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Avatar-Based Marketing
hempman writes "This article (which I wrote!) from the current issue of Harvared Business Review offers a new perspective on marketing real-world products in virtual worlds to virtual consumers with the aim of generating real-world revenue. It examines the frontier of marketing. Although companies are beginning to see the potential of marketing in 3D games and virtual worlds, it's important that they think not just about the 'where' of this new market but also about the 'who.' That is, when marketing in virtual worlds, do you target the flesh-and-blood user who controls the real-world wallet? Or do you target the wallet-wielding consumer's avatar, which likely represents a powerful but hidden aspect of his personality and could influence his purchases -- or at least provide a window into his hidden desires and preferences?"
I ride out of town and instantly am killed by a level 60 alliance rogue. Wait a minute, was he wearing a Starter jacket? And for some reason, instead of scrambling everything he's trying to say to me, he's just repeating "Do the Dew! To the EXTREME! etc."
My priest trainer is no longer a priest trainer but instead a "Scientologist Enlightener" that offers me an application for Scientology. Well, those high in-game ad bidders should make this game free, right?
I suddenly realize I'm no longer using Traveler's Backpacks but instead have "Jansport Bookbags." My alt's Boots of Swiftness are now "Nike Airs." In certain instances, you don't kill monsters, you kill Democrats and Ragnaros has been replaced with Hillary Clinton.
My chracter's rings have all been renamed "Stones of Jostens (GooooOOO Jostens!)" and everytime I disembark from a zeppelin or boat, the goblin tells me "Thank you for floating United Airlines!" and I realize why "ted" is painted all over the boats. My engineer can now make T-mobile phones for players with personalized ring tones because they're too annoying to be contained only in real life so let's add them to the virtual world!
I no longer "mail" items but instead have to visit the Fedex shop in major cities and stand in long lines. Oh, and when I get the mail, a huge AOL symbol appears on my screen with the "You've Got Mail" soundbite. And I no longer have a repair bill as long as I purchase my AllState equipment insurance at the bank in each city.
What's going on!? Well, at least the log-in server is stable
So
I once read an article on how to market to everyone--even poor people--by selecting key traits of their demographics. It's essentially profiling a user of an already existing product and identifying them as a key possible consumer for your product. And it makes me f*cking sick to see it so far widespread that it's going to happen in freaking video games which we're probably going to end up paying for anyways. Don't try to cover up your attitude towards the rest of mankind. It's evident that you lack a soul and will stop at nothing to market a product
From the article: To which I reply, you make me sick.
My work here is dung.
You target the avatar - I mean, how could you even do it otherwise? If I'm playing a fantasy MMORPG, which am I more likely to do, for my character.
Purchase some super elite sword for a couple bucks?
or...
Purchase Pepsi, because I drink Pepsi in real life.
Now, I know this goes into more detail - who am I targetting? When I advertise the virtual items that can be purchased, am I making a commercial that might appeal to me as a person, or my Half-Elf as a character? Or something. I think the obvious answer is that you simply need to communicate the value that the item has, regarding the world in which it exists. If I'm playing a fantasy game, let me know that this is a kickass sword, whether through its abilities or just its appearance. If I'm playing a social game online, let me know that these virtual flowers might just woo the avatar of some woman with whom I'm playing. Communicate the purpose of the items in question, and I think the marketing takes care of itself.
concrete5: a cms made for marketing, but strong enough for geeks.
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It's worth being modded down troll for, but I believe you mean the HARVARD Business Review.
I've read the Harvared Business Review, and well, it's worth buying just for the pictures.
I gave up trying to get published in the Harvard Business Review. Now I send my articles to the Harvared Business Review -- it's a lot easier.
Games in modern settings are going to get advertising. It's just gonna happen, at least to some of them. However, games that are not in modern settings won't. Also, very simple. No idiot is gonna put a Nike in WoW or a Ford ad in System Shock. In games within their own alternate universe, it makes no sense to advertise, because it would only annoy. Games set in the real world are the market for this type of advertising. Historical games might go for historical ads... I wouldn't mind seeing an old Coca Cola sign on a shop set in WWII. Nor would I mind seeing a Ford ad on a billboard.
My only request is that the ad art be distressed to match the environment. This means that (for example) a billboard ad should have some stains on it. A poster on a wall should have water marks, dirt and grime (if that fits the setting at least). In other words, the ad should not look artificially clean so that it looks out of place. In a clean settings, sure... but in a realistic setting, with graffiti, grimy walls, etc, it looks ugly when the ad itself is artificially clean like a browser popup ad.
Summary: Fantasy ads bad, so they won't happen. Realistic ads fine, and we definitely will. Even historical ads are ok, if historical ad content is used (or historical LOOKING ads). And ads should fit the environment, via dirt/damage decals.
Raven
"I will trust Google to 'do no evil' until the founders no longer run it." Hello Alphabet.
Defeat the evil Hamburglar and you will be rewarded with the Pepsi Powerup! Invincibility magic for 10minutes when used.
hempman writes:
"This article (which I wrote!) from the current issue of Harvared Business Review [...]"
You don't say?
So they're going to market lingerie to all those 'women' playing night elves? I somehow doubt that the characters that people play represent their true personalities.
I remember people were pretty upset back in beta when it was introduced. Even though it's tucked away in the video settings menu!
Because targeting the player himself opens up all sorts of nasty data privacy issues. Could you trust Blizzard/Squeenix/Codemasters not to sell/provide your registration info to in game marketers?
Next bad advertising idea: discount widescreen TV displays which, when running 4:3 format content, fill the blank screen area with ads.
