We’re slashing prices! 30%, 40%, 66% off!!! Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY! These prices won’t last long, so come on down before we sell out!”
This was getting me nowhere fast, so as much as I hated to do it as a marketing person, there was one last group I needed to ask for help:
“Hello… PR… look, I wouldn’t be asking if I wasn’t desperate – can you fill me in on Rawcember, please?”
PR: “Hmph, typical. A marketer needing help from PR, big surprise. *Le Sigh* Rawcember is a Communications platform, ok Andrew? It’s a time for press releases, slapping media accolades on everything, and making big announcements and reveals, ok?! PR is better than marketing, we win, the end!”
Sobbing, I ran away from PR. I’d been sent on a wild goose chase and what did I have to show for it? Nothin’! My sadness turning to anger, I decided to go straight to the source. I kicked down the door and marched straight up to our CEO, Jónas.
“PLEASE!” I shouted, “I need to know! WHaT iS RawCEmBer!?”
CEO: “Andrew, you need to leave this bathroom stall right now,” he said. I nodded. He was right, I had crossed a line. As I slowly walked out of the bathroom, shoulders slumped, head down, defeated, Jónas’ voice echoed out from the stall: “All this time you’ve been looking externally for the meaning of Rawcember, but you’ve forgotten that the most meaningful knowledge comes from within…”
And just like *that* a sensation of weightlessness came over me, I was flying! It was as if I were being lifted up, carried off the premises by angelic Rawcember security guards. It was a Rawcember miracle! Touched by the Rawcember spirit, I finally realized just what Rawcember is…
Rawcember is whatever you want it to be. Today it’s writing a funny blog and celebrating our games with big reveals, releases and announcements. Tomorrow it could be grabbing those games you wishlisted because they’re on sale. Maybe next week it’s following Raw Fury’s socials and downloading some free digital swag. Oh! – it’s also an advent-style calendar with big news and free gifts every day starting December 1st! Check it out here!
Anyway, whatever Rawcember means to you, I’d like to wish you a very happy one from myself, and everyone here at Raw Fury.
Kudos to anyone who’s read this far! I doubt anyone has – pee pee, poo poo! And double kudos to Raw Fury for being the kind of place where even a new guy is allowed – encouraged even! – to be his or herself and write a blog like this one. And for being a place that publishes awesome indie games 🙂
Marketing > PR!
AT