THOUGHT (aka Centric's Blog)

For the past two days, I’ve been playing with the Spore Creature Creator.  Did I say "playing"?  I meant "researching."  All in the name of Science, of course.

Oh, hell, who am I kidding?  This is a bundle of ridiculous joy, a Frankenstein lab with Play-Doh bodies, Mr. Potato Head parts, and Pixar life.  You start out with a blobby body that you can contort, shrink, and pummel into whatever shape you want, and then you slap on legs, mouths, eyes, arms and other appendages until you have a creature that runs around, dances, and has offspring.  The children are adorable, all extra large eyes and tentacles, and they mimic their parent’s behavior.  When you’re done, you save your creatures and share them to the Sporeapedia where they’ll eventually become the bestiary of Spore’s sprawling universe.

The best part of the SCC is how easy it is to use.  I wasn’t kidding when I namechecked Play-Doh and Mr. Potato Head.  Making monsters is as intuitive as those simple games.  Move your mouse over the body, the skin goes transparent and the vertebrae highlight.  Spin the mouse wheel, and the muscles around that vertebrae expand. Slap on some legs and arms, move the mouth around, and suddenly you’ve got a creature that blinks in amazement and smiles every time you change its body.

There’s enough depth to keep the statistic nut inside you going for days.  Do I make an herbivore that can sing well to find a mate yet has a weak charge?  Do I add more legs and faster feet?  Or do I just do crazy with eyes ’cause it looks really cool?  The game itself isn’t even ready, and already there are four hundred sixty thousand user-created creatures (and there will probably another fifty thousand by the time I actually finish writing this post).

 What gets me is how easy it is to get attached to these wee beasties.  While a lot of this is due to the fluid animation and charming gestures the creatures make (when was the last time you saw a giant spider do a sumo wrestler’s shiko?  Or, y’know, bat its many eyes at you in a come hither glance?), but most of it is thanks to the magic of the Uncanny Valley, the idea that as a figure becomes more lifelike, a person’s positive emotional reaction will actually dip.  It’s easy for me to get attached to these goofy creatures, but show me the models from The Polar Express, and I get the creeps.  Mr. Incredible and my Striped Faffasquat don’t approach anything near photorealism, and you know what?  That’s fine.

While the creatures and their backgrounds aren’t real, their look still feels right.  I think that’s because Will Wright and his team have realized something that manga creators have known for ages: a simple character in a complex environment means people can easily immerse themselves.  Instead of getting faffing about  with pointless gabble about how 3d their world should be, Maxis is probably going to make something that is pretty to look at, just real enough for people to accept what’s going on (with things like shadows and gravity and movements that don’t look like cardboard cutouts), and then there will be a sudden drop in productivity as people around the world spend their waking moments leading their creations out of the amino acid muck and up to the stars.

One more thing to keep in mind is that Spore is a game, and games are meant to be fun.  That may sound like an obvious idea, what how many times have you heard some sim queen stamp his virtual feet and pout that virtual worlds aren’t games?  Isn’t that another way of saying that they’re not, y’know, fun?  Call me biased (and I know I’m biased, since my professional and geek roots are in games), but if given a choice between developming a pardigm-shifting method of personal interaction or teaching a three-footed horned giraffe how to walk, sign me up for the giraffe cages, dude.  I’ve long yelled (much to the office’s chagrin) that if people building virutal worlds aren’t raiding the ranks of video game developers, they’re missing out on a gold mine of experience.  Immersion, ease of use, fun: these are what you get from a good game.  Along with the giraffes.  Man, they’re cute.

Last week’s discussion with a client was a disaster.

Here’s the skinny.

These guys lease space in the leading supermarket chains in North America and install DVD rental kiosks right behind the check out counters. Big traffic, so-so business. The problem is that supermarket shoppers rarely notice anything after they’ve paid and checked out.

So, how do we get their attention?

A solution, they say, is to use their big name ad agency’s advice and begin a week long PPC (pay-per-click) program with a newish publisher who is “doing great in five cities.”

It’s important to note that the agency here is so big that they actually own the publication in question, plus a leading hockey team and everything else Clear Channel doesn’t own.

“Have you or your family ever heard of this site?” I asked.

“Well, no, but our agency is run by a billionaire and he either knows what he’s talking about or can buy whatever we need to succeed," they said.

“Can’t argue with that,” I said.

What I wanted to say was that they are heading into a dark place and are wasting their money by trying to pull eyeballs into unfamiliar places using unfamiliar behavior. Instead, I used all the skill I could muster and said the magic b-school words, “But have you considered…?”

Have you considered creating a program gently informing your customers that there is a very cool and cost effective movie rental machine right there in front of them when they check out? That the message will be found where the shoppers regularly go to see news of their TV shows and movies? Where they research products and services? Places they go to every week without fail? Social media, boys!

