Like everything else in our ever-changing world, how we spend our leisure time is being dramatically overhauled by technology. The marketers challenge is how to keep up.

Santa was good to our family this holiday and brought us a Wii with all the accoutrements. Since December 25th, it has profoundly changed how Wii interact as a family and how Wii spend our leisure time. Given a choice between watching TV and playing Wii, the choice was obvious and clear, we chose the Wii. And why not? One is passive and the other active. Depending on the game and peripheral, your whole person in engaged and required to complete the task. The Wii is difficult enough to make the game challenging but easy enough that anybody can participate. And that is the real hook.

According to 2007 Bureau of Labor Statistics survey, The American Time Use Survey (ATUS), 96% of men spend 5.48 hours per day on leisure and sport activities; of that group 81% spend 2.88 hours watching TV*. 81% of women spend 4.76 hours on leisure and sport activities and of their group, 77% of women spend 2.38 hours watching TV. Television is the main vehicle for mass marketing.

Families and game console enthusiast are flocking to the Wii as the console of choice. To support that anecdotal claim, Wii announced it sold more than 7.2 million consoles (world wide) in November 2008 alone. By comparison 10 million Television(1) units were sold for all of third quarter 2008, which was a 12% increase year over year. And 3.5 million XBox consoles were sold for the November time period.

I submit the following to illustrate further the change in our families leisure time use. Sunday nights, before the bedtime routine, is game night at our house. We play board games like Blokus and Rumis (www.blokus.com) which are great games and very enjoyable. But then there was Wii, and ever since, the game draw has been closed. As wistful as that might read, game play has continued but now, more interactive and exciting for the whole family. Wii makes the experience and time spent much more enjoyable. We didn’t change our habit, just how we execute that activity.

And that is the challenge and opportunity for marketers. We are watching television less and playing game consoles more. Marketers are trying to catch up and figure out how to best utilize this new medium. Indeed, I already received one “in-game” advertisement that I recognized as and “advertisement”. The game was Rock Band 2 and the advertiser was Fender Guitars. The advert described how Fender Guitar’s raised fret board is easier for children to learn to play guitar.

As games and consules increase in their ability to virtually put us into the game play, all other passive forms of entertainment will continue to diminish in importance and relevance to marketers and more broadly, people in general.

* Computer and game systems are not line items in the ATUS study, but no doubtedly account for some of the “Television” time reported.
(1) DisplaySearch.com

Four posts ago I blogged about stealth marketing techniques sometimes referred to as “Dark Marketing”. Then last week, October-Design announced the release of Post-Mania, a FREE content management application for websites. What does Post-Mania and stealth marketing have in common?

If you were to happen upon Post-Mania’s project page at SourceForge.net it wouldn’t be obvious that October-Design is the developer. Not until you download the package and opened an installation document or clicked on the Post-Mania logo bug that it becomes clearer. And even then there wasn’t an overt attempt to market to the end user.

What gives with the “super soft sell” you ask?

October-Design is in the “ideas business” (aka Intellectual Property). We are paid for ideas and products that result from all the grey matter we burn up. For us, the new marketing model for reaching consumers can be best summed up as “give and take”. October-Design gives you a little nugget, you take it and have a good experience. Hopefully that parleys into something bigger when you call us for your next big project (a little suggestive selling there).

This kind of passive marketing is a risky proposition. Already hundreds of hours were put into the development, documentation and support of one little, FREE application that doesn’t even scream October-Design. But then screaming wasn’t the point. The point was to get the application into as many hands as possible and let the consumer discover the answer on their own.

Rather than bullying the consumer with adverts and messages upon messages, we chose (at least with Post-Mania) to make it subtle. The Post-Mania example case studies how October-Design attempts to reach consumers with its service and products through the back door, avoiding the consumer advertising filter mechanism. By cooping some of Web 2.0 tenon, we have a vehicle to get the message out and also deliver an end user experience, all for free. Does it work? Check back and I’ll let you know, these strategies take time to build…

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Businesses worldwide have realized the benefits of web-based technologies and is looking for meaningful ways at incorporating these technologies into their sales and marketing plans. Indeed, the thrust of this blog is about Web 2.0 implementation. It’s in that vein that October-Design, is pleased to announce, the release of Post-Mania, a file upload and management application for web pages.

