Insights for Leaders Navigating
Visibility, Credibility, and Growth.
From media strategy to reputation management, we explore the trends shaping public perception and share the approaches that drive measurable results for growing brands.
Today Big Fish Games announced worldwide availability of Mystery Case Files (MCF): Madame Fate. Now, for those who are unfamiliar with Big Fish Games (the biggest fish in the casual games pond), the company develops family fun games, which can be played on home PCs or Macs. Although MCF: Madame Fate was launched exclusively at www.bigfishgames.com in November 2007, today the company is announcing worldwide availability. Part of the award winning Mystery Case Files series, Madame Fate is a top-selling game and has proved to be a favorite with fans.
To build awareness and demand for MCF: Madame Fate, the team went on the road in November 2007 to demo the new game with several media outlets. The response was overwhelmingly positive as editors had a blast playing the game. One of the things people loved about MCF: Madame Fate is the character descriptions and quirky carnival atmosphere. Of course, Iím a bit biased, but Big Fish Gamesí artists truly are the best in the game industry – I would bet my morning cup of joe on that.
The tour generated some amazing results and sparked interest at the press meetings and the airport gate as several travelers were intrigued and entertained by the game while they waited for their delayed flight to arrive.
For anyone that follows casual games you have heard the typical casual gamer is female and over the age of 35. Not so. Men love these games as well. One man played Madame Fate in the airport until the laptop battery died all the while saying his wife would love the game. Additionally, one of the male editors we met with took the game home and enjoyed playing Madame Fate with his family. The reality is most people, regardless of age or gender, like entertainment and enjoy a fun challenge.
So for all the closet gamers out there and those who are loud and proud, you can now buy Madame Fate online or in retail stores such as Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Game Stop.
Click here for the full details surrounding Big Fish Games’ announcement today.
Today’s article in the NY Times, ’Seattle Taps Its Inner Silicon Valley, was of interest to me as it highlights what has become very evident to those of us immersed in the technology industry here – Seattle is a hotbed for technology innovation and development.
Author John Markoff touches on the impact companies such as Microsoft, RealNetworks and Amazon have had in the growing Seattle tech industry. These companies and others in the area have been responsible for providing a platform (financial and otherwise), for entrepreneurs to create and innovate. The result is a long list of companies that have evolved from start-ups to established businesses, such as Big Fish Games, Isilon Systems, F5, Cranium (sold to Hasbro), among others – which will shed another round of entrepreneurs into the great Northwest.
Evidence of this inspiration can be seen by viewing the Seattle Start-up Index . This long list includes a number of companies to watch in 2008. *Some* of the companies I believe are worth watching include,
Inrix
Illumita
Mpire
Paperspine
Sparkplug
Sweat365
TalentSpring
Visible Technologies
In the spirit of full disclosure, some of these are clients of Communiqué PR.
So hats off to all the entrepreneurs who foster ’Seattleís inner Silicon Valley.
Tom Trinneer, a friend and former client of Communiqué PR, suggested I blog about YouTube and how corporations are using videos to promote their images and achieve their business objectives. He also suggested I check out Microsoftís video to promote Microsoft Surface, below. Right away I was intrigued.
Clearly, video can be a very effective medium for entertaining, educating, attracting a younger audience, reaching a completely new audience or breathing new life into a brand. Consider Doritos as an example. During the Super Bowl the company aired a 60-second music video featuring an artist voted to be the best by a group of online consumers. Not only did Doritos reach a broad group of consumers watching the Super Bowl, but the company garnered excellent coverage of its campaign in the Wall Street Journal on Friday, Feb. 1. Check out the article entitled, ’Super Bowl is Crunch Time for Doritosí Risky Youth Strategy.
(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120182490729833669.html)
Microsoftís Surface video is also interesting. It helped me understand the concept of Surface, but it was a little long and dry for my taste. Immediately following, I then watched the parody video from a sarcastic gamer and found it to be funny and entertaining.
