Reality Gaming

Saw this post on Guitar Hero at Engadget.

They pan the whole thing a little bit, honestly admitting that the sound of the real guitar verges on that of the 14 year old son everyone hopes to avoid who does nothing but practice Metallica in his room.

I acknowledge this criticism. But for me the really interesting aspect of the Open Chord system is that it takes us one step closer to making gaming a viable form of teaching. Some tweaks to the gaming software, maybe a new game even, and we'd have kids (and adults) learning how to actually play guitar.

Think of the other things this could be used for. No, seriously think of them and let me know.

Easy Peasy Development

A former colleague of mine loved to use the phrase "privileged discourse." While the utterance of such a thing would usually end in me ribbing him about going to a fancy, Ivy League school, his point was always that certain people have a skill which often amounts to nothing more than knowledge about a subject that someone else does not have.

For me personally, it's the web. I know enough about programming to take someone else's basic HTML and adapt to my own needs, but that's about it. So besides taking a few months and learning to code (something I am in the position to do and likely will attempt) how could I ever hope to create web applications that work as I am outside the realm of privileged discourse needed to understand that process.

Thanks to SubmleUpon, I just might be able to work around my deficiency by using the programs listed in this article: http://tinyurl.com/m6hj8p . Point and drag and drop and execute is what these programs are all about. Breaking down the walls of code nerdery and arduous learning curves to allow the average joe to build some pretty cool stuff. Right up my alley. While I haven't tried any of them out yet, the idea is what I am more concerned with. This ability to remove the blinders from people and give them the chance to execute their thoughts has the potential to lead to some really interesting and useful things that hadn't existed and likely would never appear on the radar of the hip advertising and web dev people in the world. So take some of these for a spin and let me know what you think.

Pax vobiscum.

BingTweets

Twitter meets search. Microsoft pairs up with Twitter to create BingTweets, a site designed to bring clarity to the confusion of the Twitter world. Does it help that much? Probably not but I do like the fact that Tweets are juxtaposed with information, thereby allowing you to actually understand what you are reading 140 characters about. Will it change the world? No. Will it be kind of cool for a month? Yes. Mostly I think it's nice brand movement for Bing (which in my opinion is running great spots).

Kodak Does Something New...Kind Of

Recently everyone at work has been all atwitter about Twitter. This has forced me to start using it as well. Whether that's a bad thing or a good thing only time will tell. But in the meantime it's at least interesting to follow some of the top dogs of the marketing industry who are using it. One is Gary Hayzlett of Kodak. And today, I saw that he posted this little link:

http://www.feistemail.com/

It's a new Kodak initiative that meshes photography (something they do) with communication (something they aim to do). Clearly, some designer or idea guy over there saw SomeECards.com and decided it would be a great idea if Kodak did something similar since they have (what I would imagine is) a buttload of old photography and nothing to do with it. I think it's timely and I'm glad to see Kodak doing something different. If they can open it up to user pictures the possibilities could be hilarious (not to mention more personal, something 4x6 pictures are all about).

My question is: Is this a good idea for their brand? I don't know the answer. What I do know is that Kodak is not associated with quality like it used to be. Maybe a brand extension powered by Kodak technology is in order...very similar to how they are positioning FesitEmail actually.

Above and Beyond Customer Service

We always hear of stores that allow their customers to go above and beyond when it comes to customer service (Nordstrom's springs to mind). Clearly there is inherent value in treating your customer like a friend and helping them achieve their goals, even if they're not sure what those goals are.

I stumbled upon this website that is full of back and forth interactions between one man and customers that frequent the stores he works at. Whether they are true or not, this one stuck out as an example of dealing with a bad customer through empathy and thoughtfulness that not only changed his day, but his life:

http://notalwaysright.com/a-heady-proposition/1226

Candy + Soft Serve = Amazing!

As my friend Josh was paying for his morning caffeine fix, I noticed some bright blue, yellow and red tinfoil wrappers that came out of his pocket. "Cadbury Creme Eggs," I thought to myself (fully forgetting that we are now in full Easter swing in the US). We got to talking some more and, knowing his interests, I suggested that it might be interesting to make some Cadbury Creme Egg ice cream. I believe his exact words were, "I find it hard to get excited about something I'm not excited about eating." Boo, I said. For pretty much my whole life I have always looked forward to my one Cadbury Creme Egg a year. The gritty feel of the sugar dough in globular yellow and white that oozes from the cracked shell, what a treat! While I can never bring myself to eat more than one without feeling like total crap, I do cherish that single, chocolate covered magic that the wizards at Cadbury dreamed up in their Wonka lab so many years ago.

Turns out, I'm not the only one who thinks it'd be good with ice cream. Thanks to our friends over at Buzzfeed, I stumbled across this post on McFlurrys of the world. And oh, what a wild and varied world it is. From Bluberry/Oreo in Japan to the Chips Ahoy version found in Mexico, the McFlurry has a universal appeal boosted further by McDonald's ability to tap into native desires and whip them into a delicious treat.











So what's the branding/marketing twist on this story: Know your customer. Could McD's push M&Ms and Butterfinger everywhere? They sure could. But it wouldn't be nearly as successful as tapping into the Brits' desire for Cadbury confections. Or the Japanese yearning for green tea. That's what makes this today's cool thing.

As an added bonus, I bring you the genius (IMHO) ads Cadbury ran to promote Creme Eggs in the days of your. A rabbit laying eggs and clucking like a chicken. Beautiful.

Responsiveness is key

By now I assume we've all been made aware of the Facebook Terms of Service debacle. The long and short of it is Facebook released a TOS update that stated all content posted to their site belonged to them. This in and of itself was problematic. Facebook then went further to say that even if you DELETED your account, they retained rights overall information you posted to their site. Yowsa! At the very least you'd think they would honor copyright law or something!

But, all of this was to no end because Facebook, facing an digital pitchfork and torch uprising of the villagers, has reverted back to the previous Terms of Service. So, what's the cool thing about this? In my opinion it's the responsiveness of Facebook to their users wishes. A while back they instituted their version of targeted advertising. People cried out, it came down. The same thing happened here. They tried something new, people said no, Facebook reneged and life went back to being beautiful. All in all, the company seems to look for ways to push the envelope but is very aware of the perils of doing so. Hey, they gotta figure out some way to make a profit, right?

In other news, it looks as though PepsiCo has lost the brand battle on Tropicana and is now pulling the new package design from store shelves.

You gotta wonder why this failed, especially when their new brand design for the Pepsi line seems to be doing well. Maybe it comes down to focusing too much on the Next Generation instead of the people who are buying the bulk of orange juice: moms. They moved from a wholesome, drinking the juice right out of the orange look to a streamlined, modern take. My gut feeling is that this shift just didn't jibe with their core consumer (based on the article, it seems my thought is not far off). However, it does bring us full circle to listening. Instead of forging ahead and shoving the new Tropicana down everyone's throats, they are reverting back to the old via mea culpa. Will it be the right move in the long run? I don't know. But I bet right now, it will be the right move for the bottom line.