Social Entertainment

Hey everyone so this week we are covering Chapter 7 Social Entertainment, where we discuss how online games can be another important part of social media marketing planning. So we were asked to select an online game to cover in our post for this week, and see what opportunities we observed could be used by companies to increase or influence brand promotion and loyalty.

I chose to play a strategy game because that’s the type of gaming I enjoy, so I played Kingdom Rush! When I first opened the game on my computer I wasn’t quite sure how I was supposed to play this game since all the strategy games I’ve played in the past primarily have been on my iPod touch, iPad, or Play Station. In the first level it wasn’t too hard to beat my enemies, since the player is just getting used to how the game works I think it’s helpful not to be overloaded by too much information. I’m not sure if it was my computer, which is nine years old, (woohoo Mac4life!), but I did not encounter any advertisements on my screen while playing. I know it’s pretty typical of online games to have at least an ad at the beginning of the game or on a banner somewhere on the screen, but I did not see any, so I can’t really comment on how I viewed the ads or how it changed my perspective after playing the game for awhile. I did notice the game becoming increasingly harder on each level, which caused me to want to continue to play even after being defeated by the enemy on one level. I don’t have much time to play online games other than an occasional game of solitaire, Bejeweled, or Mahjong because of school/homework and work so I don’t think playing these strategy games at the moment would be fun, but I could see their appeal once I have more free time.

 I chose the ARG, Genesis of Cr0n, which is a dark play ARG like The Lost Ring. The game has you set up a login online to be come an agent, the point of the game is to learn information that the Ministry of Provenance is trying to hide and manipulate from the public; you can go to the GameCity8 Open Arcade to register as well. Once you are there they send you on missions to uncover the truth with other Cr0n agents, give you a tour of Cr0n underground headquarters, you then travel around the city of Nottingham, England finding clues and information to overthrow the Ministry of Provenance. It’s not required that you participate in the physical activities of the game since not everyone lives in England, but online users are asked to help by continuing on to the Apocalypse of MoP to keep the game going. This game is focused on the use of technology, theater, gaming, spies, and conspiracy, so some major companies that might sponsor this game could be any major Hollywood production company, Apple, Google, Infectious Media (internet advertising), or the Ambassador Theater Group. I think anyone of these companies could benefit from sponsoring this ARG, especially any technology based company that has the ability to help fund an intricate game like this, and it would also allow gamers the opportunity to use the companies products to enhance the game activities.     

Well thanks for reading! I hope you all are enjoying your weekend and I hope to have you back next week!!