[arg_discuss] Fwd: is ARG just a marketing technique to the press?

[Michael Monello]

Resurrecting the discussion, because I stumbled onto this post, from a  
planner, about the NIN ARG:

http://southernplanner.wordpress.com/2008/01/27/how-can-trent-reznor-be-dead-wrong-and-a-genius-at-the-same-time/

How can Trent Reznor be dead wrong and a genius at the same time?
Published January 27, 2008

It’s not fu@%ing marketing. I’m not trying to sell anything. – Trent  
Reznor, NIN,Wired 01.2008
This is what Trent Reznor, lead singer of Nine Inch Nails, had to say  
about the alternate reality game (ARG) component of his new album Year  
Zero. (Note: if you haven’t heard the ARG term before, think of all  
the online components that surround LOST or the Audi A3 art of the  
heist campaign). Interestingly he deflects this add-on to his music as  
a progression of the intricate story lines and liner notes that  
accompanied the traditional concept album, but denies it’s selling  
potential. Now in a digital age free of the printed CD accompaniments  
Reznor has turned to this online technique to tell the story. I think  
this is genius, not just because this seems to be the next logical  
step in concept albums, but because of the level of engagement NIN and  
their ARG partner, 42 Entertainment, were able to achieve through the  
game.

Games are about engaging with the most entertaining thing on the  
planet…which is other people. – Jordan Weisman, 42 Entertainment,Wired  
01.2008

It all began with a jump drive, containing a copy of a NIN song  
withering away to the sound of crickets, which was surreptitiously  
left in a concert arena bathroom. This file was then loaded on a fan  
forum like Echoing the Sound, setting in motion a chain of clues, 30  
connected websites, and events that would eventually touch 2.5 million  
fans before the album was launched.

Where I have to throw the bull-s#!t flag is when Reznor says this  
isn’t marketing. This new form of engagement may not be what  
traditionally comes to mind when you think of marketing (i.e. TV ads,  
distribution deals, street teams, etc.), however in my opinion this is  
definitely marketing. The main goal of communication is to engage the  
audience, and I can’t think of a more immersive experience than this.  
To me ARGs are just another available tool in a marketer’s tool box  
that can be used to communicate with a group of people. This  
nomenclature and weighted connotations that follow words like  
“marketing” and “advertising”, which all seem tied to the traditional  
methods of the past, make it harder to talk about what it is that we  
actually do as marketing and advertising professionals. For this  
reason I am happy to see that my esteemed alma mater has now changed  
its name from VCU Adcenter to the VCU Brandcenter. What the school  
teaches stretches way beyond the bounds of what is typically  
considered advertising and it is great to see an outward  
representation of this with a heartfelt stake in the ground. So to me,  
Reznor is just using a new method of engaging his fans, creating a  
more entertaining and immersive experience for them and in the end  
selling albums, that is marketing 101.

---

Best,

Michael Monello
Partner, Campfire
62 White Street, 3W
New York, NY 10013
212-612-9600
http://www.campfirenyc.com



On Jan 11, 2008, at 11:17 AM, Brian Clark wrote:


>> Interesting... it has pretty positive connotations for me - even

>> commercially.

>

> It does for me too, which is why I think it isn't appropriate to  

> muddy it by

> thinking of GMD Studios as a grassroots company. Once upon a time,  

> we were a

> loose grassroots collaboration -- the Radiation Group -- and those  

> times

> were very special but very different from the challenges of a  

> company with

> employees. Managing volunteers doing something primarily for the  

> passion is

> very different than my position, where I'd never take advantage of  

> that

> tendency to get cheap labor for a client. I don't want small  

> corporations to

> become part of the definition of grassroots, I'd prefer people to  

> think of

> that as a potential direction a grassroots effort could grow into if  

> it

> wants. Conversely, though, the funded start-ups of the world would  

> see us as

> independent serial bootstrappers (the local economic development  

> council in

> Orlando, Florida defines small business as "less than $50M a year in

> revenue" which means we aren't in jeopardy of being "medium sized"  

> anytime

> soon.)

>

> There was a thread in Unfiction last year were people wondered if they

> should treat GMD Studios' experiences for clients differently than  

> our own

> projects like Eldritch. I made the argument the only thing I wanted  

> them to

> do was ask if they were being entertained and to realize in a  

> commercial

> game I'm more likely to have money and less control, where in our  

> projects

> for ourselves we'll generally have less money but more control.  

> Neither

> should be inherently more "fun" than the either, or we didn't design  

> the

> experience right.

>

>> The latter. Where funding the project is part of the challenge of the

>> game. It was just a random thought I hadn't seen discussed before.

>

> I can't think of any good explicit examples of that in ARGs, but it  

> is a

> frequent theme among some viral pranks (remember the guy collecting  

> money to

> cut his own legs off?) and among the more direct marketing end of  

> the viral

> community, like the Word of Mouth Marketing Association. Sometimes  

> you'll

> hear the phrase "activation" to describe the "parting of the fool  

> and their

> money." I have no problems with the direct marketing crowd, it just  

> isn't

> the side of the pool I choose to swim in (I spent enough time with  

> them as

> an affiliate & performance marketing critic through the late 90s and  

> early

> part of this century.) I find direct marketing tactics frequently  

> present

> ethical dilemmas that branded entertainment approaches can assault  

> with more

> nuance and less disclosure.

>

>

>

>

>

>

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