Post-Mania is a Content Management System (CMS) for businesses or departments that want to post files to web pages without having to depend on vendors or staff. The system is secure and compact so users and system administrators can run Post-Mania without the headaches of a large-scale application deployment. Post-Mania is web-based. The user only needs a modern web browser and Internet connection…the rest is point-and-click!

The immediate benefit of Post-Mania is realized in the cost savings. Post-Mania is FREE, and released under the Open Source, General Public License. The overall benefits are measured in the ability to release documents quickly and without having to edit HTML or use File Transfer Protocol (FTP) technologies.

If you are a group leader or department manager, and you have to route reports to your group members on a regular basis, Post-Mania allows you to post those to a web page and your members can go to one central location and get their report. Your documents are stored in a central location rather than in an email inbox.

Or, you’re a restaurant and want to publish this week’s menu but don’t want to call on your web guru every time to do so. With Post-Mania, the process is point and click so the menu is posted without a hitch. Documents are stored in a database, so you can go back and reactivate past documents if say a past menu featured fish and you just caught a great deal on Salmon.

To learn more about Post-Mania and how this application can help your business or department, click this link: Home Page to load the Post-Mania home page. Post-Mania was developed and maintained by October-Design for businesses large and small who want to distribute current and important information quickly and without the hassle.
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Last week I began a conversation about the growing in-game advertising industy. This week I will touch briefly on this industry’s primary consumers, advertisers, the finanacial potential and the current players.

First, let’s identify the primary consumers of such a media. Hall & Partners concluded a study commissioned by Break Media showing that 70% of Men surveyed between the ages of 18 and 34, would rather surf the web then watch TV (MediaPost.com: October 2008); 26% said they would rather surf the web then have sex! Nearly half the respondents claimed they spent more than 22 hours online, per week. We already know from my last post that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) annual American Time Use Survey (ATUS) identified the average male spends 5.7 hours per day doing “leisure” activities. About half that time (2.75 hours) is spent in front of the TV (ATUS: June 2008). The ATUS study corroborates the Hall & Partners “22 hours of leisure time” finding. In short, the primary consumer of in-game advertising is male, 18 – 34 year olds with some time on their hands or at their fingered tips as it were.

To answer the question of what products or categories are best suited to advertise in this space we need to ask what would our target demo want and/or need? Can you guess it? If you said, beverages, food, fast cars and women, you’re right. Even at the risk of sounding obvious, the research bares this out.

IGA Worldwide, an in-game advertising provider has delivered campaigns for a broad range of brands including 20th Century Fox, Gillette, Intel, McDonald’s, Puma, Toyota, Unilever and Red Bull; through leading game companies such as Activision (Guitar Hero), Atari (catalog of titles from my era), Codemasters (various fantasy titles) and Electronic Arts (Madden09 – my son’s personal favorite).

According to the Entertainment Software Association, early examples point to the future success of similar products and demonstrates critical mass. The first documented instance of in-game advertising occurred back in 1978 when Advertureland by Scott Adams advertised his then, “soon to be released-Pirates Adventure” video game. In 2002, South Beach Beverage Co., (SoBe for short) paid Ubisoft Entertainment to have the “Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent” main character reach for a SoBe drink. The hope was that thirsty gamers would reach for a cold SoBe too. These two early examples point to entertainment and consumable products as categories that resonate best with the target demographic.

