Gamification Can't Succeed in a Vacuum

When done right gamified interactives, such as web sites, apps., touch screen media, etc. are known for being incredibly effective. When you have a clear objective and a defined audience, gamified interactives can push a campaign and customer engagement to levels of success few other media executions can match.

That being said, it has been interesting to see how organizations launch said gamified initiatives into the market. I think a belief exists that since you have this very interactive, often incentivized and fun activity out in the market, that people will automatically flock to it. That is a huge misconception and often a made mistake.

I have seen great opportunities get flushed down the toilet from a lack of media and communications support when launching a gamified audience experience. The next time your marketing plan calls for gamified elements I want you to think about this; would McDonald's launch their Monopoly promotion with no media support? If they launched with no media/communications support would they see the success  like they have in the past with this promotion? If they launched the campaign with a great, fun web site, but did not show the web address for that site, or promote that site address anywhere on their packaging, would they get the traffic tot he site and engagement on the site like they have in years past? Dumb questions, obvious answers. Of course not! So don't make the same mistake.

Gamified interactive experiences, for all their potential, can't succeed in a vacuum. Support their launch and promotional time frame appropriately.

Coke, Again, Shows Why It's #1

I am not a big soda drinker, however, there is no denying the place soft drinks hold in our culture.  I came across this piece this morning and wanted to share it for a few reasons. Check out Coke Targets Teens With Its First All-Digital Effort published by MediaPost. The piece goes into detail about how Coke intends to focus on teenagers in the coming years.

From my perspective, the takeaways from this piece are:

1. Coke is focusing on segments within a segment of their consumer audience. Yes, they are focusing on teens, but they are breaking down that profile even more by going after specific types of teens.

2. Most of the content Coke is using is less like traditional ad messaging and is actual non-ad content. Short videos, games, interactive activities. That being said, all of these individual pieces of content are tied together under a central theme (er, long term campaign).

3. The initiative is integrated and Coke is in it, according to this piece, for the next couple of years. It is clearly stated in this article that Coke will be measuring the effectiveness of all of the released content/activities and will be making adjustments throughout the initiative. Coke clearly gets that this is a marathon and not a sprint, hence the long term approach and the reliance on measurement for long term improvement. This is not a 6 week campaign, or even a 6 month campaign. This is an evolving campaign to span years.

4. Innovation. This is creating a platform/audience for Coke to introduce product and packaging innovations to an audience who clearly has no problem sharing things they think are cool or interesting via social channels. That is not to say the audience will love everything Coke does, they may not, however this is a a great market testing apparatus. If you want my thoughts on the critical role innovation plays in any business, feel free to read through the numerous other posts on that topic contained within this blog. 

In summary, I believe this will be a solid initiative to keep an eye on in the coming months and years. If Coke sticks to their guns on this and it shows results, you can bet other consumer brands will follow suit.

Labels Labels Everywhere

I had the opportunity to listen to a guy speak this past weekend. He was speaking on the topic of labels. He pointed out the insanity of some points found on labels he had read on various household products. Things like Draino, which had a warning on the label stating (I am paraphrasing), "Do not use this container to store consumable beverages." He also commented on the use of labels to help us make purchasing decisions - name brand versus generic, etc.

Obviously, labels serve an important purpose, some less obvious than others. A big trend in the last several years has been branding yourself. The thought was, "Like a product, you have value that you offer. Create and leverage your brand like so many successful products in the marketplace."  Another way to put it is labeling yourself. With the advent of social media and a very competitive job market, I get that basic premise, however, I believe individuals need to be very careful about how they pursue their own "labels."

There is something to be said for focus and honing in on your strengths and experiences, however, typecasting, especially within a career, can lead down a narrow and thorny path. You need to look no further  than many of the "brand yourself" gurus that have popped up via social media, seemingly in the millions, in the past several years. To exhibit my point take a few moments, look them up online, and see if they are still at the same "social agency" or the same employer 2 - 4 years later. If not, what is their new title/label? Many have changed their label to achieve employment, and many no longer wear the social title/label they once had, often breaking their own advice from just a short time ago.

Labels can provide a lot of preconceived notions. When labeling yourself, perhaps you can thoughtfully consider more than the next five months, maybe consider your label for longevity. People change. People evolve. Certainly we, as human beings, will grow, learn and evolve in a more valuable way, than say, dish soap, sneakers or floor polish. Let's treat ourselves less like commodities and more like the valuable people that we are.