I tell them that of all the top 10 sites in the world, maybe half are social media and the rest are search engines. I raise my voice that there are social media activators that can grab a customer’s attention by the throat without leaving any of the tell-tale paid ad marks.

And, if you know what you are doing, it won’t cost nearly as much as paying someone to go where they don’t want to go and click where they really don’t want to click.

So, here is where things got weird.

The client says, “Hey I hear you, but my boss is very impressed with the agency’s cred. If it fails, I can always say I used the best.”

Cut to the sales guy turning red.

Okay, it’s time for some more bold pronouncements.

I think that today marks the end of corporate wankery as we know it. Meaningless mission statements, impenetrable double-speak, chest-pounding talk of "leadership" and "global front-runners" all fall away. The traditional notion of "the big box brand" is dead. The bigger, better, grow-at-all-costs mentality is over.

Why?

One simple site: http://buynlarge.com/

Go ahead. Click on it. Looks like any other global megaconglomerate’s site, doesn’t it? Except for a few odd turns of phrase. "The family that pays together, stays together." "The world’s premier engineering, robotics, construction, retail, consumer goods, space, science, and media company." T-shirts with 1000 words of legal disclaimers like "The Buy n Large Corporation acknowledges that this shirt may or may not be worn according to the Buy n Large standardized undergarments usage agreement (BnLSG3ba). Viewpoints and endorsements made by this shirt’s wearer/owner (the Customer) do not represent the Buy n Large Corporation, its affiliates, partners or sub-brands . . ." A new video game console that features a "new Joyspend controller, which allows kids to adjust their investment portfolios without interfering with game play." A drug designed to simulate the shopping experience.

Yes, this is an alternate reality site. It’s a site for a company that doesn’t exist. But the sheer depth, breadth, and comprehensiveness of the site, the way they take apart every single silly self-congratulatory, inward-looking bit of corp-speak and corporate positioning is breathtaking. Someone spent a lot of time to develop all this content and make it fit together into a single, seamless, chilling whole.

And the people who spent a lot of time on it are none other than Disney.

Yes, that Disney.

Yes, Disney as in Disney who owns Pixar.

The site succeeds on many levels. It’s a great way to promote their upcoming movie WALL•E. And it’s a wonderful way to give people a glimpse of the events that led to the world of the movie. But, most of all, I think, it’s a scary commentary on the vapid, rah-rah, ultimately meaningless corporate wankery we see every time we visit a large company’s website. Or call customer service. Or visit a store.

And when Disney is doing that, it’s the end of an era.

It’s not often we get to post about two major changes in marketing before they happen, but in this case, the crystal ball is clear enough to look forward a bit.

And before you groan and say, “Holy moly, not another change!” Relax. Only one of these things changes everything. And it changes it for the better.

Change 1: 3D in the Browser

Say what you will about virtual worlds, but one of the huge things holding back widespread adoption of them is simple: they require a hefty download.

That’s right—if you want to hop on to Second Life, you’ll need to download and install a separate application. And, when you want to log on again, you’ll need to launch the application and wait thirty seconds or so for it to launch. Remember the days before broadband, when you had to launch your internet browser and wait for the modem to connect? Same idea. So it’s no wonder virtual worlds like SL haven’t seen a wider audience.

All that is about to change. The battle of the rich internet application space, from Flash to Silverlight, is about to bring 3D display straight to your standard web browser. Soon, you’ll be able to stroll through worlds like Second Life without the download, and without the wait.

Will this usher in the age of the true 3D internet? Only time will tell, but 3D content creators should rejoice—they’re about to get an entirely new platform to play with.

Change 2: The Battle of the Mobile Giants

If you want a true game-changer, here it is. By this time next year, the marketing media buzz will probably be centered around the new Battle of the Mobile Giants.

I’ve already blogged about the Apple iPhone platform, and what a watershed event that is. What I only touched on is that Google’s Android platform will be even more richly funded, and is backed, well, by the technological might of Google.

Combine two highly capable mobile platforms, each with a sales channel for applications and significant incentives for developers to, well, develop on, and you have the beginnings of the next computing revolution. You can hear Bruce Sterling outline all the devices the mobile phone has already eaten, but the number is only going to increase in coming months.

What’s interesting about this is the true sea change in marketing that it will demand.

“Sea change?” You may be asking. “I don’t like big, scary changes.”

Well, this will be a big, scary change. It’ll be big, because, for the first time, we’ll have enough functionality close at hand to leave the laptop behind. No. Really. And it’ll be scary, because marketing is only beginning to uncover the fundamentals of social media marketing—and marketing in this new mobile space is much, much, much more personal than social media.

Why? Well, if social media is your home, a phone is you.

A phone is something you carry with you all the time. A phone has all your important information on it. A phone is your portal to a world of information. A phone, very soon, will be the single device you need to navigate your life.

