Rising Star Games has revealed a new marketing push set to make it as iconic for Japanese content as the likes of graphic novel and animation specialists Tokyopop and Manga.

At its recent trade conference in London, the company presented plans for 2009, including an initial product line-up and the new approach to marketing its unique brand.

“This is not about giving Rising Star a new brand identity,” explained Rising Star’s head of brand Simon Alty. “This is going to be a new message, delivered with a bold approach.”

Building on its current position in the industry, bringing Japanese games to the European market, the company will drop its previous slogan of ‘European expertise with a Japanese heart’ in favour of a new one represented by a campaign logo.

“Our iconic logo is now wrapped up in this ‘home’ of Japanese games graphic and when you think of Rising Star, that’s the single-minded proposition that we’re trying to communicate,” Alty said. “It’s clear, it’s simple and it’s us.

“There are brands out there – Manga and Tokyopop – that have done for DVDs and books what we are about to do for the Japanese gaming space. It’s important that we are seen to ‘own’ Japanese games.”

Rising Star will achieve this with a new marketing campaign and strategic partnerships, which should see its products reaching a wider target audience through
alternative routes to market.

The publisher’s managing director Martin Defries said: “The product we have is good. We have consumer demand for it. We just want to access a broader market than the one we’re reaching at the moment.”