The Game Agency

Hey Baby

2010-06-09T03:52:00.001-07:00

The following article was published in yesterday's NY Times. I was fascinated to read about the author's sentiments to the situations in the game, which in my mind could only come from playing such a game vs just reading about it. At TGA, we often talk about the impact of gaming medium, but this was a very interesting approach to raising awareness to a common social behavior & its potential outcomes...depending on who you run into. It would be interesting if there was a measurement engine to see what scenarios play out most often and to get a demographic analysis of our population given the situation in the game.

June 8, 2010

Video Game Review

A Woman with the Firepower to Silence Those Street Wolves

By SETH SCHIESEL

I have never been sexually harassed. Walking down the street, I have never had a stranger say anything suggestive or complimentary about my appearance (though one night last summer a homeless man in Midtown Manhattan did sneer “Nice get-up” as I passed by in yellow shorts and a bright blue polyester shirt with a huge collar).

So when I first tried Hey Baby, a new Web game that takes aim at catcalling and its practitioners, I thought it was not meant for me. Developed by the New York artist and producer Suyin Looui, Hey Baby at first appears to be a self-consciously ridiculous revenge fantasy for women who have felt oppressed or threatened by sexual attention or commentary from men. Think of “Death Wish” with a woman walking home from work in the role ofCharles Bronson.

Yet over several hours my initial alienation and annoyance gave way to a swelling appreciation of Hey Baby, not as a game but as a provocative, important work of interactive art as social commentary. The people who should really play Hey Baby are men, even if you have never said a word to a woman you didn’t know on the street.

The game, playable free at heybabygame.com, is quite simple. As in any first-person shooter game, you use the mouse to look around your surroundings, and the keyboard to move, while holding a big gun. In this case your surroundings are a small cityscape that appears intended to be generically American (though several of the storefronts are drawn directly from small businesses on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which happens to be my neighborhood).

In most first-person shooters, your enemies — the things you shoot and kill — are zombies or aliens or terrorists. In Hey Baby, men approach you and say something, and you can either blow them away, leaving tombstones inscribed with their affronts, or you can say, “Thank you, have a great day,” and the man turns around and leaves in a cloud of floating pink hearts.

The men may say something like, “I don’t mean any disrespect, but you’re beautiful,” “Can I help you, miss?” “Excuse me, do you have a boyfriend?” or “God bless you.”

Or they may say something like “I like your bounce, baby,” or yell obscenities and other unprintable comments, or threaten imminent assault.

There are other women also walking around, but you cannot shoot them. You also cannot shoot the men until they actually say something to you.

At first I found myself somewhat offended. In Hey Baby a man says, “Wow, you’re so beautiful,” and that is license to kill him. It should be obvious that a video game in which you play a man who can shoot only women would be culturally unthinkable, no matter the circumstances.

But as I played on, I came to realize that it is equally unrealistic and absurd to suppose that saying, “Thank you, have a great day” is going to defuse and mollify a man who screams in your face, “I want to rape you,” with an epithet added for good measure.

And that is the point of Hey Baby. The men cannot ever actually hurt you, but no matter what you do, they keep on coming, forever. The game never ends. I found myself throwing up my hands and thinking, “Well what am I supposed to do?” Which is, of course, what countless women think every day.

So where is the line between saying “Hey, sweetheart” and “Baby, I could blow your back out”? Is there one?

I doubt any noninteractive art form could have given me as visceral an appreciation for what many women go through as part of their day-to-day lives. Just as I have never been sexually harassed, I have never accosted a strange woman on the street. After playing Hey Baby, I’m certainly not about to start.

Quantifiable Lift With The Addition of Social Media to Advertising

2010-04-28T12:41:00.000-07:00

A recent joint study from Nielsen and Facebook, titled "Advertising Effectiveness: Understanding the Value of a Social Media Impression," analyzed survey data from more than 800,000 Facebook users with regard to more than 125 Facebook ad campaigns from 70 brand advertisers. The report provides quantifiable data that can be mapped to trusted advertising benchmarks: Ad Recall, Brand Awareness, and Purchase Intent.

Studies have shown that consumers trust their friends and peers more than anyone else in making a purchase decision. The authors acknowledge that it's critical to understand advertising not just in terms of "paid" media, but also in terms of how "earned" media (passed along or shared among friends) and social advocacy contribute to campaigns.

Percent of Respondents Trusting "Completely or Somewhat" in Selected Forms of Information
*Form of Information*	*% of Respondents*
Recommendations from people known	90%
Consumer opinions posted online	70
Brand websites	70
Editorial content	69
Brand sponsorship	64
TV	62
Newspaper	61
Magazines	59
Billboards/outdoor advertising	55
Radio	55
Opted-in Emails	54
Ads before movies	52
Ads fromSearch engine results	41
Online video ads	37
Online banner ads	33
Text ads on mobile phones	24
Source: The Nielsen Company, April 2009

The study took a close look at 14 Facebook ad campaigns that incorporated the "Become A Fan" engagement unit and sliced the effectiveness results three different ways, by each of the types of ads available on Facebook:

· Lift from a standard "Homepage (Engagement) Ad"

· Lift from an ad that featured social context or "Homepage ads with Social Context"

· Lift from "Organic Ads," news-feed stories that are sent to friends of users who engage with advertising on a brand

For those Homepage engagement ads at the top of the marketing funnel, awareness increased on average by 4% between exposed and control audiences. Purchase intent also increased on average by 2% following ad exposure on Facebook.

Variance Between Control Group to Homepage Ad
*Benchmark*	*% Lift Change vs. Control*
Ad recall	10%
Awareness	4
Purchase intent	2
Source: the Nielsen Company/Facebook, April 2010

Comparing the responses of those users who had seen ads with social context against users who saw ads with no social context from the same campaign, there is a measurable lift in lift.

Relative "Lift" between Homepage and Homepage with Social Context Added
*Benchmark*	*Homepage Exposure Lift*	*Homepage with Social Advocacy*
Ad Recall	10%	16%
Awareness	4	8
Purchase intent	2	8
Source: the Nielsen Company/Facebook, April 2010

While exposure to the homepage ad itself increased ad recall, those users exposed to both the "paid ad" and the organic impression remembered the ad at three times the rate of those just exposed to the paid homepage ad.

We saw a similar effect for the other two metrics evaluated. Homepage ads increased awareness of the product or brand by 4% on average, but exposure to both homepage ads and organic ads increased awareness by a delta of 13% versus the control group. Exposure to organic impressions also impacted purchase intent as well, increasing the impact of the ad from 2% to 8%.

Variance in Lift Between Homepage Control and Homepage Ad With Organic Context Added
*Benchmark*	*Homepage Ad Exposure*	*Homepage Ad + Organic*
Ad Recall	10%	30%
Awareness	4	13
Purchase intent	2	8
Source: the Nielsen Company/Facebook, April 2010

Now... That's a Great Social Loyalty Program

2010-04-27T04:30:00.000-07:00

Pizza chain Papa John's is launching a social-media campaign at its Facebook site, called "Papa's Specialty Pizza Challenge," asking its fans to suggest a new pizza.

And in an unusual twist, the company is offering the winner of the promotion a portion of the profits from sales of the top pie, which will join the menu list at restaurants, and $1,000 to help market the pie during the month when the finalists compete for sales volume.

When people go to Facebook.com/PapaJohns, in addition to entering the toppings list they have devised, they also have to write a brief rumination of 250 words or less what makes their pizza unusual, special, or generally audacious for a chance to win. The company is judging the pies on appeal, taste, creativity of the name and the quality of the back story on how the contestant dreamed up the pie.

While the company says all entries will be featured in a gallery on Papa John's Facebook page, the company's president, "Papa" John Schnatter, and associates will choose 10 semifinalists, whose recipes will be cooked and tasted-tested by Schnatter and other judges at Papa John's Louisville, Ky., headquarters.

The top three recipes will be showcased on the chain's menu through August. The highest-selling pizza wins, and the winner gets free Papa John's pizza for life and an appearance in a "Papa's in the House" TV commercial.

A Papa John's spokesperson explains that the contest winner gets 1% of sales, up to $10,000 for the 12 month period that his or her pizza is offered following the contest. The winner also gets free pizza for life (based on 50 years of pizza at $480 per year). "The winning pie will actually become a part of Papa John's specialty menu, but the start date is yet to be determined," says the spokesperson.

As for the $1,000 that the finalists get to promote their pizzas during August, "They can use the cash to create viral videos in support of their pizza, buy advertising, rent a billboard and so on, or just keep the money and hope the popularity of their pizza catches on in other ways," says the spokesperson. This is the first time in company history that Papa John's has asked consumers to name and create a pizza and share the story of their pizza.

Last May, the company launched the "Papa's In the House" campaign, whose central conceit is that Schnatter might actually show up to homes as the delivery person. The ads have him driving a replica of the Chevy Camaro he purportedly sold to fund his initial foray into pizza. The ads, via Z Group, use real customers and are shot around Louisville.

The international chain is the third-largest pizza company globally, after Domino's and Pizza Hut.

Some TV Viewer Loss Blamed On Video Games

2010-04-26T12:10:00.001-07:00

Television's prime time is video games' prime time.

Television viewer erosion is the result of a fractionalized viewership -- which is due, in large part, to cable viewing and Internet usage. But a lot of video game usage is also contributing, especially in the evening hours between 7 and 11 p.m.

A new study by the Nielsen Games measuring division says Xbox 360 usage, for example, hits nearly 25% between 7 and 11 p.m, with men around 23% and women's usage at around 17%.

Xbox 360 users are comprised of 45% 18- to-34-year-olds, 31% 12- to-17-year-olds, 13% 2- to-11-year-olds, 7% 35- to-44-year-olds and 3% 45- to-54-year-olds.

Nielsen also looked at Xbox 360 popular live game "1 vs 100" -- which comes in two versions -- one with a live host; the other where players could practice among themselves.

The live-host version play averaged 87 minutes, while the practice verison was 71 minutes. That's equal to about one TV drama and one sitcom. Both types of Xbox play offer advertising integration during the "game breaks" after each set of 10 questions.

Carolyn Fuson, senior audience and analysis manager for Xbox Live advertising, said in a Nielsen Wire blog: "In one specific case, an advertiser who placed ads within the games saw notable brand recall and lift. Our ability to learn more about the audience can only be a positive to those brands looking to make an impact on the growing gaming community."

Bayer Launches Diabetes Management Game for Nintendo DS

2010-04-26T08:49:00.000-07:00

Pharmaceutical company Bayer announced the release of DIDGET, a blood glucose monitoring system that connects with Nintendo DS systems and rewards consistent testing with unlockable minigames.

DIDGET is a fully functional blood glucose monitor, and does not require a Nintendo DS to operate. The device reads and records blood sugar concentration levels determined by Bayer's prescription CONTOUR test strips.

When connected to the Game Boy Advance cartridge slot on Nintendo DS and DS Lite systems, DIDGET converts blood glucose test results into reward points.

Players can redeem these points to unlock new levels, minigames, and items in Knock 'Em Downs: World's Fair, a Nintendo DS adventure game bundled with the DIDGET device.

DIDGET additionally features an online community with score leaderboards, web games, and player profile pages that can be customized by redeeming DIDGET reward points.

An online demonstration is available at Bayer's website.

Apple Captures U.S. Video Game Market Share

2010-03-23T16:28:00.000-07:00

More than 30,000 games have been released in the iPhone App Store since its launch in July 2008. With titles that consistently dominate the Top Paid and Top Grossing lists, there is no question that the games category is the most lucrative category in the App Store. This report focuses on how Apple has affected the market share of U.S. video game and portable game revenue since the introduction of games sold through the App Store for iPhone and iPod touch.

Using publicly available market data, provided by NPD (mostly through Gamasutra's Behind the Numbers series), Flurry calculated U.S. console and portable game software sales for 2008 and 2009. We also estimated Nintendo DS and Sony PlayStation Portable game software sales, which make up the significant majority of the portable category, in order to compare these to iPhone game sales. We estimate iPhone game sales using a combination of data made available by Apple and using ratios and calculations from an aggregated set of data that we track through our analytics service.

We begin with a look at the U.S. gaming market, which NPD defines primarily as console and handheld. PC gaming, which has been declining over the last decade, and is currently approximately 5% of the total U.S. market, is not included. Also, for this analysis, we ignore online gaming revenue (e.g., virtual goods and subscription fees from social networking games and massively multi-player online games).

Below is our estimation of market share by platform among console, portable and iPhone platforms for 2008 and 2009.

NPD Group shows that combined U.S. console and portable software revenue was approximately $11 billion and $9.9 billion in 2008 and 2009, respectively. After estimating portable sales, we were able to back into console revenues. We then added our own estimates for iPhone game revenue, detailed later, which total $115 million and $500 million for 2008 and 2009, respectively.

With these figures, our main finding is that iPhone (and iPod touch) is a gaming platform to be reckoned with. Controlling 5% revenue of a $10 billion industry in just a year and a half is significant. From a market share perspective, console games lost ground to portable platforms and iPhone. While the downturn in the economy may have dampened sales of the more expensive console games category, there is no denying that iPhone has generated substantial revenue and entered strongly into a mature industry.

More interesting to us than iPhone's impact on U.S. gaming was its impact on the portable category, which we estimate totaled $2.25 billion and $2.55 billion in 2008 and 2009, respectively. Michael Pachter, managing director at Wedbush Morgan Securities and a prominent video game analyst, suggests "iPod touch is the most dangerous thing that ever happened" to game publishers. As prices come down for the iPod Touch, and games sold through the App Store continue to have lower price points, more of the young gaming generation may switch to Apple devices over Sony PSP and Nintendo DS for gaming. Further, Apple has squarely positioned the iPod Touch as a gaming machine. Check out a TV spot here to get an idea.

From what we calculate, consumers are downloading iPhone games in droves. Comparing iPhone against Sony and Nintendo games sales shows that Apple has taken nearly one fifth of the portable market in 2009, largely at the expense of Sony PSP. With Sony PSP Go, Sony's latest effort to revive its portable sales,having fallen short of expectations, Sony finds itself now challenged by two competitors in this segment.

Looking forward, with the iPad set for an April release, the traditional gaming giants may yet again be disrupted by Apple. With companies like Electronic Arts and Gameloft joining Apple on stage during its January unveiling of the iPad, the tablet device will enjoy elite game publisher support on day one. Further considering data that Flurry released in its latest Smartphone Industry Pulse report, where we determined that more than one third of iPhone game developers come from the traditional gaming industry, Apple has already established broad third-party game publisher support. With the iPad featuring a larger screen and more processing power, games on the tablet take a step closer to PC and console gaming. Unless the other major video game platform providers (i.e., Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft) respond accordingly, Apple could continue to roll up video game market share.

Video Games see Social Networks as Growth Engine

2010-03-17T11:18:00.000-07:00

For those wondering when the video-game industry will enter its next console cycle, some argue that the new cycle has already started, with social networks as the next big opportunity. Such was apparent this week at the Game Developers' Conference in San Francisco, an annual gathering of video-game designers and publishers. While the event saw some big developments among traditional gaming -- most notably, Sony's new motion-control system -- a big theme running through the event was the rapid growth of social networking and the related opportunity for game makers.

The opportunity is big indeed. The largest social-network site -- Facebook -- alone has more than 400 million monthly users. MySpace, its closest rival, has 100 million monthly users. Those numbers are far above the number of people who own traditional video-game consoles. Games are becoming hot property for social networks. The soaring popularity of games such as "Mafia Wars" and "FarmVille" over Facebook has attracted the interest of both game makers and investors looking to pump money into the next Big Thing. Such was apparent at GDC this week. Among the crowd of programmers and designers were venture capitalists, financial analysts and private equity funds, sniffing for opportunities in the market.

These investors are not looking to sink money into the next PlayStation or Xbox game; rather, they are looking for the next Zynga -- the San Francisco-based company that makes "Mafia Wars," "FarmVille" and other social-network games. Still privately held, Zynga landed $180 million in funding late last year from Digital Sky Technologies, or DST, the Russian outfit that also bought a large stake in Facebook. Media reports said the investment gave Zynga a market valuation between $1.5 billion and $3 billion. The company reported 100 million unique monthly users in November, and reportedly has about $250 million in annual revenue.

There are over 200 million people playing games on Facebook each month, out of 400 million total Facebook users, suggesting a 50% penetration rate. For game makers, the growing interest among social networks provides a new opportunity beyond the industry's typical channels -- which are largely consoles such as the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii and associated handheld devices. These social networks are competing against each other to lure developers -- and each offers its own unique set of advantages and disadvantages. Facebook offers the largest base of users, by far. Offsetting that is recent developments whereby the social-networking giant will be taking a portion of the revenue generated by games in the form of virtual goods sales. The company has also changed some of its policies that had previously allowed game makers to market their games more aggressively, after several users compared the efforts to spam.

Hi5, a social network with about 50 million monthly users, is working to make itself into a gaming-focused site. The company recently hired Alex St. John -- founder of the successful online gaming site WildTangent -- as its president and chief technology officer. St. John said the company will target the best games from developers and give them top promotion, in order to reduce the need for promotional activities by the developers that may upset users.

While social networks offer game makers a large potential audience, the business models are very different from the traditional, retail-based game business. Many social games are free to play. Rather than charge up-front costs, producers try to drive revenue through in-game transactions and some advertising. The social networks themselves are trying to solidify their own businesses. Social games are growing like a weed, but the industry is facing some new challenges. Facebook's new policy of taking a portion of gaming revenues and limits on how game makers can promote their products to other users may crimp future growth, he said.

Social games are still expected to change the overall face of the gaming business. Traditional high-end games such as "Call of Duty" take two years to develop and can cost near $100 million in production expenses. "FarmVille" was developed in five weeks, according to Mark Skaggs, vice president for product development at Zynga. During a presentation at GDC, Skaggs contrasted the development cycles for the two types of games, noting that social games have the advantage of being continuously improved based on user feedback. With traditional games, most of the work happens before the launch. With social games, most of the work happens after the launch.

