Trends.
Feb 10.09
Emerged Media
I’ve come across a bunch of different research lately that make me feel like we should stop talking about emerging media and start talking about emerged media. First and closest to my heart, December video game industry sales rose 9%. Imagine an industry that’s actually growing in this wonderful economy. According to NPD, games, consoles, & accessories rose to 19% to $21.33 billion in 2008. Games are now bigger then domestic box office, DVD sales and packaged music. And it’s not just video games. If you look at online game sites like Yahoo Games, Addicting Games, Mini Clips and the like, they had 27% more unique visits and 42% more playing time in December 2008 then just one year prior according to ComScore. During the same period Internet traffic was up only 4%. And then there’s Internet usage overall. A recent study from Harris Interactive found that US adult Internet users are now spending an average of 14 hours per week online. That’s twice as much time as they were spending in 2001 and nearly 1/3 more time then just one year ago. The same poll found that only 2% of computer users do not go online. Bottom line - there’s an ever greater opportunity for brands to connect with consumer online and through games. We’ve emerged!
Categories: Trends | Author: tim | | Comments (No Comments) | Trackback URL
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Jan 13.09
Marketing ≠ Advertising
A recent article in the New York Times talked about marketers challenges reaping the supposed rewards of social networking. The piece talked about the fact that while 130 million spend their time on Facebook, advertising there is getting anemic response rates. Is that so surprising? People go on social networks to connect with friends, share photos, network, etc. There is really no value for them is engage with advertising. But a lot of brands are viewing social networks as yet another medium to push their messages to consumers. Sure they create a group page, but why should consumers care. They’re on social networks to spend time with what they DO care about - each other. Read the rest of this entry »
Categories: Trends, 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.
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