So what is the potential financial implications of in-game advertising industry? Nielsen Media Research predicts “in-game advertising” industry will be worth $1 billion by 2010 (less than 5% of total ad spending). A recent IGA-Nielsen study shows that 82% of consumers react positively to receiving contextual in-game ads during game play. Research data from 1,300+ consumers indicates brands receive a measurable lift in perception and awareness when advertised in-game (igaworldwide.com: July 2008).
Finally let’s look at the real players in the in-game advertising industry. Microsoft acquired Massive, an early pioneer of in-game advertising, in 2004 so Microsoft could bolster the delivery and revenue for its’ gaming ecosystems. Google’s recent partnership with Mochi Media has assembled one of the largest networks of online games through which Google can deliver ad content. IGA Worldwide continues to add to its’ list of game developers who want on board too. IGA recently announced an exclusive Sony Playstation3 dynamic in-game advertising deal (September 2008).

The main takeaway here is that in-game advertising is a fast moving and rapidly evolving industry. And one that, for now, is effectively delivering impacts both online and through game consoles.

It has been a long held notion that the Internet was going to be the confluence of information, sales and entertainment. Today Alternate Reality Games (ARG) and networked and online games including SIM’s, SecondLife and Halo are bringing that promise to real life, all with amazing narratives and mind-blowing effect.

A long long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, advertisers tried to “engage” the consumer with catchy taglines and imagery that it thought would most resonate with the target consumer. This was largely passive and counted on the fact that the consumer would listen; and also there wasn’t another option. Then came the static white noise of advertising bombardment. There were so many ads and so many messages that the consumer revolted employing such things as Do-Not-Call lists, SPAM Email Filters, Digital Video Recorders, Pop-Up Blockers, radio preset buttons and cancelled subscriptions to newspapers and periodicals. But fear not, the advertising machinery reinvented the way you and I consume ad messages and once again all is right with the world.

I’m writing about product integration and campaign immersion. Products are woven into online, movie and television show narratives, and if a story is engaging and the product makes sense, then the whole user experience is enhanced. Last year, October-Design placed several of our client’s products on two top game shows: Wheel of Fortune and Price Is Right. The players were excited to try and win the products and it enhanced the game. A cottage industry has sprung up around product placement.

The above is standard fare, even passe’ compared to ARG’s and In-game Advertising. The industrial rock bank, Nine Inch Nails, offers a published example of an Alternate Realty Games (ARGs) tied to its 2007-2008 tour. If you were one of the many fans attending a 2007 NIN concert and bought a T-Shirt, dig it out now and see if you have any letters on the back that are printed backwards. If so, you’re part of a very elaborate and immersive campaign that promoted the band and other various products. Want to know more, I’ll help you out: http://www.iamtryingtobelieve.com/

In-Game Advertising is easily demonstrated by “Shopping Districts” in SIM2 and “Marketplaces” in SecondLife, two of the top user centric digital 3D Worlds. These virtual properties offer a more overt marketing opportunity with businesses and players in real, virtual (intended oxymoron) transactions. IBM was the first to “host” a branded region in the game of SecondLife where IBM customers can visit and transact with IBM. There’s also a report of an “unofficial” Apple store. According to SecondLife’s website, that economy is growing and has a market capitalization (Lindens, the currency of SecondLife converted to U.S. dollars) of $84 million, though down 18% off its Q2 2007 high of $102 million. Apparently even the digital world isn’t immune from the carbon world’s money woes.

In the following weeks, I’ll offer one or two case studies on the subject of product integration and advertising immersion sometimes referred to as Dark Marketing. So check back for SIMilar post, you may even find yourself immersed in a marketing campaign.
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I went through the drive-thru at McDonald’s fast food restaurant the other day (rare occasion), and noticed that the drink fountain was fully-automated. The machine that filled the drink order was linked to a central processor that managed the order information keyed in by the order taker. All the drive-thru server had to do was put the lid on my cup and hand it to me with a smile, which she did marvelously.

This set me thinking about process automation and how it has reached every corner, every facet of the modern business world and for good reason too. Downward pricing pressure is around every corner. Companies need to innovate in order to keep costs contained. I thought about October-Design and how we have written small and big software applications to automate several processes both internally and externally for ourselves as well as clients.