What The Nexus One Means For Android Gaming

2010-01-08T09:32:00.000-08:00

What will the Nexus One mean for the prospects of Android-based portable gaming?

Fast: The Nexus One sports a 1GHz Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm, and has on-chip graphical capabilities. This device is capable of some promising 3D potential. Future Android phones are likely to match or upgrade the speed to compete with HTC's newest phone.

Pretty: OLED screens are quite pretty, and have incredible contrast ratios. The Nexus One is equipped with such a screen, running at a 480x800 resolution and 3.7 inches. That's about 25% greater pixel density than Sony's beautiful 11-inch 1080p OLED screen.

Fractured: The big problem facing Android is consistency. The Nexus One doesn't have a keyboard. The Droid does. Upcoming Android phones will have keypads. Screen sizes vary. Internal speeds vary. This is a developer's nightmare, and is particularly painful for game development.

Third partied: On the other hand, one of Android's advantages, namely backgrounding apps, could come to the rescue. We're starting to see hardware accessories for the iPhone go hand-in-hand with a software package on the device, but this only works when that app is open. On Android, we might see third-party accessories that hook into games via a backgrounding "connector" app. If a company like MadCatz made a slick controller that went along with an API to control games, and that became an industry standard, it could give Android gaming a major edge.

The direction Android is going will attract some great games. It's a powerful platform, and the upcoming devices are, as Google coined, "superphones." There's a problem with the fractured versions of hardware and Android revisions, but if the market is fertile enough, developers will bite the bullet.

We keep hearing that Android doesn't stand a change because the App Store is such a success. But keep in mind that Android has only been around for a year, and when the App Store launched for the iPhone (which wasn't Apple's idea), the devices had already been flying off store shelves for a year. The quality of the apps that launched on the iPhone are on par with current apps on Android, and the number and quality of Android handsets lined up for 2010 are very strong. Once Android's market share reaches a critical mass, established iPhone game companies will flock to the platform. I think we're looking at a faster maturity from device launch for Android's Marketplace than the App Store (when accounting for the leading year of hardware sales).

In two years, expect to look back and wonder how there was any sort of controversy that Android would be a very popular gaming platform.

Social Gaming Scams

2009-11-13T15:37:00.000-08:00

Social gaming is exploding, in a slightly different way that everyone thinks... Yes, there have been some major successes in the space, most notably EA's recent acquisition of Playfish. But over the past week, there has been tremendous press about scams among the social game sites.

It started with Michael Arrington's post, "Scamville: The Social Gaming Ecosystem of Hell" -- which essentially laid bare accusations that behind the Mafia wars, the farms, and the Texas-styled poker lie affiliate marketing scams that sign users up for expensive things they don't need (which appear free at first glance) in exchange for in-game currency. The piece has since drawn a number of press releases, confessions of past misdeeds, and claims of having turned over new leaves. Execs were replaced. It's also created a bad taste in the mouth for larger advertisers considering the social games space.

There's an underlying issue of scale. Currently, ad inventory exceeds demand by credible advertisers in most of these markets. Excess inventory drives down CPMs, and publishers are stuck between a rock and a hard place. If they don't allow the more unsavory advertisers, it'll be much harder to turn a profit and remain competitive, and they'll just burn through their VC money. If they do allow the unsavory scams, it's going to turn off legitimate advertisers who might be interested in reaching the game's audience. It's the AdSense problem. No self-respecting brand wants to appear in the same spot as a "punch the monkey" ad.

Video Game Consoles Amp Up The Video

2009-10-30T13:05:00.000-07:00

Game consoles are continuing their stealthy takeover of the living room. We've been seeing this trend for a while, but the pace is accelerating as the holiday season approaches.

The PlayStation 3 is going Netflix next month. The second console to get the streaming video service, this added functionality should help the PS3 sales for the holiday (which are already predicted to be high due to the lower price point of the PS3 Slim). The solution currently works using a disc shipped out from Netflix, though it's been confirmed that eventually a native client will be released. There are still rumors of a similar disc-based approach coming to the Wii.

The Xbox 360 just saw the release of Sky TV on the system for Sky subscribers in the U.K. This service has one up on the Netflix services already being used by Xbox 360 users in the U.S.: live TV. A number of Sky channels are available for live streaming to the system, including sports. And there's an on-demand content library. The Xbox 360 is also getting 1080p HD streaming for "Zune Marketplace" video content, with a system update coming next month (assuming a download speed of 8Mbps and an HDMI connection). This will apply to purchased and rented content within the video marketplace, and replaces the existing download method.

These trends in the consoles mirror a larger trend among consumer behavior. Streaming of full-length TV or movie content is on the rise in the U.S., increasing by about 100% year to year. For the general population, 26% have streamed a full-length TV episode in the last month (up from 11% eight months prior), and 51% of 18- to 24-year-olds have (up from 26%). These numbers mirror streaming growth reported on Netflix's earnings call this quarter, with 42% of subscribers viewing instant stream content today versus only 22% last year. As the ease of use and quality increase for streaming content to the living room, this behavior will likely continue to spread - and, at least so far, the consoles are sitting at the forefront of this transformation.

Xbox Looks To Have The Jump On Motion

2009-10-10T03:58:00.000-07:00

Over the past few weeks Sony and Microsoft have offered new details on who/what will be used to launch their own entrances into the world of motion-controlled games, which has thus far been wholly dominated by the Nintendo Wii.

Judging from the initial list of titles for both Microsoft's Project Natal and Sony's as-yet unnamed motion control wand, Sony is looking to move first-party titles by catering to players who already own a PS3 and the titles that are being upgraded to be motion-control compatible, whereas Microsoft, with its partnership with top publishers like Ubisoft, Activision Blizzard and Sega, is looking to create must-own titles that will move consoles.

In the current environment, Microsoft's strategy is the right one. While the Wii was the only motion-control game in town, Nintendo could get away with having mostly shovelware titles with only a few games worth owning. Now that all the major players are getting involved, the list of motion-control titles offered by each platform really needs to be exceptional, and the third-party publishers Microsoft's lined up looks ready to make that happen.

Online Retailers: 99% Plan to Have Facebook Fan Pages

2009-09-30T05:24:00.000-07:00

With two-thirds of marketers using social media, and retailers shifting marketing dollars towards social initiatives, it comes as no surprise that new research from the e-tailing group and PowerReviews shows that brands are more hip to social media than ever before.

What is quite remarkable, however, is the extent at which brands and retailers are adopting and implementing social media tools, and their preferred social home — Facebook. According to eMarketer, a combined 99% of surveyed online retailers currently employ (86%) or plan to employ (13%) Facebook Fan Pages.

Similar stats hold true for Twitter too. 65% are already all a-Twitter, with 26% planning to get in on the action as well. If the survey results are to be trusted, nearly all online retailers will have Facebook Fan Pages, and 91% will be using Twitter for status updates by the year 2011.

Data from the “Community and Social Media Study” was gathered between August and September of this year, and shows that retail respondents are also favorable to creating and managing their own blogs, but they’re not as keen to adopt the longer form outlet as readily as they are Facebook or Twitter. In fact, at first glance, it might be a little surprising to find that only 55% of those surveyed have blogs now, but 65% and 86% have Twitter accounts or Fan Pages respectively.

Marry those stats against the fact that retailers still fear losing control of their branding, and you have a bit of a oxymoron. The data shows that retailers are actively adopting social media tools on third-party sites over adding social utilities like a blog, Facebook Connect (43% use today), or forums (27%) to their own sites. But, according to the report, “One of their biggest fears was that customers would abandon their site in favor of one that was more socially engaging.”

Perhaps that conundrum can be rectified by the notion that the study also found that “the primary social media goal … was to increase customer engagement.” Social sites do offer a quick and easy way to reach and engage with a broader customer base. Just look at the New England Patriots Facebook initiatives for a prime example of a big brand opting to add social utility on Facebook instead of their own website.

Interesting enough is that this study’s social media adoption rates closely mirror a recent Mzigna/Babson Executive Education study, but that particular study also found that 84% don’t measure the ROI of their social media programs. Clearly we can expect to see adoption rates continue to rise, but what happens after the Facebook Fan Page, Twitter accounts, and blogs are created still remains somewhat of a mystery.

Social Media Tools Gaining For Driving Sales

2009-09-24T05:34:00.001-07:00

According to the first annual Community and Social Media Study, from the The e-tailing group five out of ten social media tools have been adopted by more than 50% percent of brands and retailers, with the Facebook Fan Page leading the way at 86%. In addition, the study found three-fourths of the survey respondents feel brands have accelerated their use of, and commitment to, community and social media in the past six months.

The study found that the penetration of social media tools within brand and retailer organizations is extremely high, given the length of time these tools have been around:

Community and Social Networking Tools Employed and Planned (% of Respondents)
	*Anticipated Timing*
*Network or Tool*	*Today*	*Next 12 Months*	*Beyond 1 Year*	*No Plans to Employ*
Facebook fan page	86%	10	3	1
Twitter	65	19	7	9
Customer reviews	55	26	13	6
Blogs	55	25	12	8
Viral videos	50	22	13	15
Facebook connect	43	31	10	16
Social listening	36	31	19	14
Q & A	29	20	25	26
Community forums	27	18	23	32
Product suggestion box	19	26	20	35
Source: e-Tailing Group, September 2009

The motivators, which drove the last wave of social media adoption, will also be driving the next wave in the coming year, says the study. Over the next 12 months, study respondents say they plan to adopt:

Facebook Connect (31%)
Social Listening Tools (31%)
Customer Reviews (26%)
Product Suggestions (26%)

The study also found the primary goal for adopting social media was:

Customer engagement (39%)
Mobilizing advocates to drive "word of mouth" (30%)
Increasing brand loyalty (21%)

Regarding advocacy and word of mouth (the #2 goal of using social media tools), the study found that Facebook is considered by brands and merchants to be the "single most effective tactic in mobilizing brand advocates and influencers to spread the word about products/services."

However, when it comes to driving sales and customer engagement, customer reviews came out on top by a wide margin, with 78% of those polled listing customer reviews as the #1 social media tool for generating sales and 61% listing customer reviews #1 in driving customer engagement.

Top 3 Sites or Tools Expected to Yield Greatest Sales Increase (% of Respondents)
*Social Media or Tool*	*Total Response*	*% Rank 1*	*% Rank 2*	*% Rank3*
Customer reviews	100	78%	14%	8%
Q & A	43	16	49	35
Facebook fan page	39	13	36	51
Viral videos	34	18	44	38
Community forums	33	6	45	49
Blogs	30	10	47	43
Social listening	22	14	27	59
Facebook connect	19	26	32	42
Product suggestion box	17	41	24	35
Twitter publishing	14	7	57	36
Source: e-Tailing Group, September 2009

Top 3 Sites or Tools Expected to Create Greatest Customer Engagement Increase (% of Respondents)
*Social Media or Tool*	*Total Response*	*% Rank 1*	*% Rank 2*	*% Rank3*
Customer reviews	67	61%	16%	23%
Q & A	46	20	50	30
Community forums	46	48	26	26
Blogs	43	16	58	26
Facebook fan page	42	31	43	26
Twitter publishing	29	34	14	52
Product suggestion box	27	22	30	48
Viral videos	24	12	38	50
Facebook connect	21	19	29	52
Social listening	6	33	17	50
Source: e-Tailing Group, September 2009

The Power of Facebook Fans

2009-09-18T10:07:00.001-07:00

Facebook Fan Pages are proving to open up dialog with consumers, empowering them to deliver actionable insights to global brands. Creating Facebook relationships and shifting communications from monologue (Brand-centric) to dialog (Fan-centric) can take time but if done correctly, can be extremely valuable. Addressing general trends and recognizing contributions from Fans can go a long way to motivating your Fans to become evangelists. The brands that are using Facebook effectively are actively engaging consumers. Their pages have creative content, two-way communication, active discussion boards, videos and images, and a fun and casual tone to match the medium. Below are five examples of brands that excel with this medium.

1. Coca-Cola (3.6 Million Fans)
The Coca-Cola fan page is a testament to the brand’s commitment to user participation. Coca-Cola has taken the unorthodox step of displaying user created content in their main page Wall feed by default, something that most brands shy away from. That’s a bold move for Coca-Cola, but one that really demonstrates their interest in getting fans involved with the brand. Coca-Cola also stands out in their approach to photo albums. Many companies simply incorporate an album of product pictures and call it a day, but Facebook offers companies a chance to get creative with photos, and Coca-Cola has taken advantage of that. They have a number of albums showing off the product, workers at the company, photos of Coke fans, pictures of Coke products from all around the world, and pictures of old Coke nostalgia. Coke knows that their brand is an icon and people don’t just interact with their product by drinking it — they actually collect it. The best example of how Coke is truly committed to their fans on Facebook is the story of how the page came to be. The page was originally created by two fans who just loved Coke. Coca-Cola found the page, and rather than trying to buy it or create another “official” page, they rewarded the two fans and worked with them to continue building the page and representing the brand. By empowering their existing fans, rather than trying to marginalize or steam roll them, Coca-Cola has been able to build on the connections that were already established with fans on Facebook before they even arrived in an official capacity.

2. Starbucks (3.8 Million Fans)
Starbucks is clearly dialed in to the world of social media, and that is reflected in the Starbucks fan page. The page incorporates great videos, varied content, and has active engagement with the fans. But what makes it truly exceptional, is its use of status updates. Status updates are an important aspect of any fan page because they provide two-way communication between company and fan, while keeping the page fresh with new content and information, which gives fans a reason to return. So many companies struggle to understand how best to utilize these updates and either don’t use them at all, update solely about product announcements, or update so often users become overwhelmed and the updates turn into so much noise. Starbucks, on the other hand, has established a good frequency of updates, sharing something new every couple of days. More importantly, though, the content is varied, fun, and interesting. Their updates share videos, blog posts about all aspects of coffee — and not just on the official company blog — including how to grow coffee beans, articles about Starbucks and Starbucks employees. The tone of each update is informative and casual, and even their product updates are kept varied enough to remain interesting, for example, by offering up reviews of new music or books for sale in their cafes. As a result, the quality status update content has led to a very engaged fan base, with every update receiving thousands of comments. The Starbucks Facebook fan page is a great example of how a company can still engage fans without the use of flashy apps, and instead simply focusing on quality content.

3. Adidas (2 Million Fans)
The Adidas fan page offers all the usual attributes of a strong page: active fans, a branded application, lots of content variety, plus, good video, pictures and notes. That’s all good stuff, but what really makes them stand out is the way they use their page’s tools to promote their other social media and advertising campaigns. Running a contest on Facebook brings variety to a page’s content, engages fans, and has the ability to directly increase the company’s revenue by introducing new customers to the brand. Lots of brands attempt to promote campaigns on Facebook, but there are only a few do it well. Most recently, Adidas teamed up with MTV to run an exclusive Facebook contest where a fan could win an all-expenses-paid house party. Their campaign was successful for a few reasons. First, Adidas chose a prize and partner that would resonate with their Facebook user demographic. Second, they wisely chose to promote the contest on their fan page not only before the contest, but after it had ended as well. Once they had chosen the lucky winner, they used their page to share the fan’s blog posts, photos and video from the party. The integration of status updates, photos, notes and videos, with a smart contest, resulted in a whole lot of fan engagement, and keeping the winning fan involved even after the contest had ended showed their commitment to fans and helped them get extra mileage out of the campaign. The contest also gave the page content variety by breaking up the usual status updates with something new, fun, and with an included call to action for fans to get involved.

4. Pringles (2.7 Million Fans)
While Pringles has created an inviting laid back tone, and managed to engage fans via reviews, discussions, and original interactive games, the most notable aspect of the page is definitely their use of video. Because videos are so easy to consume, video is among the most commonly shared types of content online. Pringles recognizes that its Facebook fans react well to comedy and have used their fan page to catalyze the spread of videos that certainly have the potential for virality. The videos are low budget productions with little editing or props depicting people singing goofy songs. It’s not much, but Pringles clearly knows its demographic, and the way Facebook works. By distributing the videos on their fan page, they’ve given users the chance to spread the Pringles brand to their friends without resorting to paid ad placements, which is exactly what thousands of people have done by “liking” the videos, an action which is then repeated in the newsfeeds of their friends and can potentially attract new people to the Pringles fan page.

5. Red Bull (1.2 Million Fans)
The Red Bull fan page is easily one of the best on Facebook simply because it has been able to break out of the typical fan page mold by providing fun content that encourages fans to interact with and ultimately connect with the brand. Their uniqueness is captured in their innovative incorporation of Twitter into their Facebook fan page. Integrating a Twitter stream is not special on its own, but Red Bull doesn’t just pull in tweets from their official corporate account, as you might expect most brands do. Instead, Red Bull has aggregated tweets from sponsored athletes like skateboarder Ryan Sheckler and snowboarder Shaun White and included them directly in their Facebook presence. Associating themselves with popular athletes, and letting fans connect to those athletes on a separate social network (i.e., not boxing them in) gives Red Bull some instant cool points. Their page’s “Boxes” section is also pretty darn incredible. Red Bull has built all kinds of content and applications that help them break out of the vanilla Facebook mold that forces all brands to look and feel more or less the same. They also deliver humor with an app that lets fans rate phone calls of people who “drunk dialed” the Red Bull 1-800 number. It’s not only hilarious, but it also successfully encourages fan engagement. Clearly Red Bull is a company that understands their audience and knows that the best way to connect with them on Facebook is with humor, fun, apps that get people engaged, and by being creative.

When designing your Facebook strategy, it's worth keeping in the mind the following objectives:

1) How can you drive awareness with product updates, promotions, events, etc.?
2) How can you build relationships with Fans by engaging in authentic conversations?
3) Can you get input and insights by requesting feedback from Fans and tracking what they are talking about?
4) Can you motivate action by encouraging Fans to try or buy new products?
5) Can you build brand evangelism by encouraging Fans to help reach new customers?

