Most Disturbing Games Ever – I’m Shocked.
Yesterday I celebrated Easter with family and friends. We ended up eating a great brunch (Thank you to Paula Deen and her AMAZING French Toast Casserole!!) and drinking some great Bloody Mary’s. After eating we all started to play some games together like UNO, Monopoly and Taboo! I love games and I don’t think I could ever get tired of playing games (especially after a few Bloody Mary’s with family and friends!) But later last night I came across this video. It’s just over ten minutes so if you don’t want to watch just skip past it and I’ll give a quick low-down on the important items.
Basically the speaker is at a gaming technology convention speaking about the future of gaming. He talks about how every mundane thing could become a game like brushing your teeth. The game would be designed to get you to brush more often, using more toothpaste and in turn make the toothpaste and toothbrush companies richer. He goes on and one with more intrusive ideas and concepts. I am disturbed just a bit and I do not see how many of those items will ever work.
Why?
Because after a few too many Bloody Mary’s last night I crashed and stopped playing any games. I am NOT addicted to Farmville on Facebook and I keep up with my AAdvantage Miles with about as much enthusiasm as going to the dentist for a root-canal. There’s a reason why we have movies, books and music – games get old sometimes. Can you imagine a newborn child today living to the age of 115 years and playing a game that gives them points for brushing their teeth their entire lives??
Don’t get me started on the scary Big Brother aspect of all that. While I think it would be cool to get tax deductions for riding public transportation, I don’t think it will be cool to get free groceries for letting Pepsi control my dreams for a few nights.
What is cool about all of this? Well imagine raising your children (because children get less tired of games so easily and they need re-inforcement to learn quicker and faster) with games to brush their teeth, play outside and eat more fruits and vegetables. It would kinda put this guy out of business quickly huh? But essentially this guy is not trying to scare us. He’s trying to highlight the unlimited potential of Interactive Marketing.
This is a growing sub-field of Media Strategies that envelopes marketing goals with technology, media and creativity. You thought Social Media was a bit overwhelming? Just wait. Soon you are going to be tempted with developing games to keep customers coming back over and over again.
So while I have you thinking about the potential let me give you a golden rule: don’t be evil and always give back. If I were Proctor & Gamble right now, I’d be focused on developing new Interactive Marketing to help mothers do what they do best: raise bright, healthy and happy children. If I were Price Waterhouse Cooper’s I would be working with the IRS to develop new technologies that would give my clients new tax deductions (i.e. public transportation credits, etc.). If you cannot offer something valuable then you will not be sustainable.
Let me know what you think about these ‘Games’. I’d love to hear it!
Tell a Friend,
TZ
Tony Zazza, a 15-year media, marketing and advertising expert, is the Principal of Zazza Media Strategies, a Dallas Texas Marketing Firm, that specializes in growing small to medium sized businesses to their fullest potential.
