Dothackers

Overview
Created in 2003 as a personal hobby, dothackers.net quickly became the most visited destination for this niche project. “.hack” (pronounced dot hack) is a Japanese multi-media conglomerate consisting of three anime series, 9 video games, multiple mangas, novels and one CG movie; all of which have an interconnected story. Dothackers.net became the place to get up to date information on this large project, in addition to creating a community where fans could interact with each other. The franchise is currently still on going and is relatively popular in Japan, where it was conceived. The project also has a decent sized following in the United States. In the website’s heyday it received roughly 2000+ unique visitors a day (from around the world); was linked on the front page of AOL.com’s gaming website, collaborated with Namco Bandai of America to promote the project in the United States, and even hosted a informational panel at Anime Central, the largest mid-west Anime convention in North America.

Monetizing and Target Audience (see gallery screenshots at the end of the page)
Using Google AdSense and other online advertisement agencies, dothackers.net was able to generate enough revenue to break even on server costs. All advertisement campaigns were directly targeted towards dothacker’s audience; 12-16 year old males who enjoyed playing video games, watching Anime (Japanese animation) and role-playing online. Demographic data was captured via polls, data mining and analyzing dothackers.net’s message board community, and using Quantcast.com and Google Analytics to gather more information on its users. A mix of smaller non-targeted demographics also existed. Advertisements ranged from the simple image ad banner to integrated advertisements within the content of the website – a trend that the online advertisement industry is moving towards. Most campaigns were based on CPM (impressions per thousand). For more information on dothackers.net current statistics visit the public stats page at Quantcast.

Collaboration with Product Manager and Public Relations
Localized English media assets for .hack were e-mailed to dothackers – these included images, videos and press releases. In addition to collaborating with the PR push (by TriplePoint Public Relations) for .hack, dothackers was in contact with the Product Manager of the project (Namco Bandai of America) who was responsible for its well doing in the United States. Dothackers was invited and participated in multiple online conferences to discuss current .hack media and was also a big part in Namco Bandai’s guerrilla marketing scheme for .hack in the United States. Dothackers also received giveaway “swag” for online contests.

Social Media and Community Driven Applications (see gallery screenshots at the end of the page)
Way back in 2003, which now seems like the stone ages for Internet applications, dothackers.net implemented an open-source software package called phpBB. phpBB is a free message board application, allowing visitors to interact in near real-time. The message board on dothackers quickly became the most visited section on the website. The visitors created community norms, much like friends in real life do, on the message board; they essentially shaped the image of the website’s community with little interaction from administrators. Updates and suggestions were implemented on dothackers based on user feedback.

Currently, dothackers has a strong presence on Twitter and Facebook, which has redefined the way we share information on the Internet. Via Twitter, dothackers has had giveaways, and most importantly, has had the chance to interact more intimately with its target audience.