All the brands above have benefited from a solid brand image and loyal following before they actually joined Facebook and started using social media tools. They are all committed to engaging and empowering their Fans and have effectively done so.

Widgets & Apps that Might Scare You into Loving RE5

2009-09-08T08:03:00.000-07:00

Resident Evil is returning to computers with its 5th addition to the revolutionary series. With unbelievable detail, realism and control, Resident Evil 5 will bring new fans to the series, adding to the existing mega franchise. The Resident Evil series has sold over 40 million units since the original game was released in 1996 and has spawned a multi-million dollar trilogy of films from Sony Pictures. The latest installment of the game, Resident Evil 5 promises to revolutionize the series just as Resident Evil 4 did.

In order to help promote the release of this ultra successful, horror-filled video game for PC, The Game Agency has created two applications:

A Facebook application (http://apps.facebook.com/majini-makeover/) that gives users a chance to see their most evil side –literally. Targeting gamers and non-gamers ages 17 to 35 who are fans of the franchise and the horror genre in general, MAJINI MAKEOVER allows Facebook users to transform a regular photo into a grotesque Majini. Once a user selects an image from a personal or friends’ public photo gallery, he or she can use a library of gruesome wounds, stitches, worms and more to turn themselves into one of the infected Majini’s that scare their way through Resident Evil 5. If you don’t feel like getting infected, then grab a friend’s photo, tag them and suddenly you’ve created a photo album with one evil friend – or maybe a new enemy. Users who enter their transformed image into a public Facebook gallery are entered to win a laptop computer, five top of the line Intel processors, copies of the game and Resident Evil collectables.

A Resident Evil 5 SuperWidget (http://demo.thegameagency.com/demo/611) that can be accessed on consumer desktops and across 60 online destinations including Facebook, MySpace, iGoogle, etc. For 5 weeks, this widget will offer some seriously disturbing screensavers, eye opening wallpapers, and a trailer that will get even the casual gamers excited for this blockbuster PC experience. In addition, users who install the widget will be able to enter their name and email for a chance to win an Intel Core i7 processor or digital download of the game! Users can enter once a day and prizes are awarded weekly.

Please check these two apps out when you have a chance.

Effective Consumer Outreach Proves To Be Fun And Games

2009-09-01T08:04:00.000-07:00

September 01 2009

Online games targeting a more casual participant are attracting a wider audience, including more women, due in part to ease of play, the free or low cost, and overall popularity of video games. Given that trend, PR and marketing pros are leveraging such games to better connect with consumers.

“Gaming is a key mechanism that works with the overall strategy to help drive awareness and deepen consumer engagement,” says Heather Mitchell, Unilever's PR communications manager.

Unilever's Axe recently incorporated the game Pogo Xtreme as part of an education campaign that teaches guys how to use a “double pits to chesty” move to apply its deodorant body spray.

“Based on consumer insights, we know that gaming is a big part of our guys' world,” Mitchell notes in an e-mail to PRWeek. She adds that Unilever sees gaming as a still-growing trend.

Intel, which recently created a PC version of Atari's Ghostbusters, used a branded Facebook game as part of the marketing campaign surrounding the game, which is part of Intel's product line.

“It's an interesting way to reach a new audience, but also get people to spend a little more time getting those messages,” says Erik Cubbage, software marketing manager for Intel. Intel worked with AOR Burson-Marsteller and The Game Agency (TGA), which says it is seeing more companies interested in casual games as part of PR or marketing campaigns.

“There are still companies licensing pre-designed games and slapping their logos on them, but they are not finding success be-cause there is nothing unique,” says Stephen Baer, managing partner of TGA. Instead, he says, success comes when games are original and incorporate a brand or product in a relevant and unique way.

Tone Skin Care, part of the Dial Corporation, took part in a Facebook fashion game called What To Wear as part of the PR campaign around the launch of its Tone Antioxidant Blueberry Body Wash. It gave the brand a unique way to reach out to its target: 18- to 35-year-old women, says Sami Myohanen, brand manager for Tone, which works with AOR Marina Maher Communications.

“When this opportunity came up, it just seemed like a natural fit, as we've seen this age group interacting with online games and social media,” he adds.

What to Wear was created by Plus Media and Large Animal Games, which both report a rise in companies asking about this tactic for PR efforts. Other firms have also seen that shift.

“There is definitely an increased appetite and inquiring to see how online original gaming can be included within the PR mix,” says Jennie Kong, digital and games consultant for Atomic PR.

“It's another example of how the marketing mix is breaking down,” adds Jud Branam, MD of MS&L Digital. “You would have thought of programming something like a game as maybe an interactive agency piece, but that is becoming more common ground for everybody.”

There is still debate about where gaming falls within the marketing mix. It would appear that PR has an edge, as games allow for consumer interaction, storytelling, and building community – all areas where PR takes the lead.

“I definitely see that falling more to PR,” says Victoria Lang, co-president of Plus Media. She adds that digital PR pros are also a necessary part of these campaigns.

“If you're looking to create an original online game specifically for a client or company,” Kong adds, “the digital team is pretty much integral to working with the PR team.”

INDUSTRIES USING ONLINE GAMES

Healthcare
Companies such as Humana, Novartis, and Teva have all introduced online games as ways to educate consumers about well-being and train employees

Automotive
Car companies like Lexus and GM have used online games to promote driving safety, showcase products, and teach consumers about car parts

Video games
Its target audience is already into gaming, so companies like EA Sports use free online games to promote their NASCAR and golfing games

Casual Video Games Demonstrate Ability to Relieve Stress, Improve Mood: Potential Clinical Significance Highlighted

2009-08-21T00:59:00.000-07:00

East Carolina University's Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies revealed the results of a six-month long, randomized, controlled study that measured the stress-relieving and other mood-lifting effects of so-called "casual" video games. The three puzzle and word games used in the study, Bejeweled® 2, Peggle™ and Bookworm™ Adventures, are all made by PopCap Games, a leading publisher of casual video games. (PopCap underwrote the study and provided copies of the games for research purposes.) The hypotheses were tested using state-of-the-art technologies and methodologies to measure heart-rate variability (HRV), electroencephalography (EEG) and subjects' mood states pre- and post-activity (POMS). The study yielded significant findings in several areas while identifying potential therapeutic applications of casual games as a means of addressing serious mental and physical disorders. Due to the significance of the findings and their implications in health promotion, disease prevention and treatment, East Carolina University's Psychophysiology Lab and is planning to start clinical trials in the fall to determine the efficacy of these games and their prescriptive parameters.

In all cases, the changes in stress levels and mood were measured in comparison to a control group that experienced a Web-based activity similar in physical and mental nature to the game-playing groups. Full results of the study will be presented at the Games for Health Conference in Baltimore, Maryland by the director of the study, Dr. Carmen Russoniello, associate professor of recreational therapy and director of the Psychophysiology Lab and Biofeedback Clinic at ECU's College of Health and Human Performance. The study results will also be published in a peer-reviewed journal later this year. High-level findings of the study are provided below.

"I've conducted many clinical studies in the area of recreational therapy in the past, but this was the first one seeking to determine the potential therapeutic value of video games," stated Dr. Russoniello. "The results of this study are impressive and intriguing, given the extent of the effects of the games on subjects' stress levels and overall mood. When coupled with the very high degree of confidence we have in those results based on the methodology and technologies used, I believe there is a wide range of therapeutic applications of casual games in mood-related disorders such as depression and in stress-related disorders including diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Granted, this study was a first step and much more needs to be done before video games can be prescribed to treat medical conditions. However, these exciting results confirm anecdotal evidence that people are playing casual video games to improve their mood and decrease their stress, and herald casual games' potential in health promotion, disease prevention, and treatment of stress- and mood-related disorders."

Stress Relief

With respect to stress relief, measured primarily through HRV which captures sympathetic (fight or flight) and para-sympathetic (relaxation) nervous system activity by assessing the variability in the heart's "beat-to-beat" interval, Bejeweled was found to reduce physical stress activity by 54% compared to the control group. There was no statistical difference between male and female subjects. Peggle and Bookworm Adventures did not reduce subjects' physical stress levels significantly but did affect psychological tension, depression and other aspects of mood, in some cases dramatically (see below).

Changes in Aspects of Mood
Mood was measured in six different categories: Psychological Tension, Anger, Depression, Vigor, Fatigue and Confusion. Cumulatively, these six aspects of mood are called "total mood disturbance," with a decrease in total mood disturbance being a positive change in mood. In terms of total mood disturbance, Peggle had the greatest effect, improving mood by 573% across all study subjects compared to the control group (which saw a modest improvement in mood). Bejeweled 2 (435%) and Bookworm Adventures (303%) also had significant positive effects on subjects' overall mood. Interestingly, among those subjects who played Bejeweled 2, male subjects showed a 10% greater increase in total mood than female subjects, while females who played Peggle experienced a 40% greater improvement in mood than males who played that game. "It's not surprising that Peggle had the greatest effect on overall mood, given the game's over-the-top celebration of players' success each time they complete a level," noted Dr. Russoniello. "The other games also provide positive feedback to players, but not to the same extent or in the same ‘exhilarating' fashion."

Data from electroencephalography (EEG) supports the study's hypotheses and confirms the participant's psychological assessment (POMS). All three PopCap® games increased mood but in different ways. Peggle significantly increased positive approach/engage brain activity, especially in females — who accounted for 97% of the positive change. Bejeweled 2 significantly decreased brain activity associated with avoid/withdrawal activity. Males had a significant (191%) decrease when compared to females and significantly differed from the control group. Bookworm Adventures had the greatest impact on left brain - right brain synchrony (421% increase). Males had a 214% greater increase in mood after playing Bejeweled and a 78% increase in mood after playing Bookworm Adventures, compared to females. Age was an important factor as well. Those subjects under the age of 25 had a 156% increase in left brain alpha, indicating a substantial decrease in avoid/withdrawal brain activity when compared to those subjects age 25 and older. In addition subjects under 25 had a significant increase in right brain activity (318%) indicating that they also had an increase in approach/engage brain activity. On the other hand, those subjects age 25 and older experienced an 891% increase in right/left brain synchrony indicating a greater mental relaxation state. (Additional break-outs of the study data by gender and age are available online.)

Psychological Tension
Peggle had the greatest effect on psychological tension, with study subjects who played that game averaging a 66% reduction compared to 36% reduction among those who played Bejeweled 2 and 24% reduction among players of Bookworm Adventures. Specifically with respect to Peggle, female subjects accounted for two thirds of the overall reduction in tension after playing that game.

Anger
Bejeweled 2 and Peggle had similarly positive effects on subjects' anger levels, reducing anger by 65% and 63%, respectively. Bookworm Adventures had a more modest effect, reducing anger by 33%. Among female subjects, Peggle produced the greatest anger reduction, 86%. Men experienced the greatest reduction of anger while playing Bejeweled 2 (63%). "Peggle may have reduced anger more effectively in women due to its light-hearted characters and somewhat cartoony presentation featuring unicorns and rainbows," Dr. Russoniello conjectured. "For men, it's likely the nature of this game — Bejeweled 2 encourages focus, introspection and calmness — which facilitated a release of anger-oriented feelings like certain other therapeutic activities such as art."

Depression
All three games had similar effects on depression, reducing subjects' depressions levels by 45% (Peggle), 43% (Bookworm Adventures) and 37% (Bejeweled 2). Among men, however, Bookworm Adventures had the greatest depression-reducing effect, with male subjects accounting for 98% of depression reduction, on average, when playing that game. "All three games, but particularly Peggle, should be used in more focused trials with a group of clinically depressed subjects, to gauge the effects," suggested Dr. Russoniello. "If these games can reduce depression this significantly among a population of people who are not diagnosed with depression, the potential for positively affecting the mental state of someone who is in fact depressed is very significant."

Vigor
Vigor is the only positive variable reflected in the POMS and represents a state of increased mental energy. Bejeweled 2 increased vigor by an average of 210% among subjects who played that game. Bookworm (10%) and Peggle (24%) had modest affects on subjects' vigor levels. Among players of Bejeweled 2, females accounted for 59% of the overall increase in vigor.

Fatigue
Peggle had the most significant impact on fatigue, reducing it by an average of 61% among subjects who played that game. Bejeweled 2 (49%) and Bookworm Adventures (33%) also reduced fatigue. Peggle was nearly equally effective at reducing fatigue among male (52%) and female (48%) subjects.

Confusion
Compared to the control group surfing the Web for articles (which collectively experienced a modest decrease in confusion), all three games reduced confusion dramatically, suggesting that the rules, objectives and input controls for the game were very clearly understood by the subjects. Subjects playing Peggle saw confusion drop by an average of 486%, while those playing Bookworm Adventures (462%) and Bejeweled 2 (426%) also experienced sizable reductions in confusion. "These findings are especially intriguing as they present the possibility that casual games may be useful in ameliorating conditions such as attention deficit disorder, memory loss and general confusion attributed to dementia and Alzheimer's disease," said Dr. Russoniello.

Study Methodology
The study was conducted between October 2007 and April 2008 and included a total of 134 subjects. Thirty-one subjects served as members of the control group, tasked with surfing the Internet looking for journal articles. The experimental groups consisted of 31 subjects who played Bejeweled 2, 29 subjects who played Bookworm Adventures, and 36 subjects who played Peggle. The study included the collection of physical data (based on Heart Rate Variability (HRV) measurements) and psychological data (based on POMS (a profile of mood states pre- and post- activity) and electroencephalography (EEG) measurements) during a 5-minute baseline period and 15 minutes of game playing or (in the case of the control group) Internet surfing.

TGA Interview with NYCGameIndustry.com

2009-08-10T07:34:00.000-07:00

Below is a recent Q&A with NYCGameIndustry.com

"Spotlight On" is a recurring feature on nycgameindustry.com that allows us an opportunity to get to know the passionate students, talented developers and professional companies which make up the New York video game industry even better. This month we sat down with The Game Agency, a marketing firm uniquely devoted to meeting the video game, interactive entertainment, and social media needs of clients.

NYCGI: What is The Game Agency and what is its focus?

TGA: The Game Agency is an awarding winning marketing firm that specializes in video games, interactive entertainment, and social media. Our employees have worked in every facet of the interactive software industry and we pride ourselves on delivering this medium to our clients. We leverage a deep network of developers, publishers, distributors and retailers to find new markets to create, market, and distribute content. Bringing content to life is fun and maximizing the reach and impact of that content is our sweet spot!

NYCGI: You recently developed a Facebook game for the Ghostbusters license. Have you seen an upward trend in requests for these social-casual games?

TGA: Social media has changed the way we communicate, both personally and professionally. Without a doubt, marketers are leveraging this medium to position and promote their message, engage dialogue and change behavior. According to a recent Nielsen study, social networks have become more popular than email with more people are now using social networks rather than email to communicate.

NYCGI: What are some ways that people are taking advantage of social networks?

TGA: Many different ways, however social gaming is actually among the most popular activity across the spectrum. On Facebook, the top 10 games have an average of 7 million active monthly users. Among these 10 games, 5 of them focus on building a community and interacting with others and almost every one of our clients wants to be part of this.

NYCGI: How do you make a successful app on an already heavily saturated social platform like Facebook?

TGA: At The Game Agency we have five rules when designing our games/apps for Facebook.

1. Keep Simple

Facebook is simple. The features on Facebook are simple. Our hypothesis is that no application which is more complex than the most complex feature on Facebook will succeed. The simpler you make your app the better it will do.

2. Be Social

Just because you’ve built it doesn’t mean the users will come. Facebook is still first and foremost a social platform. If your application has no social component it will fail to achieve its full potential. Make it a group effort or there will be little reason for people to install it.

3. Get Viral

Write an application which does nothing more than spread itself. If your idea is funny enough, like Vampires or Zombies and Mafia Wars, people will use it.

4. Stay Fun

We ensure that all of our designs incorporate game mechanics. Games are successful for many reasons but understanding the properties and mechanics of popular games and then deploying those properties in our social applications has proven a recipe for true success.

5. Quality Matters

This might be obvious, but quality matters. Apps like Mafia Wars, YoVille, Lil Green Patch and Causes provide a set of high-quality features. They are straight forward and very compelling. In addition, be prepared to deal with your growth. Predict how many users you’ll have in a few days, weeks, months, etc. If it’s more than you anticipated make sure you have the hardware to handle it— users will uninstall apps that are slow or broken, even if it’s not the apps’ fault.

NYCGI: Tell us a bit about the basic idea behind the Ghostbusters Facebook game.

TGA: Atari was looking to promote their Ghostbusters game (now available on PC, X360, PS3, PS2, Wii and DS) in the social media environment. The Game Agency's solution was to create an interactive Ghost Hunt (http://apps.facebook.com/ghostbusters-game/) that challenges players to search for ghosts, share their findings and slime their friends.

Ghosts can be found throughout Facebook profile and product pages, blogs, game sites and corporate websites. This game provides prizes including a custom Ghostbusters designed Dell computer, Intel Core Processors and copies of the Ghostbusters game. In its first month, the game had over 35,000 people sign up and over 1,000,000 slimes.

NYCGI: When a client approaches you with a request for a game, how much do they typically bring to the table and how much is TGA's creative input?

TGA: The Game Agency has 3 divisions: TGA Digital, TGA Events and TGA Public Relations. We have a variety of capabilities that we deploy for clients including game development, marketing, promotions, partnerships, media, licensing and public relations.

Every project is different but often our clients are looking to extend a current campaign via games. We get briefed about their brand, their consumer and the creative components already in the works and we challenge ourselves to deliver a compelling game strategy that will engage a target audience and achieve their overriding goals.
Sometimes we focus on online games, sometime we focus on mobile games, sometimes we focus on live events. We are lucky that our clients trust us to get our hands dirty with them.

NYCGI: What's the turnaround time on most of these projects?

TGA: There's no firm rule for turnaround. Some games take a few weeks to develop while others take up to a year. It all depends on the platform and the depth of the user experience. The average campaign is 3-6 months.

