I'm all for realism in video games. That's why I particularly enjoy
games that let me be myself and express myself the way I can in real
life. Like running around hacking peoples heads open with a crobar or
chainsaw and splatter their brain cells all over realistically lit and
textured environments.
Just joking of course. Mostly. Point being, the realism is just there to
suspend my disbelieve. But sadly, I think adding ads to video games
could mean one thing. Most companies are going to realistically recreate
mediocre or even worse shitty ads in the most believable way possible.
Maybe if I can splatter some marines internal organs all over a
political ad, it would make me warm and fuzzy again.
Don't get me wrong, I love good advertising that makes me thing. But the
potential and magic of advertising in video games is not knowing you're
being advertised to. Like when people idolize Dirty Hairy then ran out
and bought up every Colt 45 they could get their hands on. When product
placement and brand awareness become pop culture, the battle is won. Not
the inverse, when advertisers try to force pop culture into being ads.
The industry takes a huge blow when ads of fat balding men waving their
hands and yelling about their mattresses are shot at us like bullets to
annoy the hell out of everyone.
I think Glazenwassersactie means Washing windows, but what do I know. I
haven't figured out what the main point is, other than TBWA recruiting
in the Neitherlands. Check out the site quit
and join us
VW hits the slops
I love this fun, but simple ad for VW from Gray Argentina.
To cleanse my palate from the Durex Pants Whisperer, here's a cool web
game that expands on the amazing tv spot by the same name - Stunt
City. The opening sequence and build animation are top notch to say the
least. The actual game play is lacking and do to the lack of depth to
the game and slow reaction time (it's hard to get more than a few moves
into one game) the replay quality is sadly low. To really be viral, this
game should have been mouse enabled and allowed for combo crash moves
like the Mini convertible game. I still give this one a thumbs up though.
The game points actioncity.la
which has just the right mix of animation, campy music, and awesome
tricks like matrix style freeze motion explosions and more. Oh yea, and
it's all to advertise for Rexona.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Bang It with Durex
Uh, yea? In this site we're introduced to a penis expert, the pants
whisperer, or self proclaimed penis genius. Jesus, this is bad! The
jokes aren't funny and wow, this site is over the top. I don't think
I've seen a site try so hard. the videos are too long, the jokes aren't
funny or witty. The submitted videos are obviously fake. Who bangs a
moose? Moose banger! I'm not putting a link to this site, cause I don't
want to propagate it.
I did an annual report for the illinois salvation army back at ross cps,
which just got props from print magazine's design annual. I wish they had
put a key line around it, or used one of the inside spreads, but either
way i'm thrilled to be in print for a second year in a row.
Starbucks - Glen MP3 Check out this awesome track for Starbucks for their
Double Shot drink. Nothing like a little Survivor singing your name to
start the day out right. Video coming soon. Glen!
www.coqroq.com
Ok, this is probably one of the craziest things I've seen. The band Coq
Roq is selling Chicken Fries. Don't ask questions just check out the
video. Don't be fooled by impostors like Cock Rock! <- blatant google
search que.
watchmechange.com
Ok, CP+B is doing some crazy stuff again with this Gap piece called
Watch Me Change. Its basically a strip tease you're supposed to make of
yourself and send to friends. Awesome. Check out this link, its supposed
to be me, but it doesn't really look anything like me. - Watch
Me Strip
Wish I worked on this, but anyway, here's some hot pink panties from
CP+B and Victoria's Secret Pink line. Get your strip poker on: http://www.pinkpantypoker.com/
Ok, I'm moving to Miami. I'm getting excited, but thought I'd plug my
old agency. Great guys - Ross
Creative+Strategy . If I'm lucky, every place I work will have a
plus sign in the name. :-) Check out the ever-expanding blog and Kdog's
weekly movie reviews.
As TV slips, and everyone is prospecting over the Post-Superbowl
advertising world, video games are poised. This makes me happy because
I've been pitching product and ad placement in video games for 4 years
now. Thanks mostly to the puberty-stricken-teen males coming into their
own (myself included). These core 18-35 male gamers are now buying
Jeeps, talking on Erickson cells, and jamming out with their iPods. The
potential grows every day as video games become ubiquitous and
mainstream.