In McDonald’s case, it would seem the decision was made to keep the touch points (drive-thru window or front counter) uniquely human, with smiling servers and cashiers, and then automate where possible in the food preparation areas. Could McDonald’s, with its $22 Billion (2007) gross income afford to automate the whole “McDonald’s” experience? Sure, but would it? McDonald’s, like all of us, is in the people business. We transact with, cater to and work with other people. Good human interaction drives repeat business.

As our society becomes more segmented for a variety of geo, socio and demographic reasons, the emphasis will shift from process automation/innovation to innovations in the human touch. That future interaction may not be face to face, but will have a face and a voice associated with it. Future innovation will emphasize the human aspect of technology.

As a society we need human contact and human interaction. Blogs, Social Media, Yelp!’s consumer reviews or Cisco Systems recently announced (September 08) video conferencing and collaboration suite TelePresence, all intend to reconnect us on very personal levels. At the same time technology works to offload the burden of “process” on to the machines. The smart money will be thinking about touch points and how we can enhance the human connection while at the same time, leverage technology to contain cost.
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The Mobile Marketing revolution really is a three-legged stool. First, there has to be open and free data sharing; then smart devices that account for place, distance and time; and finally standardized communication between devices.

The first two legs are well on the way to full implementation and with critical mass. Now, Close Proximity Wireless Transfer Technology, like Sony’s January, 2008 announced TransferJet, has the potential to bring a communication standard to the marketplace allowing for simple wireless connections and data transfer between devices. For example, a temporary smart mobile device to cash register wireless connection.

Let’s say its grocery shopping time again and you were at home tapping out your list on your mobile device notepad. You have an account with Coupon Clipper (http://www.thecouponclippers.com) and also queued several discount coupons in your digital coupon basket, or you could have run the application RetailMeNot (http:// iphone.retailmenot.com) for iPhone which serves discount coupons too.

Fast forward to the grocery store, and you just finished scanning your groceries at the automated checkout. You’ve checked off all the items on your list and are ready to pay. But you’re smart and you never leave money on the conveyor belt, in a manner of speaking.

Because your device is enabled with Close Proximity Wireless Transfer technology, you can touch the scanner reader with your smart mobile device and all the coupons in your coupon basket are automatically transferred to the store central processor. All valid discounts applied, and the grand total adjusted. Ever more convenient, is that PayPal handles the transaction so no need for cash or credit cards either.

Redemption rates on discount coupons have been in a steady decline concluded a study by Cornell University (The Coupon Report: A Study of Coupon Discount Methods, March 2005). Manufacturers count on coupon redemption for multiple purchases and brand loyalty. The same study concluded that only 7.3% of coupon users, use online coupons. Soon, technology and infrastructure will allow a wholly digital process for managing coupons. Through Close Proximity Wireless Transfer, we’ll have the third leg of a nice stool to sit on while we organize and save a lot of hard earned cash.

Other Coupon Servers:
http://www.Bradsdeals.com
http://www.couponcabin.com
http://www.retailmenot.com
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Smart mobile devices and personal digital assistants (PDA) have the potential to turn marketing and advertising on its head, primarily because they can deliver content when you actually need it. For example, instead of a coupon in the Sunday paper, I could call one up right on the spot while at the check-out. I’ll talk about peer-to-peer (ex. mobile device to cash register) data transfer next week. But the gates of heaven are ripe with peril, well maybe.

I have an iPhone (RIM’s BlackBerry Curve has similar capabilities) which is location- aware (using Global Positioning System or Radio Frequency tracking) plus it can communicate with remote data servers. So I download a FREE application called Yelp! that takes advantage of two critical pieces of information. One, my location, where I’m standing at that moment in time; two, restaurants and businesses that are very near my position.

Threat or opportunity:

Yelp! also offers consumer reviews on the restaurant or businesses I may be interested in. This is the real innovation, or threat, depending on your perspective. Consumers now have instantaneous, unbiased information, influencing their purchase decisions. Previously, businesses saw word of mouth advertising as the lynch pin to a successful campaign, hoping the buzz was good. Professionals came up with catchy terms like buzzmetrics and Voice Of the Consumer (VOC) and Loveline to describe the effort to hear the buzz. The goal was to track, measure and somehow affect the buzz towards the product or business.

