MOTHERBRAIN

Advergaming Works.

Water Cooler Games points us towards a study done by the Missouri School of Journalism that shows advergaming to have a positive affect on brand opinions. This makes a lot of sense if you subscribe to Raph's theory that games are essentially teaching mechanisms.  I think that work like this shows that there is incredible value in understanding why we game ... Here's hoping we see a continued emphasis on research like this. 

 From their incredibly academic mouths:

Our results provide further evidence that the transfer of positive affect elicited by entertaining media content to the sponsoring brand likely involves a mental process that could improve brand attitudes. According to an associated network view of human memory, advergame features that increase the mental connection between game content and the sponsoring brand also should increase the ease of positive affect transfer, leading to a stronger relationship between attitudes toward the game and brand attitudes. Our finding that increasing the thematic connection between an advergame and the sponsoring brand makes attitude toward the game a stronger predictor of attitude toward the brand is consistent with a theoretical explanation of this phenomenon based on affect transfer.

The immersive and interactive nature of the advergame might distinguish it from other advertising platforms such as product placement, which in turn could facilitate stronger affect transfer in advergames than in product placements. However, it remains unclear how the relevant/irrelevant distinction might differ between these two context. Researchers also have suggested that these features may weaken memory for in-game advertising by increasing demand for cognitive resources (Yang et al. 2006). These distinguishing features of an advergame provide a unique opportunity for researchers to study nuances in the relationship between ad attitudes and brand attitudes, as well as memory for advertising messages.

Nintendo will be short on Wii's for Christmas again

OK.  This is starting to get ridiculous.  Nintendo is reporting that once again, despite Wii production being at an all time high, despite having already been out for three years, despite being smack in the middle of the worst financial crisis since the end of the Roman Empire, and having three years of sales data to help plan for the holidays, they're STILL not going to have enough inventory to meet demand during the holiday season.  Again.  For a third time.  Yes, really. 

"We're producing an unprecedented level of hardware to try to meet demand... Look at retailer circulars. Go to their websites. We're flowing products into stores on a very regular basis. Once you see it on the shelf, you ought to buy it." [emphasis mine]
~ Reggie Fils-Aime, President, Nintendo of America

Football coaches like to justify running the same kind of play over and over again with the  saying: "keeping running it until they show you they can stop it."  Nintendo seems to be borrowing liberally from that way of thinking right now.  Tell people it's sold out, and they will become so overtaken with rage-lust for a Wii that rational thought couldn't POSSIBLY get in the way of their animal desire to have one and have it NOW.  If "must-have" Christmas items have taught me anything in my life, it's that product scarcity is a very. powerful. marketing tactic.

After checking around briefly, it looks like Best Buy.com and Target.com are both sold out, but it looks like there are bundles available around at places like EBGames. 

So you heard it here first.  Buy some Wii's now and enjoy a foreclosure-free January. 

The Most Curmudgeonly McDonalds Of All

"You don't eat food here, you consume it.  And then you get out...and we'll know if you don't, because we're watching you."

"Refills are extra, your large bills are no good here, and if you want more than the one sauce we give you with your McNuggets, it's going to cost you the price of the sauce + tax (specified in our sauce-tax grid here)."

"And if we don't like you, you ain't eating..."

"Now, what can we do you for?"

VW Annoints Chrysler As German Engineering

Watching college football last Saturday, I was bombarded by VW's campaign for their new minivan, the Routan.  Which first made me wonder if Ikea has been consulting with VW on model names, but then made me remember hearing that VW was planning on rebadging a Chrysler minivan to sell as their own.  And here it is, brazenly referred to by Brook Shields in the ad as German engineering. 

My dad likes to joke that in World War II, our Germans beat their Germans.  However, I think this is a bit of a different story.  I've not heard of any German immigration boom to Detroit in the past few decades.  I'm not sure how they got any legal department to approve it being referred to as German Engineering.  I've seen what legal departments are like at automotive companies, and I can tell you that I've seen the Face of Evil.  But whatever. If the laderhosen fits, bite the strudel. 

