This blog is interesting for Brand managers and Marketing managers. It shows you how games can help to achieve marketing objectives and includes postings about digital interactive branding, like branded utilities and social media for organizations & brands. Check out www.brandnewgame.nl for more information what digital interactive concepts can do for your brand.
Or visit www.brandnewplayground.com for more information about my book!
As I wanted to share the contents in an early stage please feel free to download and share the free summary (demo). You can find it HERE.
The main topic of the book is how games can be used to achieve marketing objectives in the digital era.
The first chapter basically describes the different platforms, genres and provides a historical overview of games throughout the past.
The second chapter describes the consumers that play games. Ten years ago it was merely kids and teenagers playing games, but the past five years we have seen that mothers and elderly are playing online games more and more.
The third chapter reveals a lot of cases that support objectives within the marketingmix, on product-, price-, place, personnel and promotional matters.
The fourth and final chapter reveals how games can be put to use within the field of Brand Management and Marketing on a theoretical level. I have developed three models that help agencies, organizations and brands to develop concepts that build bridges between them and the target audience.
Amongst them are the Branding Checklist, The Brand Play model and the CoCha-model (gotcha!).
Have fun reading it, share the pdf with friends and collegues and tweet your feedback to:
@BartHufen or #BrandNewPlayground
Please feel free to join my community on Linkedin called BrandNewGame
Sony Computer Entertainment just confirmed that it is developing a new PlayStation Portable with touch-screen and 3G network capabilities.
The current name for the device is NGP (Next Generation Portable), but it will be likely to change towards the releasedate end of this year.
Check www.playstation.com/psmeeting2011 for some images of the product. Surprisingly, the design is fairly comparable to the current PlayStation Portable design, but it will have a lot of new functions and amazing technical specifications.
Amongst them are a 16 million color OLED multi touch screen, front and rear camera, dual analog sticks, build in GPS and three-axis compass.
I am really honored to speak during Trendsfactory 2011 next to people like Stephen Fellinger (Spin Awards), Martijn Aslander (Lifehacking) and the crazy Cor Molenaar (Shopping 3.0) and many others.
I recommend all Dutch internet marketeers to subscribe to this event NOW as we will present the future of internet, social media and using games as a marketing tool. We will present the future of your marketingmix related to product, price, place (innovative distribution), people (training) and promotion (marketingcommunication).
To read more information about the event or to subscribe, check this link:
When I startedwritingtheDutch version of mybook ‘A Brand NewPlayground’ (Laat met je merk spelen) andthoughtabouthow games couldbeusedtoachieve marketing objectives, the last thing I thought I wouldcomeacross is thedevelopment of a game to support change management issues. Ironicallythisexample was one of thefirstprojects I was involved in when I foundedmycompanyBrandNewGame. Air Cargo Netherlands, Schiphol airport andtheDutchCustomsapproachedIJsfontein (a Dutchgamedeveloper) todevelop a game thatwould help themtoimprovecooperationbetweentheparties in thelogisticchain. I was personallyinvolved as anadvisor. Togetherwiththeclient (Air Cargo Netherlands) we definedthe overall goal forthis project andgame-specific goals.
The overall goal was for Schiphol airport to keep its international competitiveposition as a freightwaytoEurope.
Tomaintainthiscompetitiveposition, Schiphol (and all parties in thelogisticchain) neededto speed upthelogisticsprocessfrom intake todelivery. The overall workflow concept toincrease efficiency, reliabilityandsecurity was calledSmartGateandinvolvese-freight, a series of licencesandoneInformationSystemfor all parties in thechain.
Thethree goals forthe game where:
-IncreaseawarenessforSmartGate
-Giveinsight in thelogisticprocess
-Internalizethenewworkingmethod
After a thorough analyses we cameupwiththree game conceptsthatshouldgraduallygrowfromeasyandfuntowards a more seriousand intense gameplay. IJsfonteinembracedthis concept andsuccessfullydevelopedthe games.
I don’t want togiveawaytoomuch of howthe game looks, butbasicallyyouseean airport whichyou have tomanagefrom a ‘helicopter-viewperspective’ with all partiesinvolved in thelogisticchain. In thefirst game youcanonlyshipgoods (red and green) fromshippertohandlerto – eventually – loadairplanesandincreaseyour score. Red cargo (and red trucks) meansthatsomething is wrong. Eithertheinformationaboutthisshipmenthasnot been delivered in time, information on theairwaybillmightbeillegible, informationmightbe missing etc. The variables thatinfluencethe red or green status of cargo willbe more detailed in thenext games. The goal in thefirst game is tofly out as manyplanes as youcan, (loadedfrom top tobottomtoincrease efficiency) andto keep yourwarehouses as empty as possible (Just In Time management).
We startedthis project early 2010 andthefirst game is almostfinishednow. Startingthe 6th of January 2011 the game willbeplayablethroughwww.smartgatethegame.nland I’m reallylookingforwardtothe response.
This is justanexampletoillustratehow games can help toachieve marketing objectives, in this case even support change management issues within a branch.
‘A Brand NewPlayground’ will show youhow games canbeused as a marketing toolandhowtobuildbrands in thedigital era. We are talkingaboutthe era in whichpeople have transformedfrompassiveconsumerstoparticipatingplayers.
Since life can be largely compared to games or the other way around I hope that you will not achieve all your goals. Purpose is the most important thing in life. It is what keeps you going and keeps you developing yourself into a better (or worse) person. It helps you to continuously aim higher and get closer to achieving whatever you wish to achieve.
Therefore I hope not all your dreams come true in 2011, because you always need something to wish for. But keep setting goals and keep on dreaming, because hope and purpose is what helps you to reach the next level!
Thank you very much for following me in 2010 and I hope to keep on inspiring you in 2011 with new cases and projects I have been involved in. My next goal is to have my book translated into English and to undertake some great projects with some really nice clients.
Furthermore I am thinking about an iPad application containing all the information you need on gaming and branding. Let me know if you think that's a good idea!
For now - be nice to each other and remain healthy!
I have updated my earlier presentation about building brands in the digital era. It is based on five years of research and reading books about strategic branding and management of organizations that grew from good to great (Jim Collins).
Other books I took inspiration from are The Tipping Point, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Conversation Management, Conversational Capital, Free, Authenticity, The Experience Economy and loads of TED talks and research from Distimo, Nielsen, TNS Nipo, trend reports (Science of the Times, Most Contagious 2010, Forrester) and many, many more web-based intelligence.
I have compiled all the information into 5 Brand Objectives that each Brand and Organization should follow to become (or remain) successful in the Digital Era.
The presentation also includes my vision on the internet (forget offline and online, below the line or above the line!).
The third part of the presentation includes the CoCha-model about which I have been presenting a lot in 2010. I have changed 'Consumer' into 'Communities' since we are all more and more influenced by what we do on digital communities (social media) and influence all our party-members as we share what we think is cool, relevant or an exceptional product.