How powerful is VOC in the hands of the average consumer? I had a coupon in my coupon drawer for a pizza shop and drove to where there are several shops including the one offering the coupon. Pulling out my smart mobile device, I launched Yelp!, and it identifies my location. Then I tap in the word ‘Pizza’ in the search field. Voila, five pizza shops returned, including the one I have a coupon for.

My coupon was buy-one-get-one-free (BOGO). There were four reviews, one as recent as a week ago. Only one review was favorable the other three were not. Guess what, I didn’t go to that pizza shop. Even though I didn’t have a coupon to the one with the best rating, I would rather pay for good pizza instead of bad pizza for about the same money.

Not only was the sale lost, but also the advertising expense to get that coupon in my hand.

Voice Of the Consumer ready accessible and in the consumer hand. Consumers don’t want to risk a bad buy and an unbiased opinion is very powerful. Now the collective voice can be had, at the point of sale, with Smart mobile devices and personal digital assistants. Paying attention to VOC is paramount because technology provides a platform for easy delivery.

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There is a lot of chatter around the launch of Google’s browser Chrome and its ability to report back to Google on your Internet whereabouts. Effectively, you create data as you surf, which now could be measured! So when you’re shopping on eBay or researching Egrets (a species of bird), there is a profile in Google’s vast ocean of data that is getting clearer. Is Chrome friend, big brother incarnate or just a sign of things to come?

As cloud computing (remote computers connected and sharing resources) gains traction, shared data between remote systems will also become commonplace and easily facilitated. All this ’sharing’ is leading marketers and government agencies to a clearer picture of you. That digital dataset will be as tangible as your physical being in the carbon world. Many cry foul and say this is leading us to abuse of privacy and big brother out-of-control, and certainly there are elements of both. But let’s look at the upside for the next few hundred words.

Domestic advertising spending ranges between $250 - $300 BILLION dollars a year. Apply the old adage “I know 50% of my advertising works, just don’t know which half” and we can assume $125 - $150 Billion is not immediately measurable, possibly wasted. Now what if marketing were more sophisticated and had an intimate knowledge of you. In fact, business could predict what you need JUST before you realized you needed something. How much money would be saved in the ‘cost of sale’ and on the retail price? How would you benefit from a timely, predictive offers? I buy shoes every six months; I’m at the mall and it is about time for a new pair; and ding, iPhone goes off offering me a coupon for the shoe store, 500 feet ahead.

Sounds futuristic right? Consider this:

I log in to SKYPE automatically every morning and SKYPE tracks this information calculating the average time I’ll be logged in. Let’s say there is an 85% chance I will be logged in at 8:45am M-F. SKYPE shares this data with SalesGenie or SalesForce.com, services that generate leads and list for subscribers among other services. Now then, a copier sales person is planning to cold call on my street and wants to plan his route targeting only businesses whose owner will likely be in at a specified time. He logs in to his favorite sales lead generation service, plugs in a set of variables and out comes a number of businesses including mine. The data is collected from various remote data servers vis-a-vis shared data service agreements. The report could feature probabilities, including that there is an 85% chance I’ll be in my office at 8:45am. The next business owner down the road will be in her office at 9:15am and so on. Our copier sales person plans their route in sequential order based on the probable time the owners will be sitting behind their desk. Everything is already in place for this level of marketing intelligence. All that is missing are the shared data agreements between the aforementioned.

When surfing the Internet, you leave a data wake. The search you conduct, the sites you visit, the systems you log in to and transact with, all generating data about you. As cloud computing and data sharing become commonplace, the puzzle pieces of your digital identity starts to fit together and your digital being is made real.
As for Google’s infamous motto “DO NO EVIL” and the newly polished Chrome browser, Google does sometime feel disingenuous about its intentions. But I believe all things work toward good and that the benefits of shared data, regardless of how it is collected, will far outweigh the abuse.


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