It's amazing how much badge engineering is done in the car industry...but I'm sort of surprised that VW, who's entire brand depends on being a bit quirky and has always stood for affordable German engineering, decided that what the people want is a Chrysler with a VW logo on it, especially given their heritage of distinct van offerings:

 

Speaking of which, whatever happened to the New Bus concept? 

It's not beautiful, but it's a concept that could be made more market friendly...at least I would think so...and it's a bit hipper and truer to the VW brand than just rebadging a Chrysler.  Why do they just want to get in line with the sea of other look-a-like minivans?  This is VW we're talking about.  They build iconic cars, or at least they used to. 

I Love JetBlue, But Where Are They Finding Their Employees?

Look, JetBlue is my favorite airline.  I've always had an amazing experience on it.  After flying across country on United and American a few times, my cross country on JetBlue was a night and day experience.  My knees didn't have to be shoved into my neck, the snacks were free, different, and tasty, the free satellite TV kept me guiltily ignoring the book in my carry on.  Oh, and the staff has always been friendly. 

But then they kept people on a delayed airplane for 11 hours. 

And then their flight crew had some guy sit on the toilet as an actual seat for the duration of the flight

And then today it was reported that a flight attendent sexually harrassed a passenger by showing naked pictures of himself, making "lewd comments", and grabbing the "victims buttocks".

AND THEN two of their pilots were arrested on Sunday for beating a cab driver over a nine dollar fare. 

Is all of this coincidence?  Seems like it has to be, but the fact that so much weird stuff happens with their employees that it makes you wonder if there isn't some Gladwellian (thats right, I said it) tipping point stuff going on behind the scenes at the company that is encouraging people to act out in odd ways...or maybe they are just somehow recruiting all of the wrong people somehow.  I don't know...all in all it just makes it pretty hard to be an advocate for a brand that continually has these odd problems with their staff while other airlines don't.  If this were a college football team, they would be under investigation by the NCAA by now. 

(Although I'm still going to fly them.  Or sorry, Jet.) 

Globalization

 

Talking Ourselves Into A Recession

Over the past year or so, while the media has been feverishly scratching the word “recession” into our retinas even though there continued to not be one, it seems like they have finally gotten their way.  That’s made me wonder about the role of media in this whole economic slowdown thing. 

As a consumer, I am going to run my financial life a certain way unless either experiencing directly a habit-altering event, or if the threat that such an event could happen is made more severe.

As a 24/7 media outlet, I have to attract eyeballs as much as possible for as long as possible.  Feel good stories give people the warm and fuzzies, but disaster, doom and peril are good for ratings, especially when it’s close to home for enough people. Just ask the Weather Channel what happens to their ratings in Virginia Beach when a hurricane is heading up the east coast. 

The problem here is that unlike a hurricane, an economy is an ever-changing thing.  A hurricane’s path isn’t influenced by the media the way that human behavior can be. 

As Live Science points out: 

“Warnings about a recession create a similar self-fulfilling prophecy — or, thought of another way, an anti-placebo effect. Just as a placebo (a non-effective "remedy") can make people feel better simply on the basis of their belief and expectation, recession worries can make people panic because they feel like they should.

In fact, much of the expert advice for how to survive a recession (save money, reduce debt) actually perpetuates it. Later this year the government will be issuing checks to taxpayers in an effort to stimulate the economy, but that will have little impact if those dollars go into savings accounts instead of being spent on consumer goods.”

Which makes me wonder if there's a way that media can be used to help correct the problem. Or is that too weird and Orwellian?  Maybe it’s just a matter of waiting until something more interesting comes along and distracts us.  Maybe our short attention spans will save us in the end.

Here’s hoping the election does the trick…

If You Don’t Like It, Take A Hike

I might be writing a blog for a subscription college football website this fall.  No big whoop, but in order to get access to their blogging platform, they had to give me a subscription. I received this email today addressed to presumably all of their subscribers.  About half way through, you’ll notice the customer service equivalent of a novelty-sized foam middle-finger.  I kind of wish they had signed it with something more along the lines of "We'll see you in hell."

