Brands engagement with games

What's saving the current crop of virtual games from becoming the next Second Life? The humble leaderboard, say some.

Digital games, whether on Facebook or on mobile phones, all employ what developers call "game mechanics," incentives such as points, badges, next levels and achievements that motivate players to keep playing. And a gaggle of brands, from 7-Eleven to JetBlue, H&M and Tesla Motors are counting on people's attraction to competition to get them to be more engaged.

"Basically game mechanics are a way to get consumers addicted to things," said Tim Chang, principal at Norwest Venture Partners, which has backed many social mobile game companies. "They keep people engaged to keep doing things, as opposed to what goes viral quick: You click, you watch and then never see it again."

One of the best examples is, of course, mobile social game Foursquare, which awards badges as users "check in" via their phones at physical places. Accumulating badges -- and achieving statuses such as the "mayor" -- are motivations to get people to check in.

Mr. Chang plots this trend on what he calls the "game-ification of life," where competition and points are increasingly a part of offline activities, such as shopping with services like Gilt Groupe and Groupon and health and wellness with NikePlus.

AIDS GRAFFITI - Creativity

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Underground Puzzle Leads to Dirty Picture -- And Daffy's Discount Prices

"Daffy's launched an unbranded outdoor campaign in subways last month that drove New Yorkers to Twitter for answers.

Johannes Leonardo was tasked by Daffy's to create a campaign targeting young, trendy adults. The project began with an explicit image of a naked man and woman, combined with a snappy tag line and list of Daffy's reduced prices. This picture was then cut into 40 different puzzle pieces, with each piece becoming an unbranded subway poster located in downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn stations."

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Your Ayes Tell Me Yes, Yes, But... The PR and Marketing Clash 05/13/2010

A Vocus "Snapshot of Integrated Communications" summary from March 10, 2010 to March 31, 2010, surveyed 966 public relations professionals about their perceptions of integrated communications. Survey participants were provided the following definition: In the context of this survey, the term "integrated communications" means a management concept that ties all aspects of marketing communication, including, but not limited to advertising, search marketing, sales promotion, public relations and direct marketing, together to function in a unified an comprehensive fashion as opposed to functioning in isolation or silos."

Key findings include the following:

· The lines between PR and marketing are blurring: Marketing and PR have formalized working relationships, but data suggests "formal" does not necessarily mean "functional." 78% of marketing and PR professionals say they report to the same boss, while 77% of the same group report formal working relationships to create a common communications strategy. However, 67% hold cross-functional meetings only "sometimes."

· Turf battles" are still evident: Despite formalized processes or structures, 34% cited "organizational structures, functional silos, or turf battles" as the single largest barrier to integrated communications. The next largest barrier is budget shortcomings with 20% of respondents.

· Ownership of social media and blogging is still undecided: PR and marketing each have a strong sense of ownership. 43% of PR professionals feel they should own social media, while 34% of marketers make the same claim. 37% of PR professionals think PR should own the corporate blog versus 23% of marketers expressing the same sentiment.

· Benefits and communication measurement provides common ground: 56% of marketing and PR professionals say integrated communications increases overall effectiveness of their outreach programs. 48% cite sales and ROI as the single most important factor in measuring the results of an integrated communications strategy.

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Chicago AMA Presents Cristina Benitez on Latinization

Cristina Benitez, Founder / President of Lazos Latinos, shares the direct opportunities around targeting the growing Hispanic population in the United States.

Geo-Marketing As A New Business Marketing Tool

"Geo-Marketing (or Geographic Marketing) is a new method of marketing a business and its website through web searches, mobile searches and social media. As you can see, the geo-marketing tools being used are digital and through the Internet or Mobile devices."

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Digital Agencies Have Yet to Fully Adopt DOOH

"While mainstream ad agencies have digital out-of-home (DOOH) on their radar and are allocating dollars to the medium, digital agencies have not yet adopted or fully understood the medium’s capabilities, in a counter-intuitive digital divide, according to DOOH aggregator and strategist Adcentricity."

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Consumer Brand Loyalty Declines

Consumer Brand Loyalty Declines

US consumers are significantly less loyal to their favorite brands today than they were two years ago, according to comScore ARS research.

Epic Commercials

25 epic commercials that aren't called '1984'

Leo Burnett once said great advertising could be boiled down into three simple messages: "Here's what we've got. Here's what it will do for you. Here's how to get it." Maybe, but where's the fun in that? Sometimes it's best to just go big. Today, AdFreak celebrates the advertising pros who sacrificed simplicity and frugality on the altar of awesomeness to make something downright epic. Click here to get started.

—Posted by David Griner

via adweek.blogs.com