I’ve been learning quite a lot ever since I co-founded game startup Renewz Game Web Inc. with four other co-founders. The gametization of the world has become a rapidly increasing phenomenon, with brands like Nike being early adopters launching their online soccer game in 2009.
The brand expansion opportunities are tremendous for anyone who comes to the realization that the game world is slowly encroaching on the “real” world. There are many who don’t like to use a distinction yet let’s face it, we like to say “life is a game”, and now that phrase can ring truer.
With the typical demographic of the gamer on Facebook being a 43 year old woman, the world of “gaming” has substantially increased target audiences from the days where fighting, shooting, capturing and racing were the main choice “gamer” targets. Now we have people building cities, farms, etc and doing so for hours per day in many cases. Yet that seriously goes beyond the young “turk” gamer that once dominated the target audience and therein lies the dilemna for marketers…who are you targeting?
Now there are some out there who believe they can target everyone. Yup, if you have the marketing resources of a Nike, Walmart or other major brand, you can target everyone. Yet even that doesn’t measure up. I doubt sincerely that Nike is targeting 90 year old women with its advertising. So let’s get real and assume that the market target breadth will vary according to intent and resource. Yet the most important thing in gaming is to answer the question “why is the customer in the game?”. While real-world goods marketers simply use this new media as a tool to get more exposure, I would caution them to be weary of the fact that the social gaming environment is as viral, or perhaps even more so, than the more traditional social media environment and so missteps can be very costly.
I recently went to try to play Cityville on Facebook. I must be frank…its just not my thing. Yet you would not believe the number of my “FB friends” who are constantly sending me pings to do this or that. I graciously accept the invites, yet I have probably not spent much more than the initial hour on the game when I joined it a few weeks ago. Adult women get all giddy if you send them a bit of energy in the game (why can’t it be like that in real life :)?). And those who tell me that they “swear” they won’t be playing it a lot, are often the ones who send the most requests.
As we see partnerships spring up between the real world brands and the online brands, we will see a blurring of reality. Offers for “points” in the game will be tagged to shoes. You will get discounts on shoes if you do a certain amount of gaming. Yet in the end, its all about exposure and brand depth. The danger now becomes that the brand is in more hands than before, with people actively having an effect on its definition in an extremely viral environment. That danger can be turned to opportunity for savvy marketers.
More to come…