[arg_discuss] [pm] Commercial vs. Grassroots, Player or PM?

[Andrea Phillips]

> On Mar 31, 2006, at 6:51 PM, Brooke Thompson wrote:
> I do not think that all professional games are about selling a  
> product,
> instead, it's about building an awareness. Often times, it appears  
> to me,
> that the target audience is not even the players. It's the 'buzz'  
> or the
> 'award potential'.

I'm snipping all sorts of worthy further exposition here, but I think  
this is the heart of it. I can see your point, Brooke, but I do think  
it's splitting hairs, to be honest. Just because the immediate goal  
of a marketing campaign is to change a brand perception or create  
buzz doesn't mean it's not marketing, and certainly doesn't mean that  
nobody cares if you ultimately buy anything. It just means it's  
*clever* marketing. At the end of the day, the point is still to get  
more viewers/move more product/what have you, even if there's no part  
that tells you "Buy a Whizmo Lite today!"

I think a lot of pro designers would protest heartily about this,  
because I gravely doubt it's what anyone has in mind while actually  
designing a game; but it's still there, and the players know it.

I wonder whether heartfelt discussions on good marketing, bad  
marketing, Seth Godin &c. is on topic for this list or not. I suspect  
it just might be...

--
Andrea Phillips
http://www.perplexcity.com
http://www.deusexmachinatio.com