NYCGI: Do you foresee TGA working with any of the new motion-sensing technologies on display at this year’s E3?

TGA: 3D camera motion sensor games are one of our biggest initiatives right now. The Game Agency is working on one fitness game targeting Microsoft's project Natal’s launch and several games that will be introduced in 2010 with global brand and retail partners. We like to think of these games as the next-next generation in gaming. They all focus on getting consumers active utilizing the human body as a game controller.

The physical activity of running, jumping, crouching, balancing and many more moves allows players to advance through the game. This is cutting edge technology and a real jaw dropper for everyone we've shown it to so far.

NYCGI: What other game technologies are your teams excited about?

TGA: The Game Agency is working with Aspyr Media on a new Nintendo DS game called Treasure World. It's the world’s largest treasure hunt with hundreds of millions of treasure spots around the world. Players use the DS to find Wi-Fi signals and unlock content (characters, clothing, environments, etc.). Our team has established co-promotional programs with restaurant chains, malls, libraries and children's non-profits to engage kids nationwide. We are now focused on the using this game engine for companies trying to reach consumers and employees through custom game development on Nintendo DS and Wi-Fi USBs.

NYCGI: Do you see the industry trending towards casual or core gamers in the next five years?

TGA: The high growth area in gaming is casual. Core games and gamers will always play a huge role in shaping the gaming landscape but technology has thrown open the door for every company to utilize gaming for advertising, social engagement, public relations...even employee training. Whether online, mobile, console, handheld or events we expect more and more content to be introduced for the everyday person (kids, parents and grandparents). The better the hardware gets the lower the barriers are to engage.

NYCGI: Thank you so much for your time and best of luck with all those amazing projects!

Traditional Marketing Budgets Lose to Interactive

2009-07-14T09:48:00.000-07:00

According to Forrester Research, 60% of marketers surveyed will increase their interactive marketing budgets by shifting funds from traditional media. Direct mail was cited by 40% of marketers as being one being cut, outranking newspapers (35%), magazines (28%) and television (12%).

Among the interactive channels, the study finds social media and mobile marketing spending expanding between 2009 and 2014, with social media jumping by 34% on a compounded annual basis and mobile marketing increasing by 27%. Social media starts at $716 million in 2009, increasing to $3.11 billion by 2014. Mobile marketing expenditures stand at 319 million this year, and goes to $1.27 billion by 2014.

47% of CMOs whose budgets have been cut are increasing their spending on social media, while another 44% are increasing spending on Web site development. 40% will spend more on online advertising, and nearly that amount will increase financial resources in e-mail, considering these functions critical to their businesses, or needed to maintain competitive advantages.

Online Gaming Continues Strong Growth in U.S.

2009-07-10T19:58:00.000-07:00

The number of U.S. citizens visiting online gaming websites rose 22 percent in May 2009 from May 2008 to 87 million, as people search for cheaper entertainment in a tough economy, research firm comScore said Friday.

Online gaming continues to be one of the top gaining categories over the past year growing at ten times the rate of the total U.S. Internet population and reaching nearly one out of every two Internet users.

Yahoo Games led comScore's list of most popular online gaming websites during May 2009, rising 6 percent from May 2008 to 19.4 million. EA Online followed, attracting 18 million users during the month, a 34 percent year-on-year increase. Nickelodeon Casual Games, which didn't exist in May 2008, attracted 14.8 million visitors. WildTangent was up 16 percent year-on-year with 13.8 million users.

comScore said Mochi Media, an online game distrubution company, attracted 17 million unique users, or about 8.7 percent of the total internet audience (193.8 million in total). Games2Win attracted 1.8 million, or 0.9 percent of the total internet population, while Tetris Online attracted 165,000 unique visitors during May, or 0.1 percent of the total internet population.

Top Online Gaming Sites May 2009 vs. May 2008 Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations Source: comScore Media Metrix
	Total Unique Visitors (000)
	May-2008	May-2009	% Change
Total Internet : Total Audience	190,858	193,825	2
Online Gaming	71,624	87,102	22
Yahoo! Games	18,340	19,391	6
EA Online	13,374	17,988	34
Nickelodeon Casual Games	N/A	14,836	N/A
WildTangent Network	11,896	13,844	16
Disney Games	12,137	11,717	-3
MSN Games	10,017	8,986	-10
AOL Games	8,318	8,711	5
MINICLIP.COM	7,551	8,432	12
Betawave Partners - Partial List	3,894	7,406	90
Spil Games	4,345	7,163	65
GSN Games Network	910	6,034	563
Big Fish Games Sites	4,392	5,592	27
ARMORGAMES.COM	2,684	3,860	44
Y8.COM	1,243	3,537	185
GAMEVANCE.COM	3,982	3,466	-13
RealArcade Sites	6,143	3,427	-44
IWIN.COM	2,112	3,356	59
Midasplayer.com Ltd.	1,601	2,872	79
GAMENINJA.COM	1,172	2,434	108
Stardoll Sites	N/A	2,294	N/A

Games Keep Growing

2009-07-07T16:52:00.000-07:00

The following study was released yesterday by Nielsen. As you read below it's worth noting which months consumers play, purchase and subscribe to the most games.

The economic recession could be pushing up gaming hours, and accelerating the used games and video game rent-by-mail businesses, according to a new report from research firm Nielsen. As seen in the chart below from Nielsen's report, average gaming hours per week in 2009 have been ahead of the comparable months in 2008. But hardcore gamers, he said, are not likely driving factors in the rise of hours played. Nielsen recorded that gamers logged nearly 19 hours per week in January 2009, compared to less than 16.5 hours per week in January 2008. In May 2009, the most recent month in Nielsen's report, gamers played just over 16.5 hours per week, compared to under 16 hours per week in May 2008. The full graph explaining this reads as follows:

Also on the rise from last year are used game sales purchases. In May 2009, the ratio of used games purchased by Nielsen survey subjects was 0.36. "Used game purchasing is at all-time highs in 2009, looking back since 2006," Nielsen said.

GameStop is the leading used video game retailer, and in May reported used software sales were up 31.9% for its first fiscal quarter, as consumers have become more value-conscious. Another way that gamers are seeking out more bang for their gaming buck is through rent-by-mail services such as GameFly and Blockbuster's Total Access. The average subscription rate for using such services is trending ahead of prior years so far in 2009.

The rising popularity of used game sales and rentals is at the expense of new game sales, Nielsen suggests. But new game sales are also softer this year because of a lack of huge hits in the first have of 2009. By comparison, 2008 saw massive releases such as Grand Theft Auto IV and Mario Kart Wii. While gamers may be more value-conscious, many of those surveyed also said that the recession will not impact the amount that they spend on games in the year ahead, even though 50 percent said they have been negatively affected by the economy. 35% of gamers claim they are spending more money or plan to spend more on gaming this year than last year and 39% claim they are spending the same amount Nielsen's report said.

THE 2009 E3 SUMMARY

2009-06-11T14:42:00.001-07:00

E3 has come and gone and has again graced the gaming world with a glimpse of where the industry is heading. If it wasn’t pronounced clearly enough by the three media briefs, the industry is shifting from pushing high production benchmarks to changing the way in which we interact with games.

As the ones who ultimately started the motion based gaming revolution, it’s only appropriate to start by talking about Nintendo and their Wii Motion Plus add on for the Wii Remote. Previously incapable of tracking subtle movements, the Wii Remote will no longer be bound to broad strokes and simple “waggle” controls due to the precision granted by the Wii Motion Plus, a small attachment that just barely extends the length of the Wii Remote. Through simple demonstrations of how the new technology will work in Wii Sports Resort, it was clear that this was no gimmick, but a way to completely open up a new realm of what is possible on the Wii. The added precision and ability to have one to one motion tracking will vastly improve the current genres of games such as EA is doing with the revamped Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 and the new Grand Slam Tennis. Imagine having your golf swing accurately tracked to point where your hook is perfectly reflected in game. Or how about a Star Wars lightsaber fighting game that not only tracks your movements perfectly, but has the crackle of clashing beams come out of the Wii Remote speaker for another level of immersion. The possibilities are endless.

The one thing getting the most buzz at the moment is Microsoft’s motion tracking camera, the Natal. Like Stephen Spielberg said at the Microsoft conference, “it’s not about reinventing the wheel, it’s about having no wheel at all.” The Natal will be compatible with all Xbox 360 consoles and will track movement and pick up sound from those using it. Judging from the presentation, the technology works and has some true potential for a variety of games. The demonstration of Ricochet, a 3D Breakout-like title that make the user the paddle and tasks them with deflecting a bunch of balls off of their virtual self to break bricks at the end of a corridor. The short demo looks fun and showed that this is truly working in a three dimensional space, not just capturing a 2D representation of yourself like traditional camera peripherals have done in the past. Demos on the show floor including a racing simulator has garnered a lot of positive press and show that the Natal can be applied to current genres and go beyond being a simple gimmick.

Though it’s getting minimal press of the three, Sony’s motion device is blowing many folks away. Maybe it was because the demonstrations were so varied. Maybe it was because my initial perception upon seeing a glowing wand was so low and then immediately picked up when I saw it in action. Whatever it was, it’s Sony’s combination of a remote and its Eye Toy that make it appear to have the most potential of the three. Using what appears to be a glowing ball on the tip of a Wii Remote, the Eye Toy can track the users movements almost flawlessly. At first, the user was standing in a room holding the device, which then transformed into a variety of different things such as a tennis racket, golf club, sword, and (my personal favorite) a plasma whip not far removed from Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal. The demonstration only became more engaging when possible mechanics were shown for genre titles such as real time strategy, first person shooting, and melee combat. During the shooting demonstration, the person in control said, “this would be impossible without a trigger.” Though clearly a cheep shot at the Natal, it’s better to look at the statement as a way of justifying multiple motion tracking technologies. For a shooting game, I would probably want to use something that has a trigger like Sony’s controller or Nintendo’s Wii Remote, but if I were playing the demoed Ricochet where a controller clearly isn’t required, then the Natal would be the way to go.

This E3 has shown what the future of gaming will hold. Not content with the confines of controllers and buttons, Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony have officially broken every wall of gameplay restrictions to the point where literally everything is possible.

Size Matters!

2009-05-22T13:55:00.000-07:00

Is it unprofessional to write a love letter to a publisher or developer? Whether it is or not, I’m going forth and stating my compassion towards Bethesda and all they’ve done to keep me glued to Fallout 3 for dozens of hours on end without any stopping point in sight. This is something more than just my extreme satisfaction with a particular game (though it’s certainly part of it) it’s a model that developers should aspire to achieve in an effort to satisfy gamers over a longer stretch of time. Sticking strictly to console based games, there are two extremes here. On one hand you have the mentioned Bethesdas and Criterions of the industry that work towards expanding their titles beyond the initial feature set offered on the disk. I should give Criterion a special nod for making its first wave of Burnout Paradise content free, but that’s another topic entirely. On the other end of the spectrum, you get the guys at Grin who recently put out the Terminator Salvation game and Wanted: Weapons of Fate which offer nothing more than a story mode clocking in under five hours of gameplay with little else to offer. I’m not putting down Grin for making bad games, but rather using them as an example to point out the minimum that can be put in a game that sells for $60. Rushing through Fallout 3 will take between fifteen and twenty hours. How’s that for a value? Playing through the game and seeing everything could take up to sixty hours when, again, you’re rushing. Not only that, but once you finish the game, you can download content that seamlessly integrates itself into the game adding new missions, sometimes in new locales, to an already massive world with sure to be unexplored terrain. Criterion is offering another island to their massive world that is Paradise City after already giving away motorcycles, a day/night cycle, new multiplayer modes, and a restart function to races! They gave it away! Capcom should have thought about that before charging $5 for the adversary mode in Resident Evil 5, which was already on the disk to begin with.

Allow me to summarize: I won’t be buying Terminator Salvation because it’s $60 for a five hour game. I will, however, continue to buy additional content for Fallout 3 and Burnout Paradise. Recent drops in game sales prove that gamers are being more selective about their purchases and as a result will be looking towards the future and how a game will continue to stay fresh. It’s why World of Warcraft has stayed so popular and continues to attract new users. It’s why I’m still playing Burnout Paradise over a year after I bought it. Most importantly, it’s why anyone is still playing any given title long after it’s release.

- Jason Polansky

The Dos and Do Nots of In Game Advertising

2009-05-21T06:33:00.000-07:00

In IGN US’s recent Bionic Command review, one of the biggest issues the reviewer had was the product placement throughout the title, referencing Pepsi vending machines and NVIDIA billboards. Really? Is that such a big deal that it hampers the enjoyment of the game? I’ll admit that there are times when product placement can be excessive to the point where I refuse to buy a product because of its annoyance, but you have to acknowledge that not all advertising is bad? Games have to be funded, and guess what… a portion of those funds come from the brands in the game. I don’t mind a Pepsi vending machine in a break of an office. That’s fine. However, don’t put a row of them in some otherworldly setting for the hell of it. A good example of how to do obscure brand placement right is Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee. In it, Sobe vending machines were periodically scattered throughout the world to give the player power-ups. Did it make sense? Not really, but it conveniently fit within the game’s themes of flatulence and general hilarity. On the other hand, if you dropped a vending machine in Shadow of the Colossus, there would be a problem. There are times when product placement can be a blessing and times when it can be the epitome of shameless nonsensical cash-in as was the case with Darkened Skye for Gamecube which revolved around collecting magic Skittles.

Some will give the argument that when playing a game you should be able to escape from the we live in. I can relate to that, especially after putting numerous hours into Fallout 3, a game world entirely self sustained. The standout case of avoiding product placement for the better of the game is in the case of making fictional soda manufacturer Nuka-Cola as opposed to splatter Coke all over the Wasteland of post-apocalyptic Washington DC (though something tells me a certain plot point would have probably turned any brand manager off). So these fictitious worlds can lead to some controversy over what’s acceptable or not, which can be why the reviewer of Bionic Commando was so annoyed by it, but it’s not something you are constantly surrounded by (such as in Fallout 3 where you can drink to regain health), it’s more of a matter of swinging through a city, seeing a billboard, and thinking it’s a legitimate billboard advertising something. I don’t recall there being a huge outcry against EA’s billboards in Burnout Paradise, which constantly change and promote a lot more than just Pepsi and NVIDIA (there were Barack Obama ads at one point).

The point I’m driving at here is use product placement strategically. The best use of product placement could be seen in sports games, where the idea is generally to make the game as realistic as possible. If that’s the case, you’re going to need to have a bunch of ads all over the place, just like the real event. In fact, there are times when a lack of brand placement can be detracting. For example, EA owns the rights to ESPN, but still insists on putting “EA” on scoreboards and timers. How about putting that license to use and giving me the true ESPN broadcast experience like the 2K sports of 2004? Ultimately use your brands wisely. The thing to remember is to use the brand with a certain respect for the environment on hand, and, most importantly, respect for the gamer and their world.

- Jason Polansky

Twitter Games... Some Big Opps Ahead

2009-05-15T12:59:00.000-07:00

Twitter is on my mind in a way that you wouldn’t expect Twitter to be on one’s mind. What I’m thinking about are Twitter games. As an open forum of sorts for celebrities and the average Joes of the world to post whatever they want to everyone on the planet, it should come as no surprise that games are slowly creeping onto the service. The problem is, to make a game work, you must be sure to stay within the parameters of the particular platform. In the case of Twitter, you’re saying goodbye to sound, visuals, and nearly every other characteristic that makes the modern game what it is today. Well, all but one: the community. One of the greatest assets a game can have is its followers and players that interact with each other. Would Call of Duty still be relevant without its multiplayer component? It’s hard to say, but for a better example just look at World of Warcraft or the more recent success of the free Runes of Magic, which recently reached one million users. The difference between these online game communities and Twitter’s community is that one group showed up to play the game whereas the other is there simply to keep tabs on friends, celebrities, and anyone else they may have some interest in. However, with that being said, one can draw parallels between Twitter and Facebook, which didn’t initially offer games but eventually opened the floodgates for free apps to earn a presence on nearly everyone’s page, whether gamers in the traditional sense or not. Though Twitter is a service that only offers basic status updates like a mini-blog of sort, you can bet that various games will become more prevalent in the near future. The best example of a Twitter game so far is Sony Pictures attempt to hype up the upcoming Terminator Salvation which encourages players to “join the resistance” by following their account Resistance2018 in which various trivia questions and anagrams will be put up for them to answer and earn points to be contending with others on the leaderboard. This is a great start for building up a new gaming platform that is Twitter, but what I want is more. To completely take advantage of creating a great game on Twitter, take the community features to the next level. Leaderboards are ok, but why not do more? One post from someone should affect someone in some significant way that will retain their interest. What I want is a game that gives the user as much of an incentive to reply to some enthralling event as it does for them to reply to Ashton Kutcher’s tweet stating when he’s going to sleep. By now you may be asking “how?” How do you achieve something like this on a platform that’s so limited? The Game Agency is focusing on this question because the answer could inevitably be very rewarding for the right marketer or those simply looking to create a sub-community within the large Twitter population. When you take the time to stand back and look at tools at your disposal, you’ll find that the limitations fade away and possibility is all that remains.

– Jason Polansky

VG Karma

2009-05-14T14:35:00.001-07:00

Today, developer Factor 5 announced they are closing their doors. The company behind the fantastic Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (N64/Gamecube) series and the not so fantastic Lair (PS3) has finally met its end and brings to light the idea of video game karma. Strange, I know, but it’s an interesting topic. Can it be that if you make bad games, bad things will inevitably happen to the respective developer and/or publisher?

