rodica.buzescu

New Media & The Corporate Quest for Authenticity

Rodica Buzescu — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:46:00 GMT

One of the most impressive things about the New Media Expo was the wide variety of good content produced at a small scale by talented, regular folks. These are the internet users who are immersed in the environment and have perfected the art of creating message & meaning for this medium. It’s no surprise that the big corporations want to jump on the bandwagon, trying to bring some of the fresh outlook of these content creators onto their business image. New media, such as podcasting, blogging...(read more)

2008 - Year of Gaming?

Rodica Buzescu — Wed, 14 May 2008 23:01:00 GMT

Is 2008 the year of gaming? CNET seems to think so, based on their recent article on this subject. It's notable that an authority such as CNET recognizes the growing importance of the gaming phenomenon, but I'd challenge the assumption that gaming is exploding simply because of the myriad of new products and increased sales. These observations overlook the real driving force, that today's games are created for a more mainstream audience rather than for a niche group of players. ...(read more)

Generation Y and Scion's Coolness Factor

Rodica Buzescu — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 23:18:00 GMT

Last month, I heard something that made me gasp: “Scion isn't cool anymore”. Granted, some of you may wonder whether it was ever cool. If you don't appreciate the design personality and in-your-face attitude of the 2005, boxy xB, you are likely to say that Scion's lack of cool factor is not news. To me, it is.

Let me backtrack a bit: for Generation Y, “marketing” is often a word that comes charged with negative connotations. There is a lot of confusion on whether a product really is as valuable and high quality as it claims to be. Since there's no clear guarantee from the brand, many resort to asking the opinion of peers or looking On-line for reviews. Purchasing cars is a particularly cumbersome experience, with dealers looking to gain as much as possible on top of price tag of the maker. It's as far as you can get from "have it your way" type of mentality.

Scion changed all that. By understanding the need for honesty and quality, Scion trail-blazed in their approach with Generation Y audience and beyond. The company gives their customers a straight-forward deal: every person purchasing a Scion pays MSRP price for the item, something Scion calls "Pure Price". There's no haggling with the dealer, no hassle, no nonsense. You can't brag to your friend that you got a better deal than they did; there is no unpleasant begging and pleading with the dealer for an embarrassing discount.

Although the "pure price" idea is not new (Saturn was among the first brands to provide this option), Scion paired the strategy with bold design and the option to endlessly customize cars. They put the power in the hands of consumers and followed up with interactive marketing campaigns to reach their consumer base on the Internet, where they spend most of their time. The products themselves aren't meant to appeal to everyone, but the valuable philosophy behind the car company made people want to drive around in boxes. It was almost a badge that stood for individuality and doing the right thing. Although some of the design personality was diluted recently, Scion's commitment to consumers is still one of its most admirable qualities.

The rumor about Scion's loss of cool stems from a decision that was a made a couple of years ago. Scion was serious about being a people's brand, so they took this idea to another level. After conducting a consumer survey regarding car features, Scion took the results directly to the design drawing boards. The result is a lineup of 2008 cars with average features and very little personality. The well-defined xB is now much bigger and toned down from the previous model, a potential cause of Scion's sale drop. It is amazing that a company even made this risky design move, but sadly, they mistook consumer feedback for consumer insight.

I would argue that Scion is, at its core, a very cool company. At most, their 2008 lineup may not necessary fit the brand personality, but that can easily be fixed in the future by allowing their concept artists the freedom to come up with something even more daring than their 2005 products.

Interactive Entertainment: Lessons from the Gaming Industry

Rodica Buzescu — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 18:25:00 GMT

Once upon a time, computer and console games were the bread and butter of geeks – they brought on the image of people glued to their monitors and lost in a world very far from reality. More recently though, that stereotype has begun to erode. Entire generations are now growing up with digital activities as their main source for entertainment and learning. Other gaming platforms, such as the Nintendo Wii, are already making strides by appealing to non-typical gamers. Understanding how these trends affect the cultural context of a “gamer” and learning from processes championed by gaming companies will pave the way to successful interactive concepts.

An interesting case in point is Portal, a small game that has gained a tremendous grassroots following and has swept almost all the awards at the Games Developer Conference this year. Portal is an unusual puzzle-action experience that focuses on the fun of solving brain-twisters rather than on the average gaming adventure, where players enroll in zombie/monster/dragon killing sprees (read more about Portal here). In a world where games have been outdoing each other in developing incredible physics engines and highly graphical worlds, Portal has boldly gone the opposite way. As leading strategies, they have cut the visual effects down to a bare minimum and focused on top-of-the-line user experience. The power of Portal lies in particular in two characteristics that are highly applicable to other interactive pieces:

integrated narrative and design
scheduled user testing/user acceptance trials that feed-forward into design & production

So, what does the user gain when design and copy play nicely together? Portal's appeal stems largely from using extremely talented writing. When this feature is backed up by a compelling game environment, it creates a seamless storyline. Players end up more engaged and they develop strong affinities for the world/characters. If you want an example of brilliant design, look no further than the most beloved character – the weighted companion cube. People have made videos and music about the cube, they have created and bought plush toys, and some have even developed paper models – all in an attempt to bring back the memory and fun of experiencing this inanimate character into everyday life.

Working in a framework where testing is an integral part of development is perhaps the single, most-important cause of the game's popularity. In typical production, testing is usually the first item on the list that gets cut when schedules are tight. The Portal development team has completely re-thought that process. By testing their game throughout the production process, they were able to fine-tune design and narrative to the point where every step of the Portal journey made intuitive sense to a wide variety of gamers.

The challenge of the future will be capturing the imagination of a new generation of sophisticated web/game users to the point where they feel engaged and entertained in the narrative of your interactive campaign. I always think of the Portal approach when I see companies entrenched in creating something that may not serve the interests of their consumers. And now, hopefully, so will you!

When Ignorance Is Not Bliss – A Tale of Social Media, PR and Search Engine Marketing

Rodica Buzescu — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 19:51:00 GMT

In yesterday’s New York Times, Target was reported to ignore the feedback of a blogger. A Target PR representative explained, “unfortunately, […] Target does not participate with nontraditional media outlets”. The blogosphere soon reacted by showing solidarity to the independent writer and wondered our loud, if Target isn't listening to its consumers, wherever they may be, whose input are they considering? The story quickly received coverage on a huge number of blogs and eventually in the New York Times, where it was the most emailed and blogged piece of the day. The impact furthers: a simple Google search with the keywords "target" and "NY Times" yields the Times article in the third organic position.

Levi previously wrote about the tricky reliability of focus groups when gauging consumer trends and gathering comments. It's time to recognize that there is an emerging alternative – you can listen and engage those people who express opinions freely through blogs/social media. Out of the 70 million blogs and counting, many are dedicated to passionately analyzing news and events related to a particular topic. The added benefit is that, unlike traditional media, bloggers are usually extremely timely with their feedback. For on-line initiatives, the implication is that you can react faster and get extra props for embracing criticism.

If your company isn't already thinking about including social media as an integral part of what it does on the web (PR, Customer Service, Marketing, etc.), here's one key thing to keep in mind: all information on the web is consolidated through a user's window into the digital space. The search engine is that window. Bloggers' reviews of products and campaigns, as well as relevant forum posts and YouTube videos, are all indexed by search engines – the same ones you work with in your marketing projects. If you're thinking (as you should) about spreading a consistent brand message through all media, then social media must be a piece of that strategy.