The Business of Manipulation
- Thread starter J.P. Sherman
- Start date
It makes it sound quite "evil" when you call giving people promotional material "manipulating people".
It may also glam it up a bit.
Either way, I liked this article and I can't tell you how many times I've groaned at adverts with "skillz" and "xtreme" in their "super-cool youth advert, yo".
And now, a question:
Do you think marketing becomes less effective if a person knows they're being marketed to and the processes behind said marketing?
It may also glam it up a bit.
Either way, I liked this article and I can't tell you how many times I've groaned at adverts with "skillz" and "xtreme" in their "super-cool youth advert, yo".
And now, a question:
Do you think marketing becomes less effective if a person knows they're being marketed to and the processes behind said marketing?
Uh, yeah... movies, books, art and almost anything that can afford a marketing team or is used by a large group of people has this problem.similar.squirrel said:
It seems worse with gaming, somehow. Maybe it's because the medium is still mainly catering to really juvenile tastes and as the man said, many of us feel insulted by that.Booze Zombie said:
I imagine myself doing a Charlie Brooker on Mr. Sherman.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M48ks2_32-4
I mean, really, punching a marketeer in the face...
...Tempting.
No hard feelings, of course.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M48ks2_32-4
I mean, really, punching a marketeer in the face...
...Tempting.
No hard feelings, of course.
I just hope that pushing the idea that there's a huge number of older male, and in fact female gamers, will push them away from the Evony style 'Hey you! look, titties! now click here and download our spyware disguised as a free game!'
I'm not saying older guys are not interested in breasts, or that the younger teen is interested in nother else, just that perhaps the older market in general is a little more sophisticated and sees thru the 'hey, tits' approach. To be honest, as Fusion and others mentioned, we see titties in a game ad, and just think 'Oh God, we're STILL that creepy guy lurking alone in the videogame section to the rest of the world.'
you can lump the whole 'Whoa dude! XXXtreme!!! LOLZOR!' stuff in with the sexualised ads too.
I thoroughly agree that gamers are actually a more savvy and knowledgable audience than the average punter , and this needs to be realised by more marketers.
I also congratulate and salute this guy for daring to come out and expose himself to the wrath of the internet, and as someone's made the Bill Hicks reference, lets give him a chance huh? He wants us to stop being treated like idiots by his peers, even if it's only to sell to us more effectively.
I'll take that if games stop being sold to me like a new range of Power Rangers action Figures or a Will Ferrell movie.
I'm not saying older guys are not interested in breasts, or that the younger teen is interested in nother else, just that perhaps the older market in general is a little more sophisticated and sees thru the 'hey, tits' approach. To be honest, as Fusion and others mentioned, we see titties in a game ad, and just think 'Oh God, we're STILL that creepy guy lurking alone in the videogame section to the rest of the world.'
you can lump the whole 'Whoa dude! XXXtreme!!! LOLZOR!' stuff in with the sexualised ads too.
I thoroughly agree that gamers are actually a more savvy and knowledgable audience than the average punter , and this needs to be realised by more marketers.
I also congratulate and salute this guy for daring to come out and expose himself to the wrath of the internet, and as someone's made the Bill Hicks reference, lets give him a chance huh? He wants us to stop being treated like idiots by his peers, even if it's only to sell to us more effectively.
I'll take that if games stop being sold to me like a new range of Power Rangers action Figures or a Will Ferrell movie.
Movies do that too, that's why Michael "SPLOSIONS" Bay is still filling his mansion with gold plated dodos, as almost every form of media does it.similar.squirrel said:
They're aiming for the "lowest common denominator".
Businesses think everyone's dumb and so they're surprised when "smart" movies sell, when "smart" games sell, etc.
They didn't think there was a market for it because their research guys researched the exact thing they asked for, not the entire market.
It's not exclusive to gaming, movies, books and music will insult your intelligence just as much if given the chance.
Then it's probably the relative newness of gaming as an art-form. It seems much easier to avoid terrible books and films.Booze Zombie said:
It could also be the fact that I play console games.
We've all trained our minds to be defensive against superfluous marketing (basically anything other than developer info about a game we're looking forward to) and this is an interesting new perspective on the subject. I was especially intrigued to read about what happens to my e-mail after I enter it somewhere. Would love more articles on the subject.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing that, for confirming many of my own thoughts on the matter and also adding to them to boot!