First of all, I don’t want to say Factor 5 was a bad developer; on the contrary, they were a fantastic developer consistently pushing the technology of whatever platform they were developing for. However, Lair was a disaster of epic proportions when it came to gameplay, as was Haze (PS3); Free Radical’s last effort before nearly going under until being bought out by Crytek, known for creating the graphical powerhouse that is Crysis (PC). Free Radical is another example of a developer that made one misstep and the roof came down on their heads, similar to Factor 5. So perhaps there is a karma in the industry, but one that is particularly brutal and more lenient towards some wrongdoers than others. We are in an age where information is free to access by anyone that desires to find it. This includes the gaming press, which can instantly raise the hype of a title with positive review, or bring it crashing down with a negative one. But one has to ask, if this is the case, then how do some companies slip through the cracks, such as Midway and their Game Party series on the Nintendo Wii, which enjoys unbelievable success despite critical lashings? Perhaps this is where the karma truly takes effect and has varying degrees on relative wrongdoings. One poor game will bring a developer down in a year or two, but a continuous stream of titles that take advantage of unsuspecting customers will result in a slow and painful death, as is the case with Game Party publisher Midway.

This theory is completely theoretical, so take it simply as a thought, but there is an undeniable trend and it’s one that is tough to ignore. Of course, I have mainly talked about negative karma as the result of bad games, but what about the opposite? Going back to Crytek, you see a developer with immense talent and one that consistently delivers top-notch games. Even though they are one of the biggest victims of piracy, they still stand strong in the industry today. In fact, not only do they stand, but by some fortune, they were able to purchase one of the best console first person shooter developers that is Free Radical. Interesting.

- Jason Polansky

What's Next In Game Design?

2009-05-12T08:36:00.001-07:00

Looking at core games available today, gamers might think every possible style of game has already been invented... sports, action, shooters, racing, simulation, RPG, fantasy, horror, sci-fi, war, superheroes,etc.

But, is it possible that computer games have only at their infancy? Suppose we could set aside all assumptions -- what kinds of games could be imagined if we consciously decided to do something new? Let's step outside the box a little.

Consider MMORPGs. A core assumption of these games is that players want to compete against each other. So what happens if we challenge that assumption?

What if instead of making yet another Hobbesian world of constant competition, a game could be funded that subordinated competition to cooperation? What if the highest-level goal baked into the game was not personally topping a leaderboard or belonging to the biggest guild, but something more constructive instead?

There could still be competition in such a game. Competition in moderation is healthy; it's a very effective way of efficiently distributing finite resources. But in a game where resources can be considered infinite, competition would not be the be-all and end-all of play -- it would be a subgame that ultimately supports the top-level cooperative effort.

As an example of this, what about a "Big Challenge" game where all players have to work together in complex ways over a long time to avert some disaster or complete a major accomplishment?

Below is a diagram I that shows various forms of computer games that have been invented so far and how they interact to form specific modes of gameplay:

The specific details of this diagram are less important than the general relationships suggested and the size of each ellipse is irrelevant; there's no correlation with "importance. When I look at this diagram, I see the gaps.

What if the Adventure Games circle were expanded to intersect with MMOGs? Could there be a massively multiplayer adventure game? What if the Strategy Games circle were expanded to CRPGs, so that you actually played a character whose effectiveness at strategic planning determined your character's story arc? What if the Strategy Games circle were expanded to MMORPGs, so that gameplay wasn't just a bunch of mindless one-on-one slapfights but represented hundreds of thousands of massive empires spanning a galaxy?

What if the Software Toys circle, with its emphasis on simulation, were expanded into MMORPGs? Can you imagine a game where the gameplay revolved around how well your characters responded to dynamic but comprehensible changes in complex systems? What kinds of systems would be fun to simulate if you could allow thousands of characters to fiddle simultaneously with the switches and dials of a gloriously complex gameworld?

In short, these gaps are the opportunities to experiment with new kinds of computer game products. So let's start exploring...

How Pharma Can Get Social

2009-04-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

The economy has prompted many business owners to think differently about how they reach and furnish valuable information to their customers. Social media has been at the forefront of this movement, providing a forum for customers and prospects of business, allowing them to help mold the shape of the business to conform to their needs. Never before has a business had the opportunity to get so much feedback so instantly.

The behemoth conspicuously absent from any direct interaction with their customers has been the pharmaceutical industry. The only real presence on the web is Johnson & Johnson’s “JNJ BTW,” a blog intended to reach out primarily to customers as a resource for information on a variety of topics, from the pure “business” aspects of Johnson & Johnson (such as acquisitions of new companies) to topics with a more personal appeal, such as child safety or health and wellness.

There is no direct to consumer (DTC) messages embedded in the blog. For that matter, there are no products mentioned at all in the articles I sampled, which is consistent with the cautionary approach many drug companies take when it comes to being social.

But Marc Monseau, editor of the Johnson & Johnson blog (also on Twitter, @JNJComm), notes the importance of not just watching the blogosphere and social media as it evolves, but becoming an active participant in the community in order to keep a hand on the pulse of their customers. As he states on the blog’s about page:

On JNJ BTW, there will be talk about Johnson & Johnson — what we are doing, how we are doing it and why. There will be comment on the news about our company and the industry — occasionally correcting any mistakes (not that that ever happens!) or simply providing more context. I hope and expect that some of my colleagues will eventually join me on this blog.

We may not always be able to talk about product-specific issues, news from our operating companies or issues that fall under regulatory or legal constraints. But we’re going to do what we can to talk openly, directly and to the best of our knowledge. I’m sure we will learn more as we blog, so keep in mind that nothing on JNJ BTW is set in stone.

Thinking Differently: More Interaction by Your Readers

Johnson & Johnson is on the right track with their blog but it’s time for them to look for ways to be more engaging with their readers. It doesn’t have to be complex; perhaps a polling system to find out what readers think about a particular topic, or maybe a way for readers to contribute to the content of the pages themselves would be good ways to draw more visitors.

On the biotech side, a new site that’s got a really good approach is, “What Can Biotech Do for You,” which is devoted entirely to answering questions on how biotechnology can help the consumer in a number of different areas. Sponsored by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), the intent is to create a social site that makes visitors feel as if they really are driving the direction of the content. And it isn’t just limited to blogging. IAmBiotech, appears in such social media outlets as Facebook and Twitter, increasing their reach and appeal to a growing number of people who not only benefit from biotech, but also who just might share an interest in this community and who want to be able to find one another more easily.

Just What the Doctor Ordered

In order to be successful using social media, Pharmaceutical companies shouldn't overthink legal issues. Social media and its accepted etiquette lend themselves nicely to what could be considered an orthodox model of interaction between Pharmaceutical companies and the consumer by FDA standards. Using social media as a tool to educate people in short bursts and status updates would keep information fresh, and would provide a series of resources people could follow and to which they could eventually connect. Lack of self-promotion means that DTC advertising would not only be something to avoid because of the scrutiny that could ensue from the FDA, but also because drug advertisements are just not something people would find palatable on a social network.

Some models that the pharmaceutical industry could potentially leverage to establish a more social presence:

Establish an organization with competitors that can act as a source of information for all things in the pharmaceutical industry. Allow consumers to shape content, and create a voice for the site that speaks to more than just the consumer, but to the skeptic and the enthusiast alike. Answer questions about what the Pharmaceutical industry can do for them, much like web sites for Biotech already do.
Create Twitter accounts that can serve as sources of information. In order to properly follow "fair balance" rules set for by the FDA, Pharmaceutical companies can’t provide a brand name product and the indications it treats without also advising of the risks of the medication.
Blog. If nothing else, Pharmaceuticals should consider adopting Johnson & Johnson’s model of blogging and at least providing a better connection to their consumers. Consumers could have a direct method of providing valuable feedback that they couldn’t otherwise communicate.

Not all things will work for all products, and your target audience needs to be considered before launching a massive social media campaign. But with several million users on each social media outlet, there is significant opportunity to participate in a way that is consistent with the philosophy of providing quality content. When it comes to disease and treatment, the more information you can provide more quickly, the better you will be perceived by your customer.

Microsoft - The Go-To Entertainment Box in the Living Room

2009-04-29T05:36:00.000-07:00

Xbox's announcement to offer Netflix six months ago via their new Xbox Experience, propelled them ahead in the digital-living-room strategy. By February, 1 million Xbox Live users had downloaded the application and streamed 1.5 billion minutes of TV and movie content from Netflix. That means about one-tenth of Netflix's 10 million subscribers have watched via Xbox 360.

Xbox users are used to using the console to connect to the web. Of the more than 28 million Xbox owners today, more than 17 million, or about 65%, pay for Live, or internet-connected, service, according to Microsoft. Since the launch of 360, more than $1 billion has been spent on Xbox Live, with no signs of slowing -- spending on Live was up 84% in 2008 vs. 2007.

And in a recent survey on online gamers, NPD Group found that half of those who use a console for online play use an Xbox; that's compared with 29% for Nintendo Wii and 20% for Sony PS3.

Since the Xbox 360 launched in late 2005, the company has pushed the box as more than just the next iteration of the already-popular Xbox online-connected video-game console. After a lot of marketing, new content and feature deals, and several price cuts -- the Xbox is delivering on its original promise as the go-to entertainment box in the living room.

The extension of the video-game box began with Xbox Live, which launched in 2002, a year after the original Xbox console bowed. That initial version promoted co-mingling gamer play and interactive experiences but was really gamer-focused. It was the Xbox 360 and the launch of the Xbox Live Marketplace -- with its virtual storefront of not only hard-core-gamer candy but also the Xbox Live Arcade, featuring lots of old-school and female-friendly downloadable games, video-game and movie trailers, plus full movie, TV and music-video downloads -- that expanded its base.

And where there are people, marketers aren't far behind. Microsoft will run more than 100 different ad campaigns on XBox Live in the 2009 fiscal year, which ends June 30.

Most recently, for example, Honda signed on as the sole sponsor of Xbox Live Primetime's "Play and Win" game show, which starts May 15. It's the first time the automaker has partnered with Xbox -- and incidentally, it's counting on reaching more than just young males.

Xbox is offering a great way to associate brands with a fun, engaging and entertaining campaign medium.

Has Home Come Home?

2009-04-24T05:03:00.000-07:00

To state the obvious, over the past year, new media discussions have changed dramatically. We've gone from talking about seizing opportunities and exploring new platforms and emerging media to simply surviving from day to day. All it took was a little worldwide economic crisis to redefine our business priorities.

Case in point, in the July 2007 Sony's announcement, virtual worlds like Linden Lab's Second Life and mtv's Laguna Beach were growing in popularity with audiences, including curious advertisers seeking to create unique, branded engagements beyond the typical marketing vehicles. Although full of potential, these virtual worlds weren't without issue and, as a result, advertisers sat in a wait-and-see mode for fear that the platform could backfire. In contrast, when Sony shared the vision of Home (part of its "Gaming 3.0" strategy), Sony's strategy uniquely addressed key issues that others had yet to resolve. It provided a true value to its target community, and an exponentially better user experience that was to be tightly integrated into Sony's PlayStation 3 gaming system.

It was also clear that Sony had planned for advertisers to be a big part of Home's experience and growth. These considerations could be seen in Home's environments, the interaction capabilities of the platform, and Sony's clear attempt to create a brand-friendly world that major brands would find more comfortable than other virtual worlds, thus creating expanded revenue opportunities for Sony, and engagement opportunities for advertisers.

To the dismay of many PS3 owners, it took Sony more than 14 months longer than expected to release the first open-beta of the Home experience. Many went from saying "This is going to be huge," to "This thing may never come out."

Well... Good things come to those who wait. Home entertaining, visually stunning and rich with features, It also engages visitors for long periods of time (hours, not minutes) - one of the longtime benefits of, and interest in, video games and gamers.

It has integrated advertising into the environments, similarly to the real world, just without the physical or technological limitations. For instance, when hanging out in Central Plaza, visitors can watch movie trailers on a massive video wall complete with 3-D sound.

Beyond virtual billboards, the real potential lies in the ability for brands to become part of the world itself. Red Bull, a brand taking part in the beta, has built an island surrounded by pristine water and giant rock formations resembling those found off the coast of Vietnam. Visitors can interact with other Home residents, step up to a Red Bull bar, or take part in a fully branded Air Race game, a sport Red Bull actively sponsors in real life. Players race their planes above the island and out over the ocean while blazing through rings and banking around pylons, all while exposed to and interacting with the Red Bull brand.

Of course, the potential of Home's value to advertisers is only as big as the PlayStation 3 install base (20 million units worldwide), which is still far behind that of XBox and Wii.

What does that mean for Home? As of early January, less than 30 full days into the open-beta, users downloaded the Home software 3.4 million times and had already purchased more than $1 million worth of virtual goods. Not a lot of money, but a good indication of what could come.

Certainly Home - and virtual worlds in general - aren't right for every brand, especially in a challenged economy. And in its current beta form, the world is rather small. But for those interested in exploring its potential may just find there's no place like Home.

Kia, Microsoft To Promote Soul On Xbox

2009-04-21T05:57:00.001-07:00

Kia is reaching out to younger consumers and gamers with a plan to promote the new Soul via a video game marketing program with Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE. The effort includes a national sweepstakes on the two platforms and on Xbox 360 titles and dangles a new Soul and a VIP, all-expenses-paid trip to Los Angeles to attend the best of the 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) on June 2.

Gamers can enter to participate in the promotion at Xbox.com/Kia or on Xbox LIVE Marketplace until the end of the month. People can also enter via texting on mobile phones to their Gamertag.

Kia is offering other prizes like a home entertainment system with a 47-inch HDTV, Xbox 360 Elite console, a one-year subscription of Xbox LIVE Gold, 120GB Zune and a one-year Zune Pass.

In June, Kia will extend the initiative with sponsorship of E3 on Xbox LIVE. The automaker, which is also official auto sponsor of the NBA, will sponsor Xbox's NBA Live 09 timed with the NBA Finals in June. Microsoft will expedite ROI research via Microsoft Advertising.

Kia's tagline in the U.S. is "The Power to Surprise," but the Soul has its own theme line, "A New Way to Roll."

Kia Motors America was a rare bright spot in the business last month, with first-quarter sales up 1 percent versus the first quarter last year. By the end of last month, the company had sold 1,246 Souls, which began rolling into dealerships in February.

Whether Kia succeeds in wooing younger buyers is another question. Wes Brown, auto consultant with Iceology in L.A., says the company stands a chance both with the vehicle itself and with the quirky ad campaign, in which the Soul is posited as an escape from the hamster wheel. Literally.

"I think the vehicle is cool -- I think the launch campaign definitely makes you sit there and go 'what the heck is this all about?' It's a clever approach and arguably, the shape of the vehicle, which is what Toyota's Scion division tried with the xB and Nissan will do with the Cube, is right for Gen X and Y."

According to J.D. Power and Associates' Power Information Network, Scion has the youngest customers. The average age of Scion vehicle buyers is 42. Mazda is next at 43. Then come Mitsubishi, Land Rover, Audi, VW and BMW's Mini brand. Kia, whose average customer age is 51, per J.D. Power, is well down the list at No. 28 -- behind its affiliate Hyundai and just in front of Lexus and only eight slots from Buick, with the oldest buyers at 62.

Brown says the vehicle must transcend the parent brand and the consumer perception that "this is a cheap, inexpensive vehicle. But the focus on personalization definitely ties in strongly with what Gen Y wants: that it's a blank sheet of paper waiting for people to put their expression on it."

GTA's Goes Against the Grain

2009-04-17T13:41:00.000-07:00

Take-Two has made one of the best-reviewed games ever for the Nintendo DS and no one seems to care. Why? Because there's a major disconnect here. Take-Two's "Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars," the newest game in the franchise, was released a month ago for the Nintendo DS. According to numbers released yesterday, the game has sold under 90,000 units. For anyone unaware of the nuances of game sales figures, let me translate: the game flopped. Big-time.

What's interesting has been the commentary about why it's flopped. Most are saying it was remiss to release a "GTA" game on a platform primarily targeted at children. Possibly... Imagine for a moment that McDonald's were to start serving the most incredible escargot, which all the tasters considered to be one of the best in the country. That meal might just tank, purely because the brand characteristics of McDonald's are nearly the exact opposite of an expensive delicacy. That's what I suspect is going on here. The fans of the "GTA" series love the open world, the ever increasingly realistic graphics and portrayal of a vivid, breathing city. The series is one of edgy races, high quality writing, and fast-paced shooting action. The Nintendo DS is a system that offers innovative gameplay for light-fare, portable gaming. These two are not a natural fit.

Had Take-Two dropped the first three letters of the game's name, the title wouldn't have been so easily dismissed by consumers. If the company had built up fresh expectations rather than adopting existing expectations, a different story may have unfolded. The DS release was further injured by the lack of a real ability to demo the game, something that would have further helped to cement purchase confidence. It's possible that continued sales of the DSi will remedy that for future titles.

While the the take-away from this release will be that going against the grain isn't a wise decision, the issue may be much more circumstantial than a broad issue of conformity. It's upsetting that the industry has become so comfortable with pigeonholing itself into the "casual" and "core" buckets. When will that change?

Measuring ROI in Social Media

2009-04-15T12:15:00.000-07:00

Package-Goods Brand Earns $1.28 Million in Sales for every $1 Million Social-Media Campaign

Package-goods brands are still cautious about social media, figuring that the return on investment can't be accurately measured. After all, marketing on Facebook or MySpace might generate a conversation but not necessarily a sale. Now, however, a method is emerging to relate one to the other, potentially eliminating a major impediment.

What it Reaped

MySpace marketing ROI for unnamed personal-care brand:

Total consumers exposed: 76.9M

Percentage of internet population: 40%

Total impressions: 1.1B

Media outlay: $1M

Offline sales generated from campaign: $1.28M

Sources: ComScore, MySpace, Dunnhumby

Recent research from ComScore, MySpace and Dunnhumby presented at the Advertising Research Foundation's Re:Think 2009 conference in late March suggests that even relatively small outlays on social networks by package-goods brands can result in offline sales impact and deliver positive return on investment.

Generally, the ROI tool of choice for consumer package goods -- marketing-mix models that rely on econometric analysis of changes in retail scanner data -- can't pick up the impact of the relatively small five- and six-figure outlays package-goods brands make on digital media.