So, if people reacted negatively to Facebook introducing Beacon—which, in essence, was like going through your home, noting everything there, and then using the information to try to sell you things—how do you think they’ll react to being marketed to on their phone?

Yeah. There you go.

So, what do you do? Well, if I was a smart marketer, I’d ask myself what my company does that people would consider having as part of themselves.

And then I’d get to developing iPhone and Android applications, ASAP.

Okay, you’ve set a relevant goal for your social media program, and you’re ready to get to the fun part—the actual strategy, tactics, and creative. How do you evaluate the hundreds of ideas that’ll be thrown around?

Well, you can start by asking yourself 5 questions:

• Does the idea support your brand’s objectives? It’s amazing how many people miss this. If you are, say, a leading manufacturer of consumer electronics who wants to do something that features LOLcats or dancing ketchup bottles, ask yourself: does this meme, no matter how popular, support my brand? If the answer is no, run away—fast.
• Can it only be done well in social media? Can you put this in a banner and have the same effect? Is it an internal video or motion graphics piece you really don’t want to have any comments on? If so, then it’s not right for social media. Successful social media programs have a compelling reason for people to engage. That reason may be as simple as a chance to win a prize by spreading an app, or as complex as committing to provide truly interesting content that people would like to decorate their profiles with—but there is always a reason to engage. If there isn’t, don’t bother.
• Is there any compelling reason people would want to come see you? Remember that word “compelling?” Here it is again. If you’re working on a social media presence—say, like a Facebook page or MySpace presence—ask yourself: is there any reason someone would want to come by my profile? Hang out there? Become my friend? If you can’t answer this honestly “yes,” rethink.
• If you’re producing content, are you offering something that Hollywood and YouTube cannot? This is a big stumbling block for a lot of people. They say, “Well, hell, how can we compete with Hollywood and millions of YouTube creators?” It’s simple: do something they have no interest in. Create video tutorials for your complex products. Do an opinion piece that counters the current wisdom. Put together an educational campaign that showcases your internal intelligence. There are a lot of things you can do. Just ask yourself if you’re doing something unique. If you aren’t, stop.
• If this is an ongoing campaign, do you have the resources to support it? Here’s something even the largest organizations overlook. An ongoing social media campaign is a commitment of time and resources. Are you ready to devote someone in your marketing organization to maintaining these conversations? Are you ready to hire? Or are you okay with bringing in an agency that does social media? If not, consider trying a point program like a contest, rather than a long-term program.

What do you have in mind? And how does it bump up against these questions?

We get a lot of people coming to us and saying, “We want to do a viral video featuring dancing ketchup bottles/irreverent animated pop stars/whatever the current online meme is.”

Well, putting aside the whole “viral” thing, we have to remind them: Don’t start with creative. Start with a goal. If you don’t have a goal for a social media campaign, don’t start one—because you’ll probably be unhappy with the results.

Of course, the next question is, “What is a relevant goal?” Well, here’s a rough guide:

• Replacement for all conventional advertising? No. Social media, despite the large audience, is not yet ready to replace conventional advertising entirely. There is great value to an integrated offline/conventional online/social program.
• Profitable direct sales like SEM? No. Remember, a social network profile is someone’s home, and social network interaction is like meeting in a bar. People don’t like door-to-door salesmen, and people don’t go to bars to find the best price on a Dell laptop. Selling directly on social networks will probably be a disappointment.
• Broad change in company perception? Maybe. It depends somewhat on your audience, but social networks and social media are used by a large enough audience to effect a broad change in company perception. Just don’t bet on a single “viral” video doing it.
• CPM like an online campaign? Maybe. There have been plenty of programs which have delivered a “cost per thousand impressions” similar to that of an online campaign. There are two ways to help ensure this. The first is to design a long-term program, like the National Geographic widget program. They can run that as long as they want, and the number of widgets installed will continue to increase. The second is to engineer in viral spread for a short-term campaign, offering points towards a prize for distribution of a widget.
• Community creation and brand evangelism? Yes. If you want to bring your community together and energize them towards becoming brand evangelists, this is the perfect venue to do it in. Be honest when you come in, though—are you offering them something they find truly useful, fun, or entertaining? If you aren’t, you may be disappointed in the results.
• Enhance communication with key audiences? Yes. If you already have core user groups or other special interests, social media and social networks are the ideal place to bring them together. Creating a specific social application for them says, “You are valued,” and “We trust you.”

Happy goal-setting!

Hey, I knew the dollar was falling, but I was floored when I ran our company’s domain through DNscoop, a service that provides some really good data regarding domain age, links, pagerank, and a bunch of other stuff. Other domain valuations seem to be reasonably on-target, so I don’t understand what’s happening with our good old Centric.com.

So, anyone want to buy Centric.com for DNscoop’s valuation? If you do, I’ll throw in the entire company!

Yeah. Weirdness.