BandwidthCamp

GameSetWatch ran my counter-opinion article to Tuesday’s question about The Orange Box from Reflexive marketing director Russell Carroll.

What would you have called this compilation, if you’d have had complete free rein?

Since you are getting 5 games that span 3 franchises, you can’t or at least you shouldn’t call The Orange Box by one of the franchise names. What they are actually getting might confuse people who don’t read full articles or press releases. With a lot of the game names in The Orange Box having to do with a sequel, I might call it “The Second Level”. A Google search proves this could be marketable/brandable from a gaming perspective. Some might say it’s close to Second Life, but only the market can determine that.

Enjoy the article.

[Via GameSetWatch]

Over the last few months, I’ve been reading a vast array of articles talking about targeting consumers based on the persona they have shared with us online. However, this made me think back to an article at Media Post about how the moral standards we’ve in the real world may not translate very well over into the online world.

…help us understand both the kinds of identity misdirection marketers might expect to see in these worlds, as well as some of the motives behind them.

With Google launching an AdSense for Games platform and others with a vested interests in trying to become the Massive’s and IGAs of the world. We’ve to take a step back and remember that misdirection is all but to common online. How many times have you been online and heard someone act like a complete jack ass and talk themselves deeper into their already dug hole.

For example, deceivers tend to say more, rather than less, in online communication.

With the above example being all but to common online. We’ve a long way to go before what we truly know about someone matches what we know about them in the real world. Part of that is having online communication have the same value as a face-to-face communication and not having someone instinctively feels like they must lie in order not to get spammed and bombarded with in-game ads. Only then will behavioral targeting become a true stepping stone for in-game ads.

[Via MediaPost]

I wanted to look behavioral targeting and the importance of having all your ducks in a row or put another way, not putting your cart before the horse when launching your marketing campaign for XYZ video game. Marketing, much like cooking, is an art and a science. The Adotas article goes on to explain the marrying of the two and what behavioral targeting can do to your campaign before and after you’ve launched it.

[Via Adotas]

The missing link in the behavioral equation

Get Personal With Your Landing Pages

Can Social Media Deliver BT Results?

Double Fusion: In-game Ads Can Aid Design

In case you missed it, Monday saw the release of two humorous World of Warcraft (Wow) TV ad spots featuring Mr. “I pitty a fool” T and William “I was once famous” Shatner.

We all had an alter ego growing up but now getting to show them off in the virtual world is a matter of fact these days. A lot of this will be facilitated in part by different MMO models, including ad supported and “free” to play games, which might include ads. Avatar support services will become more visible as more and more people go online. Now go check out Mr. T and William Shatner’s alter egos.