As a result the video, I am now aware of the new product, Surface. However, unfortunately for Microsoft, after watching the parody video I am left with a somewhat neutral impression of the product.
In summary, I think video can be a very effective means of communication from a company to its audience, but companies need to be careful when they are producing them. Marketing and PR professionals must think strategically about how both proponents and opponents will react to the message. They should try to adhere to the following guidelines.
Use humor carefully
Make sure the length is right for the target audience
Be consistent with corporate image and messaging
For more on best practices about making an effective YouTube video to grow your business, we recommend reading the Wall Street Journal article ’Lights! Cameras! Sales! or checking out this article, http://www.prnewsonline.com/researchandsurvey/chewonthis.html.
This morning there is an article in the Wall Street Journal about social networking sites (Social Sites Don’t Deliver Big Ad Gains) and how the ad revenue from these sites has been disappointing. According to the WSJ, Facebook, Google and other players have been struggling to generate significant revenue from advertising.
I found the article intriguing and extremely salient. Communiqué PR has recently completed project work for Brad Hefta-Gaub, founder of Sweat365, a social networking site aimed at the everyday athlete. Brad has a unique vision for social networking. He believes it is important to provide people with relevant content so they have a compelling reason to repeatedly return to his site.As I read the WSJ article, I couldn’t help but think about the importance of knowing your target audience and what is important to them. Certainly, this is the name of the game in both advertising and public relations. I think Brad has stumbled onto something significant.Sweat365 users blog with the specific focus to help one another live healthier lives and achieve their fitness goals, whatever they may be. And they’re writing to inspire one another to get physically active. Given the specific focus of the site, I anticipate select companies will be more interested in placing targeted ads on his site. It will be interesting to watch what happens in the category as more and more social networking sites look to find a successful business model.
Recently, we provided a client with some suggestions on what kind of content to populate his company’s press room with. Given his company’s Web 2.0 and social-networking focus, we suggested some ideas on how to create an innovative, informative, provocative and interesting online media newsroom.
Before you delve into the tactics of creating your online media room, I recommend you take a minute to consider your objectives and ask yourself the following questions. Why am I creating this? How can I create a site that reinforces the right perceptions about my company? What type of news will we have?
After all, the look and feel of a newsroom for a social-networking company is going to be significantly different than the online newsroom for a company such as Boeing.
Here are some of my initial thoughts on what a company should include in its online press room.
- Press Releases – Clearly any press release the company has distributed should be included. These should be arranged by date with the most current at the top of the page and the least current at the bottom. Consider including an option that allows people to sign up for news feeds, podcasts or RSS feeds from your company. Example: The Body Shop
- In the News – Include links to the articles published about your company. This is a terrific way to extend the shelf-life of news and features, as well as leverage third-parties to reinforce the right perceptions about your company. Example: Farecast, Blue Nile
- Upcoming events – If there are events or conferences your company is participating in, publicize them in the press room. Example: Peet’s Coffee & Tea, SNAPin
- Executive Team – Most journalists want to know who is running the company and a bit about their backgrounds. Photos of key executives also add a lot. Example: MOD Systems, Zillow
- Artwork – Providing visually exciting and stimulating photos that can be easily downloaded is a great way to garner coverage with journalists because this information is easily accessible. This artwork can include photos of your product, your office, or screenshots of your technology. Example: Farecast
- Streaming video – If you have interesting video content consider including it on your site. Example: Whole Foods; Visible Technologies
- PR Contact – Lastly, make sure to include the contact information for members of your PR team so they can respond quickly and efficiently to journalistsí inquiries for additional information. Example: Expedia
In September 2007, Virgin Megastores announced it had created a new kind of social-media newsroom. If you have a minute, consider checking it out. (http://www.virginmegamashup.com/)
We found the site interesting and liked the breadth of content on the site, but found some of the pop buttons annoying.
LINKS
http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=766588
http://www.virginmegamashup.com/