There has been plenty of debate over whether gaming can be a legitimate venue for brands to communicate.
Given our relationships with brands, I can think of no better place. Think about it? Brands are ingrained in our lives in ways we do not care to admit. It is why we buy the cars we buy, travel to the places we travel to, and desire whom we desire...Why else would we be embarrassed to be seen wearing one thing, while proud of another?
The Walter Mitty in us emulates what we associate ourselves with. Anyone who spends any time playing video games knows that in the game we do exactly the same thing with one exception. We do it sans-disguise. In other words, video games help us come out of the closet. In these worlds, we openly act out what we may be afraid to express in real life. We will overtly and admittedly associate ourselves with the brands that fit these alter egos.
Games are a perfect marriage of these two worlds (real & brand worlds). A place for the alter ego we seldom admit to, to be able to roam freely...
The brands that play the game with authenticity will influence us and become the drivers in the real world.
They are our avatars - the perfect foil!
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Comments (3)
Jared,
Do you remember Porsche Challenge? It was a rocking game from way back in 1997, coinciding with the release of the Porsche Boxster.
The aim of the game was to burn the (then unreleased) Porsche Boxsters around a number of tracks against AI competition. It was a fantastic game and it made me fall in love with the Boxster.
The thing is, gaming is an excellent medium for firms to communicate, however, like most communications and line extensions, if it's lame, top-down, marketing based, instead of being genuinely interesting, then it'll fail. In the back of my mind there are some repressed memories of lame attempts by companies to base a game around their products, it's just I've chosen to forget them...
Can you think of any?
http://www.us.playstation.com/PSone/Games/Porsche_Challenge/OGS/
Posted by Con Frantzeskos | March 5, 2008 2:02 AM
Posted on March 5, 2008 02:02
The funny thing is, no one has as-yet come close to tapping the full potential of what ARGs can do for brands. The Year Zero ARG came close but the potential for ARGs as marketing tools is greatly untapped.
Posted by Jason Mical | March 5, 2008 5:05 AM
Posted on March 5, 2008 05:05
Thanks for the comments. Definitely an area that is underutilized and many 'lame' efforts as has been pointed out. On a positive note, many fantastic efforts being developed in places you would least expect it, such as Pharma and the opportunity to educate kids on the complexities of disease states.
Posted by Jared Hendler | March 5, 2008 6:20 PM
Posted on March 5, 2008 18:20