November, 2007
Nov 23.07
Shift Control: more than just keystrokes
It’s Thanksgiving weekend for our colleagues to the south, which has given me a chance to catch my breath and reflect a bit on Shift Control, our place in the market and game development in general. When I left Electronic Arts five years ago, I could have hardly imagined where I would have ended up. How my exit interview DIDN’T go:
HR director: “So Mark, what are you planning to do now?”
Mark: “I think I’ll consult for a few years, working with a variety of game developers. Then I’ll do a start-up where we build quality games for brands and marketers.”
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Categories: Game Development, Brandworthy | Author: mark | | Comments (No Comments) | Trackback URL
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Nov 15.07
Marketing Ideas Whose Time is Now
Gaming was listed today as the first of Media Post’s top ten marketing ideas whose time has come. We agree, and we’ve seen incredible results from the few innovative brands that have chosen to get into games in meaningful new ways. Think about Burger King’s forray last holiday season launching three original Xbox titles under the BK Games moniker that reportedly sold over 3.5mm units at $4 apiece, and drove double-digit same store sales growth. Or what about Oribtz’s omnipresent in-banner games? Games offer a great way for brands to build meaningful dialog with consumers, but they are also a measurable way to drive marketing ROI. Read the rest of this entry »
Categories: Effectiveness, Brandworthy | Author: tim | | Comments (No Comments) | Trackback URL
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Nov 14.07
Shift Control Media names Gaccione Director of Business Development
Greenwich, CT – Shift Control Media, the branded entertainment company which specializes in the creation of original casual games, has named Marc Gaccione to the position of Director of Business Development. Gaccione joins Shift Control from Eyeblaster, Inc., the New York-based rich media advertising company. The announcement was made by Tim Zuckert, President and C.E.O. of Shift Control.
“Marc’s experience helping brands connect with consumers through rich media, and his reputation for thought leadership with his clients, is an ideal complement to Shift Control’s approach to brandworthy games,” says Zuckert. Gaccione will work with brands and their agencies to identify opportunities for original games and game strategy within their overall marketing mix. Read the rest of this entry »
Categories: SCM news | Author: ted | | Comments (No Comments) | Trackback URL
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Nov 13.07
Play for Performance
There is a lot being said in the press about the declining effectiveness of online advertising. Recent data presented by eMarketer suggests that click through rates for traditional banners have dropped from .75% to .27% in 2006 alone. This really shouldn’t surprise any of us as banner ads have become like background noise, and are often an interruption to what we really set out to do. When was the last time you were checking the score of last night’s game, and clicked on a banner ad for great rates on car insurance?
Categories: Effectiveness | Author: tim | | Comments (No Comments) | Trackback URL
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ABOUT SHIFT CONTROL
Games offer an ideal platform for brands to connect with consumers. Games are the most popular form of online entertainment, and there are types of games that appeal to virtually every consumer segment. At Shift Control we want to help brands create fun, relevant and authentic ways to engage consumers through the magic of games. In this blog we hope to provoke your thinking about games, to share what we find interesting and to inspire marketers to explore this exciting medium. Care to join the dialog? Send us your questions. We'd love to hear from you.
If you'd like to get in touch with us email us at info AT shiftcontrol DOT com