Dear VTInsider.com Subscriber,

Effective July 11, 2008 the price of your Annual VTInsider.com subscription will increase from $89.95 to $99.95.

If you would like to cancel your subscription you may do so by calling the Scout.com Sales Center (toll-free) at 1-888-979-0979

Thanks for your support,

VTInsider.com Staff

The Dicey Business Of Video Game Journalism

Slashdot is reporting that Atari has begun suing video game publications that have started publishing reviews for their upcoming release, Alone in the Dark.  They are claiming that anyone who has reviewed the game has pirated copies of it since it has not yet been made available to the media for review. Not only has Atari filed suit, but they have pulled all advertising from the sites as well. 

The situation gets a little more interesting though when looking at the reviews themselves.  They aren’t good, and gamers have noticed that there might be a correlation. 

This isn’t the first time that bad reviews have sparked controversy in gaming journalism.  Just last year, it was rumored that Jeff Gerstmann, an editor at Gamespot, was fired after penning a bad review of Kane and Lynch.  An anonymous insider suggested that the firing was motivated by pressure from the game’s publisher, and Gamespot advertiser, Eidos.

I think this is troubling as it proves the line between editorial independence and advertorial bias is under assault, if its not dotted already.  Who knows how prevalent this is in other specialty mediums.  But I think it also shows that in the high-stakes world of gaming, companies have become so tied up in creating blockbusters that they will stop at nothing to make sure they succeed.  They have too.  Very often, all their eggs are placed into the same basket.  But the problem is that instead of making sure the basket is allowed time to be lovingly crafted, they are very quickly machined, with little regard for craftsmanship or quality control (from the business folk, not the actual production team ... so I’ve been led to believe). 

The videogame industry is at the forefront of the future of marketing.  If the positive reviews aren’t there, you’re not going to change (many) people’s minds with a slick campaign. Marketing can only help reinforce the decision to purchase.  The power is firmly in the court of the reviewer. 

The problem with this ‘future of marketing’ as it relates to videogame sites is that they are heavily dependent on advertising revenue from game publishers, seemingly making them more susceptible to being strong-armed into favorable reviews by game publishers with everything riding on their next game. 

Priorities have a funny way of changing when one’s livelihood is threatened. 

You Don't Piss Off Johnnie Nascar

My old boss had tongue in cheek a theory about the research the Japanese did which led to their decision to attack the United States: they scouted the west coast, not the deep south.  They only saw Brent and Chip, they never laid eyes on Bubba.  They had no idea who they were up against … and we all know how that ended.

 

Now, with the dollar down and the economy teetering on oblivion, A different kind of foreign invasion is taking place.  Only this time it’s an invasion of foreigners wielding superior foreign currency and a powerful lust for commerce.  It’s been noted that tourism is way up because of the sudden bargain New York City shopping has become, but it doesn’t stop at the average consumer.  In the past few weeks both the Chrysler Building and the Flat Iron Building have been sold to overseas groups.  The sale of both of these historic landmarks hardly caused any commotion at all. 

Anheuser Busch, however, is another story.  InBev, the Belgium-based maker of Stella and Beck's, is trying to buy the iconic American beer brewer.  At the precise nanosecond that the American public caught wind of the sale of their beer brand to a non-US entity:

•    Over 70% of the Internet has been transformed into petitions opposing this sale – savebudweiser.com alone has over 49k signatures
•    Protestors took to the streets
•    Government officials were prodded to take action
•    Women wept, children screamed, men gnashed their teeth, and everyone Googled

When you threaten to buy the brewer of the signature beer of the American working class, you are no longer trifling with highbrow, metropolitan culture.  You align yourself against the most unrelenting of all Americans:  the blue collar NASCAR set. 

Fiercely patriotic and brand loyal … InBev better be ready to go to the mat on this.  Because like a Pit Bull with its jaws clamped down on the leg of a neighbor, this group of people will not let go until the deal is dead.