To overcome that, MySpace teamed with ComScore, which uses a panel of more than 1 million people in the U.S. to track internet usage, and Dunnhumby, which runs loyalty programs for supermarket retailers and has access to loyalty-card purchase data from 59 million people in the U.S. The two panels include 60,000 people who are part of both databases, creating a single-source database that allows a definitive look at how internet ads affect offline purchases.

ComScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni last year approached fellow Information Resources Inc. veteran John LaRocca, VP-U.S. insights at Dunnhumby -- which runs the loyalty program for supermarket heavyweight Kroger Co., among others -- about combining efforts to measure digital campaigns.

Measuring Sales
One of the first studies was for an unnamed personal-care brand that ran a $1 million campaign on MySpace last year, including a contest in which members submitted videos of themselves and friends for others in the network to vote on, said Heidi Browning, VP-client solutions at MySpace. The program also included online couponing.

By the standards marketers sometimes use to measure digital-ad effectiveness, the MySpace effort wasn't overwhelming. Of 76.9 million people exposed to the campaign in four months, as estimated by ComScore, only 765,000, or fewer than 1%, visited an advertiser page on MySpace, though roughly half who did (358,000) visited the advertiser's website.

But by the measure that matters most, sales, the campaign appeared to pay off nicely. It produced $1.28 million in offline sales, as measured by Dunnhumby, which compared purchases among shoppers not exposed to the campaign with purchases among those who were. That amounted to a 28% return on investment, not counting returns from repeat sales among consumers the brand won via the campaign. Only about 17% of the sales were of products advertised in the campaign; the rest of the sales lift went to the parent brand, in what's frequently called the "halo effect."

Particularly by package-goods standards, that $1 million digital outlay with one site was large. But Dunnhumby has run similar studies with smaller digital campaigns.

Promising Method
While a campaign that reaches nearly 77 million people is certainly large enough to generate a read in marketing-mix models, the combination of the ComScore and Dunnhumby panels into a single-source database -- assuming the numbers are correct -- holds promise for more-accurately measuring many smaller efforts. The bigger question is whether the ROI will hold up for bigger efforts, justifying budgets similar to what consumer-package-goods brands spend on TV and magazines. Digital is incredibly efficient, because the cost per thousand is low.

So, Wii Games Sell... But Are They Good?

2009-04-10T08:06:00.000-07:00

The Nintendo Wii is an odd duck
It's innovative but low-tech; it's accessible for gamers, but difficult to nail from a game design perspective; it has a large install base, but one that has proven tough for third-parties to crack.

Electronic Entertainment Design and Research analyst Jesse Divnich asks again: If your videogame-illiterate (and ficticious) Aunt Sheila walked into a store and bought you a Wii game, what are the chances that it would be a quality title?

From the Wii's launch through 2008, four percent of Wii games, or 12 games, have rated over 85 percent on average. Fifty-four percent of Wii games, or 155 titles, have rated below 65 percent. This rate compares less favorably to the Xbox 360's and PS3's libraries, which laid claim to 48 and 36 85 percent-plus games, respectively.

There may be a few explanations for the Wii's lower marks. First, the hardware is fundamentally more accessible for game makers. It lowers the barrier for game development, but at the same time allows for more lower-quality games to crowd the shelves, typically from studios looking to make a quick buck on the back of the Wii's wild success. This dilutes the library.

Secondly, developers, even the ones with strong track records, have had a considerable learning curve in Wii development. Sure, programming a game isn't as complicated as the Xbox 360 or PS3, but dialing in strong game mechanics that play to the Wii Remote's motion-sensing features and resonate with the Wii's audience (and game reviewers) is difficult. Even Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime recently suggested that third parties don't quite "get it" when it comes to Wii development. They didn't "get" the DS when it first came out, but they caught on, eventually.

Lastly, the old chestnut of whether or not game reviews really matter is perhaps most interesting when talking about a product like the Wii and its software. This is essentially a casual-focused device aimed at a wide demographic, many of whom wouldn't know the difference between Edge the magazine and The Edge from U2.

How does EEDAR handle review scores?
Review scores are one of the ways that the videogame industry judges the success of game titles. While EEDAR does not issue game reviews itself, it does factor review scores into many of its analysis and informational services. The EEDAR review score is a composite score, based on critic reviews from various videogame magazines and websites. This composite score allows EEDAR to show critical consensus at a glance.

EEDAR review scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating superior and lower scores indicating less favorable critic reviews. EEDAR converts all review scores to a 100 point score. Examples of this are:

Games on a 10 point scale (Example: A game with a rating of 8/10 is converted to an 8)
Games on a 10 + decimal point score (Example: A game with a rating of 8.2/10 is converted to an 8)
Games on a 4 or 5 point scale, with the possibility of a decimal point (Example: A game with a rating of 4.5 is converted to a 90)
Games with a letter grade (Example: A game with a rating of B+ is converted to an 82 (explanation below)

How are letter grade to number conversions done?
EEDAR does not use the standard scholastic “letter to number” conversion for review scores. For example, with a scholastic system, a B- is the equivalent of an 80, while a D+ is a 68.

With game reviews, using a scholastic “letter to number” conversion results in letter grades being converted to disproportionately high numeric review scores. For example, with games whose numeric review scores are in the 40 to 50 range on a 100 point scale, receiving a D+ on the scholastic scale would give that game a review score of 60, a number 10 to 20 points higher than the other review scores. Similarly, games with review scores of 70 to 80 usually corresponds with letter review scores of B, not C.

The intent is to have the converted point value of letter grades be similar in scope to the numeric review scores received by the game. After examining thousands of review scores, EEDAR uses the following letter to number conversion scale:

A+	100	C	58
A	94	C-	52
A-	88	D+	45
B+	82	D	38
B	76	D-	31
B-	70	F+	24
C+	64	F	17

How Gestures Change Digital Experiences

2009-04-02T18:00:00.000-07:00

Tap. Flick. Fling. Slide. Spin. Pinch. Welcome to the new, refreshingly human language of digital experiences.

As anyone who has bowled a few frames on a Nintendo Wii or flicked through a series of pictures on an Apple iPhone knows, gestural and multitouch interfaces are a thrilling and surprisingly intuitive way to interact with technology. And once consumers get used to ditching the mouse and keyboard they are going to demand much, much more of it.

But will brand marketers be ready? With recall rates at an all-time low, they can't afford not to be. The technology, which is built on accelerometers, sensors and the like, is finally ready for the mainstream. And it just might be what the industry needs to start delivering the breakthrough brand creative that we've all been clamoring for.

To understand what's possible, to see how brands can and will behave, it helps to take a look at what's worked so far:

CNN: Any discussion of gestural interfaces needs to start with Jeff Hahn and CNN. Hahn, founder of Perceptive Pixel, introduced multitouch to the mainstream with his talk at the TED conference in 2006. CNN tapped his agency to create John King's multitouch screen on CNN for the presidential election, which made the broadcasts historical for more than one reason.

AT&T: AT&T was one of the early adopters of multitouch, making Microsoft's Surface table an integral part of the company's future mobile retail experience. Now, in select locations, consumers are able to place various phones on the table, compare features, browse rate plans and explore coverage areas by simply sliding their fingers across the screen.

Orange: Searching for an exciting new way to engage consumers, Orange looked to U.K. ad shop The Alternative to create a gesture-based and "touch free" interactive shop window. The window is activated when the shop is closed and lets passers-by check news, watch music videos or film trailers and play games -- all by waving their hands.

Levi's: Dockers recently made news by creating a "shakable" mobile advertisement that is presented within an iPhone application. The ad, which gets served as you progress through levels on games like iBowl and iGolf, allows the user to literally shake the phone to make a dancer wearing Docker's khakis to dance -- clearly this gives interactive advertising a whole new meaning.

Boxee: The much talked about tech start-up is creating a slick, new internet-based online video viewing experience and is trying to differentiate by tapping both gestures and multitouch for its just released controller -- an ingenious little application that turns your iPhone or iPod touch into a fully functioning remote control.

Siftables: Going even further afield, there are a whole new set of gestural computing technologies that are close to production. Siftables, born out of the MIT Media Lab, caused a stir at TED this year by making digital data physical with cookie-sized devices that look like children's blocks. Users can manipulate them, whether by piling, grouping or sorting them, to create different applications. Now being stewarded by Taco Labs, you can expect to see these put into play soon.

We are still just scratching the surface here. More multitouch is on the way (Microsoft is making multitouch a core part of Windows 7) and just as technology companies are rushing to build new platforms and devices to support gestures, brands need to move quickly as well. Few, surprisingly, have done so beyond the occasional one-off or prototype so far.

There is much for us all to still learn about gestural computing. And there will definitely be a few things to avoid -- substituting "Tap Here" for "Click Here" must be on the top of any "don't list" worth its salt.

One thing is certain, however: Gestural experiences will become our digital future. They will enable us to create rich, memorable experiences and engage consumers in ways that we can't yet even conceive. These experiences will define some brands, and become transformational for others. And very soon, what gets created beyond the browser will matter just as much as what we can create within it.

The Next Next Generation of Gaming - 3D Cameras

2009-03-31T07:12:00.000-07:00

Motion detection technology firm 3DV is entering a sales agreement with an unnamed third party, thought to be Microsoft.

For weeks people have been speculating that Microsoft will be purchasing the Israeli digital camera technology company for around $34 million, though the platform holder has declined to comment on the matter.

3DV holding company Elron Electronics yesterday announced that it had “entered into a definitive agreement for the sale of substantially all of its assets to a third party.” This sale transaction is expected to close by the second quarter of 2009.

3DV has been designing its camera technologies for some time; its ZCams are said to be a far more accurate version of Sony’s EyeToy, due to the fact that the devices can interpret how far away a subject is from its lens. The technology had reportedly been used in “advanced defense systems”, and has already been described as superior – in terms of accuracy – to the Wii Remote.

This is the start of the NEXT NEXT generation of gaming.

Who Owns Social? Everyone...

2009-03-19T17:11:00.001-07:00

Every day new technologies impact the way we live and communicate, disrupting markets in motion and forcing adaptation, innovation and change.

The introduction of the empowered and connected web surfer brought increased prominence to the voice of the individual and the power of the community. While nearly everyone now recognizes the power of social engagement, an intense debate has raged over where this discipline should live. While some have suggested that PR and Digital Agencies are poorly positioned or equipped to address this new communications dynamic (and in many cases they are right), I believe that this is more than a discipline, it is an actionable philosophy that lives across all marketing and communications streams. Oh yeah, and some agencies have proven more than capable at adapting to and activating in the social dynamic as well.

One Size Doesn't Fit's All
Nobody truly owns social. Not a single division within a brand, not a PR agency, not a digital agency, not a word of mouth agency, not an unagency. Social is owned by a team, not by any individual person. Because no one person or agency represents all aspects of the marketing discipline.
* CRM would never own product ideation discussions on their own.
* Engineers would never own customer service discussions on their own.
* Marketers would never own design discussions on their own.

So why would one suggest that social listening, activation or cultivation would live in any single agency?

Agencies Are Evolving
Clearly the face of the agency world is evolving. It always has. And successful agencies will continue to evolve. To suggest that digital agencies can only focus on banners and PR folks can only focus on journalists is ridiculous. New competencies are emerging within agencies of all stripes. New structures are being introduced regularly.

This is not an all-or-nothing world. Just because a capability wasn't embedded in an agency 10 years ago doesn't mean that it can't be there today or in 6 months from now. All it takes is a commitment to learn, to build and to optimize for success.

Good Relationships Often Drive Budgets
Agencies with good relationships with their clients are being asked by their clients to bring social expertise to the table. Smart agencies are proposing these solutions, bringing this expertise in house in advance of these requests, proactively proposing social marketing efforts and when appropriate, are even restructuring their teams to better meet social demands. There are relationships in place, and these should not be tossed out with the wind.

That being said, when agencies fall short of expectations or fail to deliver beyond expectations, smart brands look elsewhere for solutions. And these solutions may come from a "new media shop" or a "social consultant". But even the strongest social solutions should not live in a vacuum. Everyone who impacts the brand and their communications belongs at the table.

We all started somewhere
Even the smartest, most savvy marketer was once a child learning to walk. Part of this process involves falling down. While some of us are not falling down as often as some others, we are all listening to one another. We are all engaging in the same industry conversations, reading the same blogs, participating in many of the same twitter conversations, attending the same events and having many of the same behind closed doors conversations with our peers about what has worked and what hasn't. We may not have the same perspectives, frameworks or operating infrastructure, but one has to believe that anyone with a brain, two ears and eyes, a will and the drive to build successfully can and will do so.

PC Remains an Online Gaming Leader

2009-03-13T06:29:00.000-07:00

The PC continues to dominate all other gaming systems in terms of usage for online gaming, research firm NPD Group has found in the study, Online Gaming 2009.

According to NPD among online gamers surveyed, 87 percent play PC games, down from 90 percent from a 2008 survey.

Of the 20K surveyed, 25 percent said they used a console for online gaming, up from 19 percent in 2008.

Xbox 360 led the console online gaming pack, with 50 percent of online gamers saying they use Microsoft's machine to play online. Online gaming usage on the Nintendo Wii increased from 18 percent in 2008 to 29 percent in 2009. PS2 dropped "dramatically," NPD said, while PS3 moved to third place on the usage chart, with 20 percent of online gamers saying they used the system to play online.

Microsoft's concerted effort to make online gaming a major component of its console strategy began when the company decided to include a standard ethernet connection in the original Xbox. The Xbox Live online gaming service launched in 2002. Nintendo has been slower to jump on the online bandwagon, but now offers online play and a storefront, while PS3 has the highly-touted Home virtual world and PlayStation Network.

The Growth of Smartphones

2009-03-03T06:49:00.000-08:00

Technology research firm In-Stat projects smartphone sales will grow strongly over the next five years, accounting for 20% of all handsets globally by 2013, compared to 10% today.

In North America, the number of smartphones will increase 15% annually over the next five years, more than doubling to 62.3 million units in 2013. With prices coming down as the choice of smartphones increases, more than one-third of U.S. wireless users in 2008 said they plan to get a smartphone the next time they upgrade their phone. Today, 36% of U.S. subscribers already own one.

While the iPhone has been the catalyst for expanding the appeal of smartphones to date, In-Stat expects that phones powered by open mobile operating systems -- including Google's Android platform -- will overtake the popular Apple device in the coming years.

So if only 9.1 million Linux-based phones were sold last year compared to 16.2 million iPhones, the ratio will be reversed by 2013 when the former sells 68.1 million units worldwide to the iPhone's 33.4 million.

No one stands to benefit more from that trend than the Web search giant, which unveiled its first phone, T-Mobile's G1, last year. "Google and its partners have the potential to aggressively enter the smartphone segment of the market by creating a development environment that is to be the most convenient for mobile applications development," reads the In-Stat report "Smartphones: Heading to the Mainstream." "This will lead to even greater interest in the smartphone market segment."

The study also indicates that demand for the iPhone will be diluted by the host of imitators it's inspired, including the Samsung Instinct, the BlackBerry Storm, the G1, and the Nokia N97.

While none of these devices has taken off like the iPhone, the hundreds of thousands or more than a million units some have sold, show. A number of competitors including Palm, BlackBerry, Google and Microsoft, are also opening their own mobile app stores to compete more directly with Apple.

What about the impact of the recession on smartphone sales overall? In-Stat says its estimates account for the economic uncertainty that will lead people to cut discretionary spending in the U.S. and worldwide.

Skittles.com... A Massive Social Media Experiment

2009-03-03T06:37:00.000-08:00

Skittles's has turned it's website into little more than a channel to point visitors to buzz and information about the brand on consumer-generated media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Wikipedia. Instead of corporate-produced content, visitors to skittles.com see one of these areas (the landing page is being rotated) with two overlays.

One overlay requires them to register their age and agree to terms of service stating that they are clicking into non-Skittles-controlled outside site content. The other is navigational. Clicking "chatter" takes visitors into Twitter and the thread of tweets about Skittles (bad words and all); clicking "media" takes them into Skittles videos and photos on YouTube and Flickr; and clicking "friends" takes them into the brand's Facebook area. Only the "products," "contact" and "other gobbledygook" (nutrition info) links connect into corporate brand content.

Other brands have employed the concept of using the home page to redirect visitors to social media sites. But the consensus seems to be that this is the first consumer brand to go this route.

Some question whether it's wise to give up control on the web -- whether this is a good use of social media, but Skittles is controlling content in the most important sense, which is that they're getting people to talk about and engage with the brand. It's hard to get people to engage with a candy, but this is generating incredible buzz and PR. This is a big brand pushing the envelope toward what a brand will be in the future. Skittles is basically saying, 'We get it. Whatever we can do cannot be as awesome as what you guys and girls can do, so we'll just link to it and let you do your thing.

2009-02-27T07:19:00.001-08:00

Facebook game developer Playfish only launched its first game,‭ ‬Who Has The Biggest Brain‭?‬,‭ ‬just before Christmas‭ ‬2007.‭ ‬But it has already generated‭ ‬43m users across its six Flash-based casual games,‭ ‬with‭ ‬21m playing within the last month.‭

As one of Facebook’s most popular app makers,‭ ‬Playfish shows how Facebook can be a gaming platform‭ – ‬and one that’s already,‭ ‬in terms of popularity,‭ ‬leaving Sony,‭ ‬Microsoft and Nintendo in its dust.‭ ‬Investors including Atari CEO David Gardner have put a total of‭ ‬$21m‭ (‬£14.7m‭) ‬into the company,‭ ‬and with the average player spending‭ ‬30‭ ‬minutes with a Playfish game every day,‭ ‬generating between‭ ‬15‭ ‬cents and‭ ‬$1‭ ‬each per month in revenue,‭ ‬its ventures seem astute indeed.‭ ‬

Below is an interesting interview between EDGE and Playfish's CEO Kristian Segerstrale focused on the brave new frontier he’s been exploring.‭

‬Is it fair to say that you’re one of the first‭ ‬companies to think about Facebook and other social networks as gaming platforms‭?‬

There are a few companies that focus on them as platforms,‭ ‬but we’re the only one with a gaming heritage‭. I think we’re at the bleeding edge of what’s happening in the games industry‭ – ‬we’re making games as a service as opposed to as a product.‭ ‬You don’t buy something up front,‭ ‬you play games that evolve over time,‭ ‬with a free-to-play model and the chance to buy upgrades.‭ That‭ ‬has a lot of implications‭ – ‬you don’t do a marketing blitz ahead of the game,‭ ‬and we ask players what they like and don’t like,‭ ‬and track their data to see when and why they stop playing.‭ We also utilize fully viral distribution,‭ ‬so‭ ‬98‭ ‬per cent of our new players to date come from invites or from seeing on friends‭’ ‬profiles that they’re playing the game.‭ ‬If you look at the top ten apps you don’t see any established IP there.