Marketing really is one of those ultimate double-edged swords for me in today's society. It can be utterly repugnant and annoying, as in most of the viral types that I see everyday as I walk down the street in a major city, or it can be invaluable, alerting me to something that might interest me.
To me it really is a difference between manipulation and guidance. Manipulating someone by shoving stuff into their face, while they were not initially interested, is for me really not the point of it all (or at least I think it shouldn't be). But guiding prospective customers, by targeting the types of people that might appreciate a product...that I could live with. Though no - hassling people with something that they might appreciate if only you could shove it into their face for a long enough timeframe does not count.
Marketing really is one of those ultimate double-edged swords for me in today's society. It can be utterly repugnant and annoying, as in most of the viral types that I see everyday as I walk down the street in a major city, or it can be invaluable, alerting me to something that might interest me.
To me it really is a difference between manipulation and guidance. Manipulating someone by shoving stuff into their face, while they were not initially interested, is for me really not the point of it all (or at least I think it shouldn't be). But guiding prospective customers, by targeting the types of people that might appreciate a product...that I could live with. Though no - hassling people with something that they might appreciate if only you could shove it into their face for a long enough timeframe does not count.
Consoles have their smart games, you just have to look for them.similar.squirrel said:
Mass Effect 2, Assassin's Creed 2, most of them are sequels, developers learning from mistakes.
The talent level of marketers in the gaming industry is low because good marketers avoid it. It's not a good industry to be in. Too much volitility and unpredictability.
The most talented marketers are in mature industries with well defined rules and rewards like consumer packaged goods.
No one thinks about the "evil marketers" behind Dove soap or Tide laundry detergent. Because those marketers are extremely good at their job. Games marketers tend to stumble around and make lots of mistakes than those in other industries because the Hardard and Wharton MBAs avoid the industry.
The most talented marketers are in mature industries with well defined rules and rewards like consumer packaged goods.
No one thinks about the "evil marketers" behind Dove soap or Tide laundry detergent. Because those marketers are extremely good at their job. Games marketers tend to stumble around and make lots of mistakes than those in other industries because the Hardard and Wharton MBAs avoid the industry.
Self-awareness and humility are always endearing. A couple of small things I'd like to mention.
To the list of sins, I'd like to add "trying to advertise the product as something it's not". The Marilyn Manson-backed "Dragon Age" ads were the epitome of this most recently. I understand a marketing department desperately wanting to push the message that their fantasy RPG is not a nerdy basement-dweller activity but a edgy adult experience, but I'd much rather the advertising push "it has deep characters, engages real and resonant issues, and takes its audience seriously" or even "this is not like the cinema-driven JRPGS you're used to but something new and different" and not "Dude! It's got sex! And violence! And noise! And you're really into sex and violence and noise!"
See also: Sonic the Hedgehog is edgy, Bomberman is dark and brooding, and any game that became about Xtreme Sportzz three-quarters of the way through production.
Secondly, I- and I hope, many people- are also aware that marketing is valuable beyond information. I'm completely aware, even though I'm damned if I'm ever going to buy a @$%$ing Slim Jim, that without advertising many quite wonderful sites like The Escapist wouldn't exist. Marketing has created a significant reservoir of funding, a secondary source of entertainment that not infrequently surpasses the products actually advertised, more or less for free. So as far as that goes, thank you, marketing department.
To the list of sins, I'd like to add "trying to advertise the product as something it's not". The Marilyn Manson-backed "Dragon Age" ads were the epitome of this most recently. I understand a marketing department desperately wanting to push the message that their fantasy RPG is not a nerdy basement-dweller activity but a edgy adult experience, but I'd much rather the advertising push "it has deep characters, engages real and resonant issues, and takes its audience seriously" or even "this is not like the cinema-driven JRPGS you're used to but something new and different" and not "Dude! It's got sex! And violence! And noise! And you're really into sex and violence and noise!"
See also: Sonic the Hedgehog is edgy, Bomberman is dark and brooding, and any game that became about Xtreme Sportzz three-quarters of the way through production.
Secondly, I- and I hope, many people- are also aware that marketing is valuable beyond information. I'm completely aware, even though I'm damned if I'm ever going to buy a @$%$ing Slim Jim, that without advertising many quite wonderful sites like The Escapist wouldn't exist. Marketing has created a significant reservoir of funding, a secondary source of entertainment that not infrequently surpasses the products actually advertised, more or less for free. So as far as that goes, thank you, marketing department.
Very good article. It's nice to see marketing from a marketers perspective. I worked with an ad agency for a while and I still don't get it.