Monthly Archives: June 2012

Games. Education. Action.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

I read recently where kids born after 1995 will average 10,000 hours of videogame playing before their 18th birthdays. If we replaced half of those hours with additional school work, what might happen to the U.S. GDP?

How about we study what it is about video games that makes kids look forward to playing them?  Is it simply to stay away from bullies?  To forget the bad feelings resulting from a less than fulfilling school day? Or is it about things more positive. Skills development. Action. Transporting one’s self to other places? Winning? Losing? Learning how to cope?

Is it possible the game development community is ahead of the educational curriculum development community?  Just a question.  I’ve always thought turning the college application process into a game would be a neat idea.  Get kids thinking about the moves it take to get into a good college. Take kids through the process and see what the potential rewards are. The splat on the flat screens wouldn’t be blood but careers, for those prone to procrastinate.

Gamification is not new.  But interactive gamification is. And it’s rolling into modern life like a freight train. Peace!

Brands as culture.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

As the economy moves away from manufacturing toward service, which it has been doing for 25 years now, the number of people who are actually making things decreases. Desks across America are filled with people whose jobs it is to make decisions and manage others. Sure, iPhones are being manufactured, and cars are being constructed. Sure, food is being processed, packaged, sold and served.  But the number of companies doing it has decreased and the scale of those companies hugely expanded. It won’t be long before Wal-Mart has a house brand that takes over the world.

All these people at desks, tasked with making decisions along the chain of command and trying to add value, can create a leadership nightmare.  Add to that the web offering up the ability for people to collapse the 4Ps into a single P (platform) and one can see why brands are becoming more and more important.  Branding is an organizing principle for marketing.

The best brands are culture. The best brands lead companies. Strong brands show the way.  And align the desks.  If you have a strong brand get to know it.  Peace!   

 

Make happy.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

Every morning, I wake up, shave and listen to the news on the radio.  It’s part of my media DILO (day in the life of) – a record of the places and times when I consume media.  For a couple of months, the San Antonio Spurs have been in the playoffs and haven’t lost a game. 20 straight wins.  Not once did I hear an interview San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich.  Last night they lost to the Oklahoma Thunder and he was interviewed. What the??

What is so exciting or newsworthy about losing? Is new not newsworthy when it’s about positive stuff?  Is that why network television is obsessed with cops shows and crime? 

I was in a creative meeting yesterday and conveyed how the best advertising focuses on positives.  Not the negatives of competitors.  Consumers will tell you that almost every time.  And those consumers who don’t agree are probably not the best consumers for your brand.

Positivity with meaning is awesome. Don’t tell happy, make happy.  Puh-eace!

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