Cranking This Blog Back Up

Wow it has been awhile since I have consistently posted to this blog. Apologies for being absent. Spending quality time with my wife and children and starting, managing and growing a couple of businesses takes a considerable amount of time so please accept my absence as nothing more than me living a productive life.

In the coming weeks and months I believe I will be able to devote a bit more time to post more here, as I have done in the past. Moving forward the posts will be a bit more focused, shorter, but hopefully no less opinionated and with any luck, deemed valuable to those choosing to read.

Thanks and stay tuned for a new post in the next day or so.

The Basement is looking to hire a front end developer

The Basement is looking for a full-time front end developer! The right individual is experienced with front end web development (broad) and has a passion for interactive development and innovation. We are working within, but not limited to, HTML, CSS, JAVASCRIPT and HTML5.

Required Skills:
• Excellent client and internal communication skills 
• Strong knowledge of HMTL, CSS, Javascript, and jQuery

• An eye for motion design and timing
• Building or working within frameworks
• Experience integrating with PHP and .Net services required
• Social media API's a plus (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube)
• Interest in and/or experience developing for mobile devices a plus
• Experience working within a team using SVN or GIT a plus
• HTML5 knowledge a plus
• Bachelor’s degree required, Master’s degree a plus, but not required

This is an in house position.

The Basement is a growing digital design studio located in Historic Fort Ben, in Indianapolis. Please send portfolio and information to careers@thebasement.tv if you are interested.
No phone calls please.
EOE

The Basis of Our Studio

The Basement is now five years old. Those five years have gone past incredibly fast. Throughout our short life span we have addressed the same question, "So why is your name The Basement? Is your office in a basement?"  The answer is, "No, we are not located in a basement and that is not the reason for our name." It is always enlightening to experience people's literal nature.

I guess it is time to plant our stake in the ground and provide a documented answer for the masses. The name of our organization stems from a state of mind. A space where creativity and ingenuity are not only free to flow but are encouraged, pushed along and executed with glee, delight and raw enthusiasm.

The next chasm new acquaintances sometimes have a hard time crossing is the fact that we specialize in both interactive and animation and all of the possibilities this mix creates. Traditionally, you had these two separate and distinct skill sets and they did not live under the same roof. The interactive designers and developers played in their pen and the animation/motion graphics designers and producers played in theirs in a more traditional broadcast paradigm. No longer is this acceptable. Especially when you consider the opportunities in a marketing and advertising market. A long time ago we realized that the lines between the desktop, mobile, DOOH and broadcast were blurring at a quick pace and marketers/advertisers, as a result, could really take new approaches and see new benefits. We created our studio to concept, design and develop for both as we knew they were on a collision course. Interactive has been adopting broadcast qualities for quite some time and broadcast is rapidly becoming more interactive. Smart phones are only the tip of the iceberg. Smart televisions are now emerging in mass and will continue to grow market share and the technology to support fully interactive television will consistently improve. The Basement was conceived and born to service this opportunity, from day one. Were we a bit ahead of ourselves? Maybe. In the meantime we have helped countless clients and partners understand the opportunity through numerous desktop, mobile and broadcast opportunities, as it presented itself at that point in time, and as they progress moving forward. A complete view of the landscape, if you will. During this time The Basement has established a reputation for progressive solution engineering, creative execution and unique thinking. Most importantly, we have helped our clients solve problems, succeed in meeting objectives and helped place them in a market-leading position.

As the market progresses we are embracing it and growing with this opportunity. Our clients have reaped the benefits for the past five years and will continue to be the most progressive in their verticals.

As The Basement continues to roll out our refreshed brand and new client work for the world to see hopefully you will have a better understanding and context of where we are coming from and where we are going.

Stay fascinated.

The Basement ...Refreshed

The Basement is refreshing our identity and messaging. With that comes a new logo, new tagline and new website. Today we launched our new logo and tag at www.thebasement.tv .

In addition, we've launched a microsite showcasing the animated bumpers program we curated for the Indy Film Fest. This site showcases stories from MG Collective filmmakers. You can get there through our site or at www.thebasement.tv/bumpers .

Like it. Share it. Enjoy it. Thanks goes out to the festival and all the filmmakers and teams that made this possible.