unforum

[johnny5]

Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, get your adverts here.

[Phaedra]

I think it was one of the AotH PMs who said we're essentially like unpaid actors.

Or maybe it was one of the AotH players. I don't remember.

But it struck me as a useful observation. The active players are like actors, and the lurkers and the media and anyone else who's paying attention are the audience.

[Marrec]

That sounds like an interesting article. But if advertisers (if I got that right) are both the customers and consumers, where does that leave ARGs? I suppose you could consider a cooperate sponsored ARG as one giant advertisment. It's funny though... we play ARGs because we enjoy the holy living heck out of them. People only watch Adverts on TV because they are waiting for their show to start, and they only read Adverts in magazines and newspapers because they're bored. Maybe I'm going far afield here, but you can't really consider us the product if we don't willing accept the customer/consumer as commercial. I don't know of anybody here on Unf that went off and bought an Audi after AotH. I certainly haven't seen AI. Doh, I bought PXC cards.

Maybe I'm arguing cause I feel uncomfertable being a product. *shift*

[Phaedra]

[Marrec]

[addlepated]

I think the Audi campaign was more to build a brand identity and a better relationship with the target audience than it was to sell cars. Those who played AotH, even peripherally, will experience a little frisson when they see an A3, somewhat psychologically connected with the thrill they received when they discovered a new website or solved a puzzle in the game.

[Phaedra]

Quoted from Brian Clark's post on Immersion Unlimited:

[Marrec]

[johnny5]

[Dorkmaster]

I'm actually covering a portion of this topic in an article for ARGN soon. I'm very interested in this topic, and have heard from pretty much all angles what the views of the games in terms of adverts and their sponsors.

The main thinking is that the people creating the games (the actual game companies) are typically working closely with the advertiser (the money people) to get the game to not only be intensely fun, but to also make you think more about the product they're hawking. However, they see the players more as the audience, than perhaps the bait, as has been suggested.

I mean, while everyone involved tends to love the secondary advertising that comes about from the number of players playing, or some strange real-world event, the real goal of at least most ARG advertisers seems to be on getting you, the player, to invest quality time thinking about their product, even if perhipherally. Hence, AotH, gets people jazzed up about Audi, so that when they're out and about, they recognize Audi's more, and perhaps, just perhaps, they will consider purchasing an Audi more than previously, when they're looking for a new automobile.

While some people have not seen A.I., or bought Halo 2, or purchased an Audi A3, they've all thought about the products, the production companies, and the brands, much more than they would have otherwise. Not to mention, the long-term benefits for a company using advertising, are IMMENSE. Speaking of the superbowl commercials... You may talk about a specific ad for maybe a month or so afterwards, and say "that was cool" or "that was lame" or whatever.. But look at say, the Beast, where you can't talk about it without mentioning the film A.I. That film is now years old, and it's still being thought about. (It made me rent a couple times again, and I'm certain to rent it again, more out of nostalgia from the game, rather than the film itself [though I liked the film].)

So there's this whole other side that makes us more the target audience, rather than bait to attract others... and I really think, at least for now, that this is the focus of adverts in ARG form. We're definitely consumers in some aspects, in terms of like PerplexCity cards and such, but more likely, we're just being involved with a huge, personalized commercial, that is tailor-made to suit our interests, as a community. And that's cool.

[buff]

I would say that players essentially are actors AND directors at the same time, the relationship between them shifting with activity. Because even a lurker pose some form of role in a game - essentially by just existing.

[HaxanMike]

Great topic!

I always think of everyone outside the PM circle as audience. Some more participatory than others, and while some may take the stage at various moments of the game (i.e. Retrievers at live events, HHM being killed off) they are still, ultimately audience members.

So a live event, for example, must be designed to be fun for all layers of audience, the participants on the ground to the online participants, to the lurkers.

The more successful we are at engaging and entertaining the audience (at all levels), the more effective the piece is as advertising, so it's a win-win scenario for everyone, unlike many forms of advertising -- like pop-ups or flashy banners or most tv spots -- those act more as an intrusion, breaking us away from the thing we most desire (the entertainment). With television, the bigger the audience, the more successful it is for networks and the more they charge advertisors, but that success doesn't translate into meaningful association. Just because you love Lost, and you see an ad for an Audi on Lost, doesn't mean your love for Lost spills over to Audi. This means that ABC doesn't necessarily care if Lost is any good (although that is an added benefit), only that it draws a big audience. That's why TV often becomes watered down lowest-commen denominator drivel.

In an ARG, on the other hand, the more you are engaged and entertained by it, the more you associate a sponsor liek Audi with those feelings. It's a big difference in that you might reach a smaller group of people than a 30 second ad on Desperate Housewives, but you reach them on a much deeper and more intimate level. The positive associations are intertwined with the quality of the ARG.

[Nightmare Tony]

And it creates a deeper impression, a longer lasting association witght he consumer or secopndary audience. if the product line comes up with such an audience, they will sure as heck remember your product far more than a simple ad spot.