Why is that lack of known IP so pronounced‭?
The source of trust you get from a known IP like FIFA or Halo gets negated on social networks by the fact that trust instead comes from friends‭’ ‬tastes in games.‭ ‬Also,‭ ‬it’s free to play so you can try games out.‭ ‬We’re also philosophically different from other game companies:‭ ‬we fundamentally‭ ‬try to make games that are for people to play together.‭ We appeal to social emotions,‭ ‬like a game of cards‭ – ‬it’s not you and the cards,‭ ‬it’s about what’s going on between the people playing.‭ ‬Research we did into Who Has The Biggest Brain‭? ‬said that the average player played well over‭ ‬50‭ ‬games of five minutes each,‭ ‬and we couldn’t believe that there would be that much value in that game.‭ ‬And it all comes from the fact that the emotional driver for playing is not you beating your own score but finding out how good your wife or friends are.‭

Why do you think traditional game-makers aren’t leading this sort of online gaming‭?
There are actually fewer serious companies doing what we’re doing than we thought there would be,‭ ‬but you need to operate a service and not a product.‭ ‬It’s pretty hard‭ – ‬we had to brainwash‭ ‬ourselves to not think in terms of a release schedule and a marketing plan,‭ ‬and instead think:‭ ‘‬What are we doing for our players this month‭?’ That’s a fundamental change.‭ ‬It’s very much about monitoring and deciding whether incremental changes are worth it,‭ ‬and this is uncomfortable for companies that think of games as products.‭ We also require an eclectic range of skills and expertise,‭ ‬and cope with‭ ‬3.5m players per day,‭ ‬something an internet company is comfortable with,‭ ‬but not necessarily a games company.‭

Do you think that these companies can apply traditional game design to social networks‭?
On the design side EA has done a fair amount of work,‭ ‬but,‭ ‬not to cuss EA,‭ ‬particularly as they’ve done some pretty cool stuff,‭ ‬I think they’re having a challenge designing social interaction for social networks.‭ ‬If you have a bunch of designs for other‭ ‬platforms and you’re told to make them successful on social networks,‭ ‬the first idea is to just convert the game to Flash,‭ ‬add a leaderboard and launch it.‭ But if it’s not designed to be played socially or isn’t free to play,‭ ‬it won’t work.‭ ‬It won’t distribute or make money.‭ ‬But if you have a product that you’re used to consumers paying‭ ‬£20‭ ‬or‭ ‬£30‭ ‬to play,‭ ‬do you really want to give it away for free on a social network‭? ‬Yet you have to destroy some value in order to make a new kind of value.‭

Do you consider it a risk to depend on Facebook and the other social networks‭?
Sure there’s a dependence,‭ ‬but there’s a dependence both ways.‭ ‬One of the reasons for‭ Facebook’s success is it allowed third parties to make applications.‭ ‬And one of the things we’ve invested in from the start is to try to be as helpful to Facebook as possible because the relationship between an app maker and the network can be symbiotic.‭ We answer for a lot of the time spent on Facebook today,‭ ‬we drive new users into it and we give reasons for people to connect with their friends.‭ ‬Quid pro quo,‭ ‬they provide us with the ability to spread virally and to have access to people’s friend relationships.‭

Freebies + Social Media = Hot Restaurant Strategy

2009-02-27T04:53:00.000-08:00

Earlier this month, Denny's gave away more than 2 million Grand Slam Breakfasts in one day with the help of a Super Bowl commercial and online chatter.

This week, Quiznos gave away a million subs in three days after using only banner ads, Facebook and Twitter presence and some free local radio exposure.

Denny's may have been investing in brand awareness, but as the Quiznos promotion demonstrated, with consumers looking to save every penny they can, you probably don't need the Super Bowl part to drive a freebie.

Another current example of using a giveaway and online chatter to drive restaurant traffic: International House of Pancakes just completed its third annual National Pancake Day on Tuesday, in which it gives away a small stack of pancakes and in return asks customers to consider donating to the Children's Miracle Network or a local charity.

IHOP, which has raised nearly $2 million for charities since starting the day in 2006, relied on a dedicated Web site with a "tell a friend" pass-along application, its normal presence on key social networks and some PR to drive awareness and traffic.

The result? IHOP has not finished tallying, but the chain was shooting for $1 million and believes that this year was its best in terms of awareness, traffic and donations, according to spokesperson Patrick Lenow. "The word-of-mouth generated through social networks was just incredible," he says.

And that's just this month's roster of freebie-based promotions designed to draw in new diners, get existing customers to visit more frequently and pick up some revenue from the beverages and other purchases that usually accompany the freebie.

Social networking and restaurants are a logical match. Food is naturally social. Where do you want to eat? Do you want to grab something here? This is translating to online conversations around restaurant brands. Recently, we've seen tremendous adoption of social media strategies among QSRs and fast-casual restaurants.

Combine social media with freebies, and you've got marketing dynamite. Giving away food in these uncertain economic times obviously resonates strongly with consumers. Huge gains are being made by brands who are reaching out to consumers with something tangible. IHOP deserves kudos for taking it important steps further by giving back to the community and forging loyalty along the way.

Denny's SMI score more than doubled (from 22 to 45.6) after its commercial and meal giveaway. Quiznos' jumped from 12.4 on the first day of the promotion to 16.1 three days later, or by 30%. IHOP's score was 36.9 on Jan. 1 and 73.9 on Feb. 25, the day after Pancake Day--a 99% gain. The WOM for IHOP's event was largely organic rather than IHOP-driven, presumably because of the event's charitable mission. IHOP has a formal Facebook page and more than 27,000 fans, but there was no call-out of the Pancake Day event on the page. There were about 135 different events created around Pancake Day, but it looks like none were created by IHOP or connected with the Facebook page. They were created by Facebook users and some IHOP franchisees, and so lacked a cohesive or core message.

IHOP and other brands could benefit from more compelling Facebook pages, perhaps incorporating surveys, polling and a restaurant locator. Providing franchisees with the tools to tap their online social circles to market local events is another opportunity, as is capturing event RSVPs to go back to individuals with coupons and other loyalty-building offers.

Consumers Spend Nearly $100 Per For Mobile Apps

2009-02-27T04:42:00.000-08:00

Consumers love adding applications to their new smartphones, and they are willing to pay for it. According to ABI Research, nearly 17% of users who installed new applications are spending upwards of $100 adding them--from games to even more specialized business programs--to their devices.

"Compared with the cost of most of these devices, it's the first time we've seen applications exceed the cost of the phones," Jeff Orr, ABI's senior analyst for mobile content, tells Marketing Daily. The level of spending is even more considerable when taking into account that many of the applications come at a low cost--as low as 99 cents apiece in Apple's iPhone App Store, Orr says.

In 2009, companies such as Nokia, RIM, Palm and Samsung plan to launch new mobile application storefronts to keep up with the growing sales of smartphones.

The percentage of people using smartphones is growing categorically. In a recent study, comScore found that the number of people downloading games--the most popular segment of downloads--grew 17% between November 2007 and November 2008. The number of actual games downloaded increased 34% in that same time period. This number is likely to increase as more smartphones hit the market, including a new entry from Palm coming in March.

Marketers Adapt as Social Networks Attract Older Demo

2009-02-24T07:01:00.000-08:00

Sometime in 2007, the recent grads that made up the core of Facebook came to a doleful realization: Yup, mom and all her friends are on Facebook. The following year it got worse: The once-exclusive club of the young was completely infiltrated by colleagues, bosses, neighbors and others who might not be amused when little Johnny gets tagged in a photo getting totally ripped with his pals.

What's Mama up to? The college set may be alarmed to see relatives in news feed.

Social networking is no longer a youth phenomenon. As Facebook marches toward 52 million U.S. users (170 million worldwide), the site is beginning to look like, well, America. Which is to say, it looks a lot older. As of January, more than 50% of Facebook users and 44% of MySpace users in the U.S. were over 35 years old, according to ComScore estimates. The single biggest age demographic in the U.S. on both Facebook and MySpace is now between 35 and 44. Indeed, Facebook says its fastest-growing demo is 55-plus.

That's to be expected, and largely due to the fact that both Facebook and MySpace don't have a lot of growing room left among the younger set. According to Pew Internet and American Life data, 75% of online adults 18-24 already have a profile on a social network. "For those to grow, they'd have to have aged," said Deep Focus CEO Ian Schafer. "It's from growth and expansion to ubiquity."

Generally, somewhere between growth and ubiquity is when uncool usually starts to set in. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg backpedaled fast over a privacy flap last week, but the story, which broke on the Consumerist blog, made the NBC Nightly News, a sure sign that Facebook's niche status is over.

With the Cool Kids
So far, Facebook's aging demos haven't turned off the college set: It's the most popular website on campus above Google and Yahoo, according to an Anderson Analytics poll of college students last fall. MySpace has taken a bit of a tumble in the eyes of college students, falling to No. 4 this year from No. 2 last year school year and No. 1 during the 2006-2007 school year.

Even as Facebook ages, users are still exposed to the activities of their friends, and Facebook has added features such as Facebook Connect to encourage users to take those connections with them as they move on to other sites. "Social networking is so engrained into the lifestyle of college students that it wouldn't be any less cool because their parents and grandparents are there," said eMarketer analyst Debra Aho Williamson.

So what does it mean for marketers that social networking is getting older? For Facebook, the upside is they're now being considered for a wider array of marketing budgets. "A year ago, they thought about it as a place to reach people in college or high school; now we're talking about moms, or reaching families looking to go on vacation," said Kevin Barenblat, CEO of ContextOptional, which has implemented Facebook campaigns for Guinness, Microsoft and the Los Angeles Times.

Because of its entertainment focus, marketers still see MySpace as primarily a youth play. Facebook has more users with incomes above $60,000 than MySpace, indicating an older, wealthier audience, according to research from Hitwise. But as social networking becomes more ubiquitous, age demographics become a less important filter than stated interests and other factors. Just as social networks become more of a mainstream marketing vehicle, marketers are watching to see if the phenomenon ebbs, particularly with the young.

Camera Technology... The Next Next Gen in Gaming

2009-02-23T06:43:00.000-08:00

Anonymous sources close to Microsoft have confirmed that the company is buying 3DV Systems, a motion-detection interface company.

Speculation mounted last week that Microsoft had tabled a bid of $35 million to purchase the Israeli company, though many questions hung over the validity of the rumours, specifically regarding how a $35 million bid for a company that had just raised over $38 million resulted in an agreement.

Yet Venturebeat claims that sources close to the matter, who were not named, have confirmed the rumours. The news site adds that the purchase price was small due to "the weak economy and the long gestation that this technology is going through".

3DV has been designing its camera technologies for some time; its ZCams are said to be a far more accurate version of Sony’s EyeToy, due to the fact that the devices can interpret how far away a subject is from its lens. The technology had reportedly been used in “advanced defense systems”, and has already been described as superior – in terms of accuracy – to the Wii Remote.

3DV's mission statement is made clear on its website: “The key to making a real difference in the gaming experience lies in the control. Sony acknowledged that, and launched EyeToy, Microsoft followed with their own camera, Vision. Nintendo took it a step further, introducing Wii. But the revolution is still around the corner.”

Playing Grand Theft Auto XII for Free?

2009-02-11T09:50:00.000-08:00

According to a newly published eMarketer Report free online and ad supported gaming sites have seen a huge uptick in traffic. In fact, they are more popular than ever. And why not - everyone loves FREE. eMarketer points to the economy as a potential indicator for the increase in traffic.

Ad supported online gaming for casual games makes sense. The games don’t cost near as much to develop or market. The revenue needed to sustain a healthy profit margin is significantly lower than that of a top tier online or console games. Still, we see in game advertising in most of the new releases coming out of the major publishers, so we know that a model is in place. Gamers have come to accept this, and some have even embraced it as it adds a dimension of realism to the experience.

So, how long will it be before a top tier publisher releases a $50 million game to the market for free? If you can wrap your brain around that question, here are a few more that need answers:

Would this work for packaged games or only online games?
How would a 100% ad supported game affect gameplay?
How many different kinds of advertising can a game handle without losing authenticity?
How would this ad supported model work for “World of Warcraft” or “Prince of Persia”?
Can an ad supported game drive $1 billion in revenue in a two year arc?
Would it need to?

We’ve been asking these types of questions ever since the appearance of the first in-game ad. Since then, we’ve seen the music industry’s revenue model implode. The film, book and DVD industries are not far behind. As consumer adoption of online distribution of entertainment increases, the demand for packaged entertainment decreases. This dramatically impacts the revenue model for publishers and opens the door to a 100% ad supported video game.

I’m not saying it’s right. I’m saying it’s coming. It may not be “Call of Duty 6″. Perhaps “Grand Theft Auto XII”.

What do you think? Leave your comments below...

iPhone Users Embrace Games

2009-02-03T06:31:00.000-08:00

According to comScore, the iPhone and Blackberry Curve have replaced low-end phones such as Motorola's RAZR as the most popular mobile gaming platforms.

According to the report, iPhone users made up 14 percent of mobile downloaders in November. Thirty-two percent of iPhone users said they downloaded a game during the month, considerably higher than the market average of 3.8 percent.

Game downloads on smartphones jumped 291 percent year-on-year to 2.9 million during the three-month period ended November 2008. Game downloads on non-smartphones dropped 14 percent to 5.6 million.

Overall, the audience for downloaded mobile games grew 17 percent.

For the same period, 20.5 million users said they played a downloaded game on a mobile device, or 8.9 percent of all mobile subscribers.

“The rapid growth in smartphone adoption in the United States has provided a boost for mobile gaming, as 34 percent of those downloading a game in November did so using a smartphone,” said Mark Donovan, senior analyst with comScore.

“Last year, not one smartphone appeared in the top 10 devices used for mobile downloads. This year, six out of 10 are smartphones, excluding devices with smartphone-like functionality, such as the Instinct and Voyager, which also make appearances.”

Global Game Sales Overtake DVD/Blu-Ray

2009-01-26T06:52:00.000-08:00

In 2008 worldwide videogame revenue exceeded DVD and Blu-Ray revenue

According to market research company Media Control GfK International, global packaged media commodities amassed sales of some $61 billion in 2008. Games represent 53 percent of that figure, with DVD and Blu-ray sales responsible for 47 percent. The research group expects that distance to grow, with games representing 57 percent in 2009. It was also reported that global sales of videogame software has risen an encouraging 20 percent in 2008, reaching $32 billion, while DVD and Blu Ray Sales had dropped six percent for the year, falling at $29.8 billion. It is thought that the biggest contributing factors to the steady increase in game sales was Nintendo’s Wii, while home movie media is being curbed by the transition from DVD to Blu-Ray. Combined global sales of all packaged media commodities climbed six percent overall, yet Media Control GfK had higher expectations, foreseeing a rise of twelve percent. The jump in global game sales was also two percent short of projections. The global economic downturn was said to be a factor in these missed targets.

Home vs. Live: Who Offers Brands the Best Opportunity?

2009-01-17T05:48:00.000-08:00

With the launch of Home, now both the Xbox 360 and the PS3 have an arena for brand marketers to reach gamers independent of in-game advertising or integration opportunities. Already, brands are setting up virtual stores and events in the Playstation Home environment, and the new update of the Xbox Live "Experience" has made the XBL environment more marketer-friendly, with the advent of premium themes and branded destinations.

When it comes to reaching gamers, the XBL environment is in most cases the better choice for brand marketers. Although in both environments users generally have to seek out branded content, offerings available on XBL allow brands to take over a user's interface without disrupting the user experience, and without competing with the actual games for users' time and attention.

The branded theme, gamers pics and destination page Sprite put together for this year's Sprite Slam Dunk Competition is a great example. Once users apply the branded theme, they (and any friends they invite over to play) are exposed to the brand every time they power up their 360. In contrast, the branded experiences on Home's Red Bull Air Race, for example, while potentially more engaging puts the brand in direct competition for gamers' time with full-length PS3 games, which is a difficult fight to win.

Home's problematic user experience has been a major challenge for Sony so far. The online community has been enormously critical of the initial launch. Penny Arcade's Jerry Holkins has suggested that users would "get the sense that this is a place in which no interesting thing could ever happen," and that's a relatively restrained example of the gamer-rage expressed over its launch.

For marketers who want to get involved in games, user experience is critical. You can't create an entertaining and worthwhile branded destination inside an experience that's fundamentally broken, as many users suggest Playstation Home is... For these reasons, I think Microsoft is definitely winning the brand war right now!

Don't Get Left Out of the Game!

2009-01-08T06:10:00.000-08:00

A new NPD survey titled "Kids & Gaming" found that kids of all ages in the United States are spending more time playing video games today than they did one year ago. According to the NPD Group, this trend is especially the case for online games. According to the report, PCs are the dominant platform for kids playing games in all age groups. The survey also found that the average child starts to use a PC for gaming by the age of 6 continuing on to age 17, making it the platform used for kids' gaming for the most years.The study analyzed the dynamics of kids ages 2 to 17 in the video gaming space in the hopes of providing insight into system ownership and use, distribution of time, genres, sources of information for finding out about new games, purchase dynamics, parental involvement, and more.

