by Randy Boggs
Is it really here? Yes, South by Southwest 2011 has finally begun. Actually, it started two days ago, but time flies when it’s your favorite week of the year. This year I will be focusing more on a branding perspective through the eyes of PepsiCo as well as how other businesses and industries are expanding and changing the brand’s relationship to our products. I know it’s a little different to actually working on a theme, but there is so much on the subject of branding at SXSW this year that I want to share with you as much as possible.
For the first post I want to talk about the fast growing market of branding products through online games – specifically how gamming companies advertise products through the user experience in online communities. I’m amazed by the fact that the social gaming community has a bigger audience than prime time television. Not only are there over 90 million social gamers in the US alone, but according to Manny Anekal of Zynga the average user on their popular game Farmville averages 68 minutes a day of playing time.
This shift has created a huge phenomenon with massive outreach in a short amount of time. According to Mike Sego of Gaia Online, over one third of Gaia’s revenue is generated through advertising developed within the communities. Created with a new style of that builds on the users self-expressions and discussions based out of the Avatar communities, the basic form is built by the users themselves.
With the amount of users in online gaming and the almost sub-coconscious style of feeding brands to the users, this is a major step in a new era of marketing. The unconditional style forces you to step away from the old advertising platforms and move forward with your brand(s) by allowing the user to develop their own thoughts and content from a piece blended in their online community and everyday routines.
