Space Cattle Branding

The bulk of video games are made in the US,Europe or the Far East. These games are then distributed around the world. This makes it incredibly difficult to utilize in-game advertising, unless you are a global giant such as McDonald's.

How can marketers in other countries such as South Africa find a way to use this media form? Let's look at the DVD industry. When you buy/rent a DVD movie and insert it into your DVD player you often have the option of choosing your country. This allows for different content (adverts, warnings etc...) for each country. Effectively this is regional advertising.

This should be done in gaming as well. When you pop in your brand new XBOX 360 game and choose South Africa as your country then you should see adverts for local brands. With the use of XBOX LIVE the XBOX 360 console could even detect your country automatically for you. This allows marketers to customize content specifically for the region it will be watched/played in. Utilizing this method means that the production process does'nt need to be altered. Manufactures would not have to produce different discs for different areas rather just burn all the ads on and allow users to choose their region. This can even work for local regions such as different provinces, states or even major cities.

I don't think that the DVD market has fully exploited this opportunity either. This would be a great way to customize content for local markets and reach new markets and new audiences.

This is the idea behind the latest trend in the black youth market. While doing some in-depth research for a client on this market, my eyes were really opened.

Brand Lust is their insatiable hunger for top end brands. This super status orientated behavior has given rise to a powerful need for expensive products in order to show off. The fact that these individuals have these brands communicates the fact that they have money and power. In this market power is gained through money. A powerful and cool person must have lots of money. The reality is that these guys don't have the income to support such extravagant purchases, it is all a façade to elevate their social status.

I thought Brand Lust was a pretty good term for this crazy behaviour!

Ambient media is the future of great advertising media in my opinion. This is because of the excellent word of mouth, viral abilities and sincerity that ambient and experiential marketing can create.

Everyone in marketing should have a look at some of the video's at http://improveverywhere.com/ They have an excellent grasp of what works when it comes to ambient. Watch the Food Court Musical below and you'll see what i mean.

Product placement and in-game advertising is fast becoming a powerful medium through which you brand can be advertised. The gaming industry has been growing extremely quickly worldwide with games like Grand Theft Auto 4 breaking many release records. The increase in growth in the gaming industry has been helped by the new generation of console games namely, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PS3 and the Nintendo Wii. These platforms allow a broader range of gamers than traditional PC gaming did. The Nintendo Wii specifically has managed to encourage non-gamers to play and have successfully achieved their goal of involving the whole family.

So gaming is booming, more gamers equals a large audience who give their full attention for long spans of time. Every marketers dream. There is a problem though, is advertising in gaming perceived positively or negatively? What does in-game advertising say about your brand?

There are two different opinions here, the first of which see your brand positively. Seeing in-game advertisements on TV's, billboards, delivery trucks etc... can add to a game's realism. Creating an environment that is similar to the real world (often an objective of game designers.) Your brand can also be associated with innovation and have an aspect of "coolness."

So what about the dark side? Well advertising is often seen by skeptical consumers as clutter, an attempt by the company to force their way into your personal space. There is no permission granted and therefore no choice for the consumer. Many gamers see gaming as a form of escapism, a way to leave the harsh reality of their daily lives and relax in a fantasy world. Seeing adverts everywhere in a game will therefore negatively damage your brand in the minds of these consumers.

So what should companies do? I believe that in-game advertising follows the same rules as other media channels; creativity is key! The best way to get your advert appreciated in an environment like this is to make sure that it is unique and quirky and is designed to suit the environment it is placed in. Having content/a message that gamers would be interested in would cast a positive light on your brand and allow you to reap the benefits of this excellent audience.

For examples of in-game advertising check out;
www.egamemarketing.com/examples.html

Marketing and advertising has become a huge industry worldwide. If we take a look at where branding started and where it is now we can see some interesting similarities.

When branding first origionated it was in small town communities in the 1800's. These small towns had different shops and general stores. Each store had a name and reputation (effectively a brand.) They had little advertising and relied on word of mouth for business. Customers that had good experiences would tell their friends and likewise for bad experiences.

Being a successful business depended on two things; a good product and great customer service. In order to increase customer service the owners remembered every customer's name and their individual shopping habits/requirements. This created an air of familiarity and trust for the customer.

We then saw a boom in the advertising industry and the onset of globalization. This system was relegated to the depths of history, until now. With the developement of web 2.0 and the formation of online communities, branding has come full circle. Customers recommend brands to their friends online, write reviews and blogs. They also document bad service and discourage people from using/trying your brand.

Consumers have become smarter and don't fall for the lies that branding could use in order to sell inadequate products. Consumers have fallen back on the need for good products and great service. We can see the trend of personalization featuring strongly with websites greeting customers by name and recalling their shopping preferences.

Isn't it amazing that after 200 years of marketing we have come full circle, and ended up back at the beginning.