According to the report, the average child's gaming lifecycle starts with kid-oriented systems, moves into PCs for gaming, and continues with Plug & Play and the more established gaming systems. Then, at about age 10, cell phone gaming begins, and the gaming lifecycle culminates with Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable, and the three next-generation consoles, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii.

The survey found that half of all kid gamers are "light users," clocking five hours a week or less, with the other half of the respondents comprised of medium, heavy or "super" users, at 6 to 16 more hours per week. The survey also found that more boys play video game consoles, while girls are more likely to play on PCs, cell phones and kid-oriented gaming products. Additionally, the report indicates that girls seem to "fall off the gaming wagon" later in life, while more boys move on from kid-focused gaming into console use.

Other statistics in the report focused on online games; kids ages 2 to 17 play games online 39 percent of the time, with the average time spent playing online statistically higher among females, kids 15 to 17, and the "super users", at least until the girls get older and their rate of play begins to decline.

Moreover, the survey found that 91 percent of online gaming among kids ages 2 to 17 is free; of the 9 percent that pay to play, these kids are more likely to hail from higher income households. In addition, the likelihood of a child to pay for games increases along with the child's age and time spent on gaming. According to NPD when kids get to the 6 to 8 year-old age range, we see them turn into more serious gamers. Not only does the amount of time they spend playing games increase the most dramatically, but they migrate from using ‘kid’ systems to using more portable and console systems as well. This appears to be a critical age at which to capture the future gamers of the world.

All in all, these statistics prove that gaming is possibly the stickiest media for kids today, representing an unmatched opportunity for brands to reach their target audience to appropriate messaging and play time. So I say... It's time to start playing!

2008-12-30T08:32:00.000-08:00

Blizzard Entertainment announced this week that World of Warcraft's subscriber base has exceeded 11.5 million units following the November launch of the expansion pack Wrath of the Lich King.

Wrath of the Lich King sold 2.8 million copies in its first 24 hours, and 4 million in its first month, beating both previous records held by Blizzard's other WoW expansion, 2007's The Burning Crusade.

WoW had just hit 11 million subscribers at the end of October.

In mid-October, analyst Colin Sebastian said he expected 1 million new WoW subscribers would join during the course of 12 months.

GameStop SVP of merchandising Bob McKenzie said in a statement, "Not only is Wrath of the Lich King still doing well, the base World of Warcraft game and the World of Warcraft Battle Chest are performing better than last year.
"That type of traction is very impressive for a game that is going into its fifth holiday season and speaks to the enthusiastic player base Blizzard Entertainment products have."

Blizzard said that it is currently hiring to keep up with development activity.

The company defined "subscribers" as: "...Individuals who have paid a subscription fee or have an active prepaid card to play World of Warcraft, as well as those who have purchased the game and are within their free month of access. Internet Game Room players who have accessed the game over the last 30 days are also counted as subscribers. The above definition excludes all players under free promotional subscriptions, expired or cancelled subscriptions, and expired prepaid cards. Subscribers in licensees' territories are defined along the same rules."

Humana's Online Games Make A Case For Health

2008-12-23T08:58:00.000-08:00

The holiday season is generally time for people to pack on pounds, but Humana is hoping that their selection of games on Facebook and HumanaGames.com, a website set up in May by the health insurance company as a way to explore how to use games and technology to further messages of health. "Freewheelin' Cycle Challenge," on HumanaGames.com is inspired by the company's bike-sharing program. In the online game, users race against virtual opponents such as a cheerleader or Marine drill sergeant in a bicycle race. Energy and speed are gained by capturing nutritious snacks while running over junk food. The game is being promoted through information and blogs on popular casual gaming sites, and can be emailed for maximum viral effect. "The Battle of the Bulge" is available on Facebook. Through the social networking site, users answer a few questions and are assigned a virtual waistline. Through the Facebook network, other users can "fling fat" at you, which would expand your waistline and lead to a possible online heart attack. Answering health-related questions correctly can shrink the size of the virtual waistline and enable you to throw fat at your friends.

Microsoft Woos Women

2008-12-23T08:42:00.000-08:00

Microsoft has had the attention of core gamers with franchises like Halo and Gears of War, but it's now trying new ways to capture the female market.

Last month Microsoft commissioned a service called House Party to send free Xbox 360 packages, valued at around $150, to 1,000 women across the U.S. who agreed to invite at least 10 friends or relatives over for a party, a USA Today report said. The packages included Scene It? Box Office Smash, an Xbox 360 universal remote, three months of Xbox Live and $20 worth of Microsoft Points. Microsoft has sold 20 million consoles to date globally since they launched three years ago. In order to get to the next 20 million, they need to get a new audience of women and teens. And now, they're going after women in ways they have never done before.

10 Defining Moments of 2008

2008-12-22T10:09:00.000-08:00

There was no shortage of soaring highs, depressing lows and everything in between in 2008 gaming news.

Financial turmoil and studio closures were unfortunately the common theme in the fourth quarter. But on the other side of the coin is how the games industry is poised for another record-breaking year. Aside from the purely business aspects of the past year, we saw a PlayStation man move on, a videogame fitness craze, a controversy fizzle and as always, gamers who let their voices be heard. Here are 20 news pieces that helped define 2008.

GAMES

1. Virtual Musicians Outnumber Virtual Jocks

A poll whose results released in October found that the music game genre is now the second-most-played, bumping sports games down a notch. The bulk of the share gain can be attributed directly to Guitar Hero and Rock Band. The poll, conducted by research firm Odyssey, found that 50 percent of U.S. gamers played sports games and 58 percent played music games. Action games were the most popular with 65 percent. Much has been made about the "battle of the bands" between Activision's Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises (Guitar Hero alone surpassed the $1 billion mark at the beginning of the year), but the truth is, both have played an astounding role in opening up gaming to a demographic typically averse to anything involving a D-pad.

2. Grand Theft Auto IV Commandeers Charts

Everyone knew Grand Theft Auto IV was going to be a hit, but it wasn't until consumers turned anticipation into cold hard numbers that Rockstar was able to truly remind the industry that GTA was king. Launched in April, GTA IV generated $500 million worldwide during its first week on sale, selling 6 million units. In its first day alone, publisher Take-Two shifted 3.6 million units. The publisher declared the game's release the biggest entertainment launch of all time. A true phenomenon and one testament to just how big games can be.

3. The Wii Fit Sensation

The floor-bound, weight scale-inspired Wii Balance Board and its accompanying Wii Fit software have proven yet again that Nintendo has its finger firmly on the pulse of the mass market. The exer-game so far has sold around 9 million units worldwide after having launched in the West this year and in December 2007 in Japan. With continuing high demand, the game--described by Nintendo as "evergreen"--is on track to outsell even the mighty Grand Theft Auto IV. Wii Fit's wonderful, thoroughly weird, and bona fide commercial hit.

4. The Beatles Have a Music Game

The Beatles have been highly resistant to releasing their songs digitally, so it came as a surprise that they caught on so quickly to another growing music trend, the music/rhythm game genre. Reportedly bidding for the Fab Four's material against Guitar Hero publisher Activision, Rock Band and MTV Games owner Viacom wrestled away exclusive rights to the music. Announced in October, Harmonix Music Systems is currently working on the unnamed Beatles game, which will explore the group's catalog from Please Please Me to Abbey Road--all with the full blessing of Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison.

PLATFORMS

5. Nintendo Hardware Cheerily Crushes All

It's hard to imagine now that we ever snickered at the wand controller, or questioned Nintendo's wisdom in calling its new console "Wii." With around 40 million sold worldwide in just over two years, the Wii is this generation's certified sales freak, smashing records gleefully with mass market appeal. And economic downturn? What economic downturn? Nintendo's home console sold over 2 million units in the U.S. during November, more than the top piece of software, Gears of War 2, almost as if Nintendo wanted to say, "Come see what we can do when we actually have supply." In terms of installed base growth, it's laying high-def consoles Xbox 360 and PS3 to waste, typically outselling both consoles combined on a monthly basis in North America. As for portable domination, the four-year-old DS is now ahead of the Game Boy advance with around 90 million sold worldwide. Nintendo hopes to reinvigorate handheld sales with the DSi, the freshened hardware that launched this year in Japan and slated for 2009 in the West. It looks like a one-two finish for Nintendo's platforms.

6. Achievement Unlocked: First Console to $199.99

A year head start is good for a few things, one of them being beating competitors to the mass market sweet-spot of $199. Xbox 360's low-end Arcade SKU was the first "new generation" console to reach the sub-$200 mark, to the delight of Microsoft, game publishers and late-adopting consumers alike. The September price drop across the three models ($199-$399) boosted Xbox 360 sales in the U.S. and Europe, putting more pressure on Sony to trim the price of the $399 PS3. For now, Sony says it won't budge, with profitability being CEO Howard Stringer's primary focus. Nintendo's $250 Wii is outstripping the cheaper Xbox 360 in near-astronomical volumes, so pricing isn't everything, after all. But Microsoft is still happy to lower the barrier of entry for high-def gaming.

7. Online Services Level Up

With the evolving roles of game consoles, in 2008 the "battle for the living room" turned from an oft-talked about mythical skirmish into a genuine ever-escalating war. New Xbox Experience and Sony's Home open beta added significantly updated community features in the middle of a console cycle. Home's virtual world, among other aspects, has added the ability for gamers to virtually congregate around their favorite games, and Xbox Live improvements upped the overall entertainment appeal of the Xbox 360 with streaming Netflix support. Sony marketing has also begun to put a heavy emphasis on the movie downloading capabilities of the PS3, which are continually expanding.

PUBLISHERS

8. Midway Sold for $100K

Chicago-based Midway had been puttering along for the past several years, failing to turn a profit since 1999. With the failing economy taken into consideration and mounting financial pressure on majority stakeholder Sumner Redstone, the entertainment industry exec finally offloaded the Mortal Kombat house in late November for the rock-bottom price of $100K in order to alleviate debt. The buyer, private investor Mark Thomas, assumed $70 million in debt. Midway's troubles have continued, with the company announcing in December that it would cut 25 percent of its global workforce, or 180 people. It's currently working with investment bank Lazard to formulate strategic alternatives to filing bankruptcy, as it's in danger of defaulting on $240 million of debt.

9. Phil Harrison Quits Sony, Joins Atari

Harrison was the face of Sony software, having joined the company in 1992, fostering relationships with developers and turning Sony Computer Entertainment into a worldwide software publishing powerhouse. So when he announced out of the blue that he would be leaving the company in February this year, more than a few mouths were gaped with surprise. And if that wasn't enough of a shock, in March, Harrison announced that he would be serving as president of Infogrames subsidiary Atari, a company whose classic brand had been watered down over years of abuse. But already, with David Gardner and Harrison leading Infogrames, we're seeing change. Atari recently beat out a disappointed Ubisoft in a bid to acquire City of Heroes creator Cryptic Studios, and signed intriguing new publishing deals that will bring games like Ghostbusters and titles from Q Entertainment to market. With Harrison's keen software know-how, he may be Atari's best bet in bringing some respect back to the slandered label.

10. The EA and Take-Two Acquisition Dance

In the weeks following late 2007's $18.9 billion Activision Blizzard merger, fellow publishing juggernaut Electronic Arts hoped to carry out its own coup by proposing a $2 billion bid for Grand Theft Auto house Take-Two in February. This tango lasted for six months, which consisted of Take-Two rejecting the "inadequate" offer, EA going hostile with the bid and lowering the price of its proposal, multiple extensions of the offer, and pages upon pages of analysis of the situation from outside parties. All of this exposition and posing led to the biggest anti-climax of the year when EA walked away from the deal after exhibiting steadfast discipline in sticking with its $25.74 per share offer. A review of upcoming Take-Two titles failed to convince EA to raise the bid and the non-deal disappeared behind the horizon.

Year Two... in the Life of a Startup

2008-12-22T08:31:00.000-08:00

The transition from working for someone to for Yourself

It is something many want to do but few ever think they can do, and even fewer try. Starting in 2006, Joe McDonald (TGA co-founder and Managing Partner) and I went through the stages that many have gone through in the past where we said to ourselves “we should do this” which then became “we can do this” and eventually reached the “we ARE doing this”. We left the security of working for a large company, getting a paycheck and 401k and paid vacations, etc. - basically stability for our families - and risked it all to start a brand new company from scratch.

It was December 2006 when we first started talking about starting The Game Agency and November 2007 when we officially opened our doors. We knew we had a lot to offer… a new approach for the industry, great products and superior services. We set out to start a company focused on creating, marketing and licensing content in the video game space. Now, that’s not too lofty, is it? Luckily Joe and I shared a similar vision of what we wanted to accomplish and the approach in which to do so.

We named our Company “The Game Agency” because we wanted to position ourselves as the “go to” gaming specialists for non-gaming companies.

Two years later, I can point to several mistakes we’ve made, but just as many solutions. Not that we won’t ever make mistakes again, but some of the biggest mistakes people make is repeating them. We’re constantly looking for new ways of doing business and new models for the industry. Bringing games to life is fun, and maximizing the reach and impact of that content is our sweet spot!

For TGA, vision and focus has been critical. Like other businesses, we spent several months defining a clear vision for our future and determining what it would take to get you there. We believe quality, integrity and fun are the keys towards success and those qualities have been a motivator for everything we do from design to development and from hiring to client service.

The first year of being in business was really hard. Things you take for granted when you work for someone else suddenly fall on your shoulders and it takes some getting used to. We certainly have a whole new respect for accountants, human resource managers, designers, etc. having played all those roles at one point or another.

Before we started TGA, Joe and I had very strong work ethics and would regularly work evenings and weekends, but it doesn’t compare to the work involved in the first year of starting your own business. Today we spend 24 hours a day on the business whether it’s through travel, planning, meetings, interviewing – we sleep with one eye open and our PDA’s in one hand and we are constantly looking for the next big task to accomplish. By no means is the storm over now that the first year has passed. The whole experience is extremely rewarding and one we would do over and over again.

2008 Year In Review

2008-12-19T06:33:00.000-08:00

With 2008 coming to a close, and the video game industry expecting double diget growth, despite the recession around us, it is time to review the past twelve months and highlight some of the years big winners, big losers and big lessons.

BIG WINNERS

Wii Fit was one of the most innovative products of 2008. Nintendo took a big risk in developing a product that targeted both the casual and core gamers. That risk definitely paid off. Six months after its release, it is one of the hottest games out there.

Guitar Hero: On Tour was another title that beat the market's expectations. Activision managed to take the Guitar Hero franchise, shrink it, and implement it on the Nintendo DS.

Charming is a word oft used to describe LittleBigPlanet, Media Molecule’s debut game. This game brings together all types of gamers, even drawing in non-gamers to witness user-generated spectacle. LittleBigPlanet’s target audience is “people,” and it deserves recognition as one of the best games of the year.

2008 was a great year for brand new franchises including Dead Space, Left 4 Dead, Grid and Pure. The proliferation of review aggregation sites such as Metacritic and GameRankings is making it easier for great new games to find their way to the top.

Other surprise hits include downloadable games such as Braid for Xbox Live and World of Goo for the Wii. The cult success of these games is proof that you don't need to make a blockbuster game to get in front of millions of eyeballs.

On the small screen, Nitro Kart 3D on the iPhone is a fantastic game. The sense of speed is excellent, the graphics are nearly as detail-packed and colorful as Super Monkey Ball, and it includes plenty of game modes and racers.

BIG LOSERS

One of the biggest disappointments of 2008 was Too Human. In development for almost 10 years, Too Human was hyped to be one of the defining releases of this console generation. With such high expectations, it was no surprise that many critics judged the game harshly; the general consensus among gamers was that the game play was highly repetitive and the story fell flat.

Iron Man is another game that failed to to live up to its potential. While it was a fantastic movie, the video game was one of those cash-in brand deals that reminds us all why ET ended up as landfill. Someone should have taken a tire iron to this iron man.

BIG LESSONS

Despite not being 100% recession-proof, the video game industry has proven this year that it is definitely recession-resistant. This is still a growth industry, and there are many outside players trying to figure out how they can get a piece of the proverbial pie.

PLATFORMS
The real battle in this console cycle is for second place. While the continued momentum for the Wii has certainly been impressive (2 million units in one month is quite a feat), Microsoft is making all the right moves to ensure that it holds a significant edge over Sony in the U.S. for the number two slot. In the face of a struggling economy, the Xbox team hit just the right tone in the marketplace by dropping the price of the Xbox 360 Arcade to $199. Sony, on the other hand, decided to stick with the same general price points while adding extra gigabytes to the hard drive. The DS remains mindbogglingly successful, with year-to-date sales up 15 percent over last year's thru November, 6 million units. Despite The PSP 1.5% year-over-year growth, this was that most disappointing platform on the market in 2008.

PUBLISHERS
As larger publishers begin to focus more and more on generating blockbuster hits, there is a growing contingent of independent developers with their eyes on a different kind of business model. For a fraction of the cost of developing a fully-loaded $60 game, independent developers can avoid the pitfalls of the traditional retail distribution model and reach gamers directly through the consoles' online services. While these two approaches could not be more fundamentally different, both will need to rely on the growing number of connected consoles in order to find success in 2009.

RELEASES DATES
Watch out for crowded release windows... There were a ton of games that were overlooked, that should have been more successful including Far Cry 2, Midnight Club: Los Angeles, Dead Space, Mirror's Edge, Saints Row 2, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, LittleBigPlanet, and Prince of Persia, all of which came out in a crowded holiday window. Many of these titles would have performed better if launched in January through August, and we may see publishers re-think release windows going forward.

Welcome to The Game Agency!

2008-12-12T03:40:00.000-08:00

The Game Agency “TGA” is an award winning marketing agency specializing in video games and interactive entertainment. Our employees have worked in every facet of the interactive industry and we strive to deliver a wide range of video game services and products to our clients. Bringing games to life is fun, and maximizing the reach and impact of that content is TGA’s sweet spot!