(On an unrelated note, there's supposed to be a blank line between the paragraphs above, but the new, extra-complicated CSS based Web 2.0 Slashdot implementation is broken. Bulleted lists are even more broken.)
Ok, so one of my first degrees was in Business (Marketing and Sales), and I used to design games back in the stone age.
I think that the most effective advertising online is as follows:
1. Humorous - If someone tries to sell me Coca-Cola while I'm online in say WoW, I might hate it, and In The Real World (ITRW) might even start to dislike Coke and choose Pepsi. But if they were to have the Coca-Cola symbol only it was Coca-Noca-Cola but otherwise the same, that's kind of funny, so it might give me a positive image of the real Coke, and ITRW I might buy more Coke.
2. Appropriate - If I'm in the Sims and I see something for Bank of America, I'll be miffed. But if I see the BofA logo but it's Simlish and says Banca de Sim but is the same logo, I might enjoy it and think Good Things about BofA - especially if it's an ATM I can use an interaction like "Plead for money" on.
3. Not irritating - If I'm playing a game and something pops up in the middle of a three-guild war when we're in a massive slaughterfest and it's an animated strobing ad that distracts me - I will become furious and actively boycott the MOFO who placed the ad - period. If it's a banner that looks appropriate (not sharp, fits in, does not get in the way, placed where a banner would be) that might be ok, so long as it's not animated, strobing, or otherwise wrong.
4. Avatars - and Assumptions - just because my character in say Diablo is a female assassin who likes to dress in skimpy clothes, don't assume I'm interested in: a. skimpy clothes; b. female clothes; c. birth control pills; d. poison; or e. Hamster Death Heads. Um, wait, I might be interested in Hamster Death Heads.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
I guess that with proper artwork some stores and services, such as Weapon Masters, e-Gold and Garb the World, plus flower delivery and some kinds of foods and restaurants (but nothing in the "fast-" category), could be adversised without much trouble inside medieval settings. But other than the above, I think it would be very difficult.
:)
PS: I'm not affiliated with the above sites. I just happen to use them.
Conservatism: (n.) love of the existing evils. Liberalism: (n.) desire to substitute new evils for the existing ones.
Let the ads in and loose your audience. Ask tv execs what happened to their young male audience.
Now I do realize that this is temporary state. Just as the net is slowly being taken over by the sheep who love brands (myspace) this too will happen in games. For games aimed squarly at the average consumer ads are okay, they will swallow them as they do elsewhere.
But if your audience is that young male that stopped watching tv because of the constant commercials then beware, you wouldn't be the first person to ruin a product with to much commercialism.
Oh who am I kidding. I for one welcome our old advertising masters may they ruin games as they ruin everything else.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
I second that "you make me sick" comment.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
That is, when marketing in virtual worlds, do you target the flesh-and-blood user who controls the real-world wallet? Or do you target the wallet-wielding consumer's avatar, which likely represents a powerful but hidden aspect of his personality and could influence his purchases -- or at least provide a window into his hidden desires and preferences?
I can't wait for the Victoria's Secret thong-of-the-month ad marketed toward my female drow elf.
Now it has gotten so bad that if you show up early to find a good seat, you'll suffer through either a series of slides of local advertisements or a hollywood "behind the scenes" documentary. Then you suffer through 15 minutes of movie advertisements and paid advertisements denouncing movie piracy. I often forget which movie I came to see.
So I've almost completely quit going to movies. Next I began buying DVD's, most often of movies I'd seen before at least once and like, but sometimes I'd risk buying a movie I hadn't seen. Now DVD's are starting to have forced advertising. (Disney is the worst.) I can understand being unable to skip the FBI warning, but why should I have to watch commercials every time I play the DVD?
So I've decreased my DVD purchases as well. I'm currently enjoying the video on demand my Verizon FIOS TV offers. Start, pause, rewind and stop when I want. No commercials at the beginning or within. I'm enjoying my DVR functions, too. I record something and watch it later so I can skip through the commercials.
Gaming is my relaxation. The last thing I want to see in a game I'm paying for is blatant advertising whether it applies to me as a person or my avatar. I barely care if it fits with the theme or not. It's a possible interruption, distraction or reminder of the real world that I don't want. I really enjoy gaming, but if marketers start screwing with my last bastion of peace, I'll be seriously pissed. Not only would I stop paying and playing, not only would I personally boycott the companies pushing the advertising, but I'd also be publically protesting and getting as many others as possible to boycott them, too.
Why can advertisers not understand: we're in a PULL generation now. If you try pushing anything onto me, you'll get nothing but my anger and resentment. If I want something, I know how to go look for it. Why does it take acts of congress to (unsuccessfully) get companies to stop calling us? For spammers to stop sending us their crap? For companies to stop pushing their drivel down our throats everywhere we turn?
I DON'T WANT YOUR PRODUCT!! CAPEESH?!!?
We already have "Avatar-Based Marketing". It's called SPAM.
No, I will not work for your startup
To those people here claiming that "unobtrusive advertising would be okay". You're either dreaming or in advertising/marketing yourself.
The whole point of an ad is to communicate a message. If you haven't noticed it then it hasn't worked. Doesn't matter if it's in context or not. Only ineffective advertising is unobtrusive i.e. pointless.
The scientific evidence for subliminal advertising is close to nil.
90% of modern mass media marketing is nothing more than an arms race to get mindshare. That's why advertising increases in every possible medium until saturation. Everybody loses except the largely parasitic marketing industry.
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Marketing talk is not just cheap, it has negative value. Free speech can be compromised just as much by too much noise as too little signal.