As we gamers begin to take over the world, the industry is waking up or
being replaced by us. According to Yahoo! News the advertising potential
could grow to $1 billion in ad dollars. For good reason, product
placements offer what no ads or movies can - interaction. For instance,
gamers must interact with products to advance to the next level. In Tony
Hawks Underground 2 gamers must interact with a Jeep. Nielson is
getting into the game by measuring how many times the jeep is seen or
used, which should put a smile on the face of number crunchers in the
ogilvy camp.
This is really exciting as people will be able to "test-drive" products
and services before using them. Why not demo thousands of cars in
simulation-esk games such as Project
Gotham 2. Hell, I just about have my next car purchase in mind after
playing that game.
NextGen games could be web enabled to deliver info such as current
sticker prices and rebates in a soft sale mode. Gamers love realism, why
not augment the games with real life. Stream real radio into the games,
with ads intact. Or serve up custom radio stations where servers collect
users patterns to deliver user preferred musical genres and ads to
match. Lets say I spend a lot of time driving a Porsche, why not hit me
up with radio ads about where I could get a test drive. Even in remote
Peoria, IL where I live. Yes, the big brother implications are kind of
scary, but games offer a suspension of disbelieve where sales pitches
can become narrative in quality. Advertisers, lets don't be too
transparent with this one, or we'll end up with the waste land that is
Reality TV.
This interaction opens up all kinds of doors. Cross promotion for
instance. Apple and Nintendo should partner up to offer a virtual iPod
as the music console on the up coming Nintendo Revolution console.
Just think, users would get to play around with a slick 3d iPod that
they wished they had, and could buy music off iTunes through Nintendo's
web access. I would suggest Apple partner with Sony's PS2 or Microsoft's
Xbox, but what are the odds of that.
According to the same Yahoo! report, gamers in the upcoming Everquest 2
will be able to satisfy their instant gratification pizza craving by
clicking an in-game button. 30 minutes (or less) a Pizza Hut pizza is at
their door.
Let me run down a simple classification of product placement in film
before I lay down some potential for games. (Wish I still had notes from
my Introduction to Film class).
1. Typical product placement - products, usually logo baring, are
visible on screen.
2. Product interaction - this could be positive and negative, where
actors interact with a product/brand. One infamous example showed
Americans drinking Pepsi, but the evil Red Chinese drinking Coke.
3. Story lines written around products - the text book example for this
one is the Tom Cruise movie, in which he's asked how did he know what
stocks to buy? He responds by holding up Fortune Magazine and saying
"The bible told me." The producers wrote the line to attract
advertisers, and actually managed a bidding war between Fortune and
Forbes.
Ok, now to video games.
1. Product Placement - Erickson phones in the hands of elite spies.
2. Product Interaction - Drive a Jeep or Ford or ferrari.
3. Virtual Ads: Everything from billboards, radio or tv styled spots,
virtual print ads to virtual store fronts. This pretty much means a
brave new virtual world of advertising as we know it. Many games have
fake ads for realsism. How about real realsim.
4. Advertising Driven Story/Concept - "Advergames" aka anything from
Lucas Arts. This also brings to mind cartoons created just to sell a
product.
5. Direct Response (Virtual and Offline) - Players preferences can
deliver custom ads. Say I consistently drive a Porsche Boxter in Project
Gotham and have filled out a servey online in order to logon Xbox Live,
wah la, I get a post card in the mail (or email) with a star burst
exclaiming, "Test drive a Porche Today!"
6. Cross Promotions - ie Apple and Nintendo teaming up to offer virtual
iPod and iTunes.
7. Merchandising - If we can learn anything from Lucas, its
Merchandising. Games create Fan Boys, and Brand driven games will create
Brand Boys. People go nuts over Starwars, Mario and Laura Croft, and she
doesn't demand a dressing room.
Offline integrated marketing opportunities are also exciting. While at
Square One, Inc, we pitched a sweepstakes to our client Dr. Pepper who
had partner Nintendo to offer a chance to win your face on a video game
character. All you had to do was drink Dr. Pepper for your chance to win.
I think the Glen Starbucks commercial was the best TV commercial of
2004. Glen. Glen Glen Glen. Survivor gets back into the pop icon
buisness. Check it out: glen.mp3
