Burger King to sell Xbox Video Games
October 13, 2006
AdRants.com reports: “Burger King Sells Subservient Chicken XBox Game”
Burger King to sell three Xbox/Xbox 360 video games that incorporate brand icons–including “Subservient Chicken,” originally the star of an online viral campaign. The games, “Pocketbike Racer,” “Big Bumpin’” and “Sneak King,” will sell for $3.99 each when consumers buy a meal.
What probably makes these work:
- For the low price, it would be hard to pass up. Although free would be more desireable.
- Although creepy, the “Burger King” is oddly aluring and I can’t quite turn away. (It’s almost like you have to stare at that car accident on the road.)
- They look fun and self mocking. (You can’t just stuff any stoggy looking corporate mascot into a bumper car.)
It’s not often that we see blatantly branded video games based on corporate mascots. (Just to be clear, I’m NOT talking about inserting corporate logos into video games, or games about movie characters, like the new Scarface game). If the Burger King Xbox games are successful, we may see the start of an interesting trend. Here are a few thought starter ideas to kick around:
- Wendy’s Wendy in her own Sims-like virtual game
- Kellog’s Tony the Tiger in his own urban jungle stalking adventure
- Brauny Man vs. Mr. Clean
- Tony the Tiger vs The Exxon Tiger combat game
- The Planter’s Peanut Dance Dance Revolution
- Chef Boyardi battles Bobby Flay
- Kool Aid brick busting adventure
What do you think? Post a comment whether you would or would not buy/play corporate branded games.
Roland Reinhart is an interactive marketing professional. His observations can be found at NewMediaSandbox.com and Chaos365.com.
©2006 Roland Reinhart. All Rights Reserved.
Inspirational trailer truck designs
October 9, 2006
I received a random email being sent around that showed very cool designs for European trailer trucks. I don’t know if these were ever produced for live trucks, but I thought these were great inspiration to make a brand/product pop.
Check it out (Sorry, I don’t know who to credit for these original designs):
Look for inspiration everywhere. Enjoy!
-Roland
Roland Reinhart is an interactive marketing professional. His observations can be found at NewMediaSandbox.com and Chaos365.com.
©2006 Roland Reinhart. All Rights Reserved.
Choose wisely when you register a domain name
October 8, 2006
Choosing a domain name is always a challenge. It can be frustrating to think of a clever name only to discover it has been registered by someone else.
Here are some general guidelines when selecting a domain name:
- Get a “.com” name whenever possible. (It’s simply more intuitive than .net, .org, .us, etc.)
- Choose a name that is meaningful. and easy to remember (i.e. www.businessweek.com, www.executive-coach.com)
- Include your major keyword(s) that describe your business, industry or subject of expertise. (i.e. www.mr-seo.com, www.searchenginewatch.com, www.executive-coach.com)
- Avoid using a hyphen, if possible, only because consumers are more likely to forget to include them.
Every domain registrar has a search tool. But here is a third-party tool I really like: ABAKUS Keyword Domain. I find it useful for adding my key terms and letting it generate available combinations for me.
If you feel strongly about buying an existing domain name, you need to make sure that the domain name you want doesn’t have any negative bagage attached to it:
- Has it been used for spamming or porn or bad search engine optimization tactics?
- Has it been used to clutter natural search results to lure people to click on ads?
- Has the domain been blocked by ISPs or added to email black lists?
If you are confident that the domain name has a good history, then it is worth investing in. SEO folks love to buy old domain names with good history because this is one factor (of many) to help with ranking high in search results.
Good luck!
Roland Reinhart is an interactive marketing professional. His observations can be found at NewMediaSandbox.com and Chaos365.com.
©2006 Roland Reinhart. All Rights Reserved.
Listen to your client when collecting user requirements
October 7, 2006
This might seem obvious, but listening is key. This becomes painfully obvious when reviewing work with a client and discovering that she/he had something very different in mind. Are you sure your user requirements are really what the client truly wants? Or are you making assumptions based on what you think the client needs? Have you asked enough questions or the RIGHT questions to clearly define what the client has in mind? Most importantly of all, are you sure the client really knows what she/he wants?
Collecting user requirements right the first time is critical in terms of defining project scope, managing to budget, managing time invested and ultimately delivering a successful project. Needless to say, if you get it wrong, your client and team may loose confidence in you.
I wish I knew who to credit for this original image, but I found it on this blog.
When the client first proposes a project, I like to ask for a project brief. If I can’t get that, I summarize the scope as I understand it and make the client review and confirm. Another kickoff exercise I like to use is to have the client fill out a Marketing Questionnaire and/or Technical Questionnaire with many questions about what the client wants to accomplish and how it will be measured. This homework assignment is good to get the client thinking about the project. Then I’ll follow-up with more probing questions.
In summary, take the time to do the due diligence and get the user requirements accurate the first time. Your project and reputation may count on it.
Good luck.
-Roland
Roland Reinhart is an interactive marketing professional. His observations can be found at NewMediaSandbox.com and Chaos365.com.
©2006 Roland Reinhart. All Rights Reserved.
Article: Reasons to not create a Splash Page
October 6, 2006
This is a must read article: How to Convince a Client They Don’t Need a Splash Page
I’ve had this arguement many times. Plain and simple, putting a barrier between your visitor and the Web site creates a bad user experience and impacts your ability to index properly for natural search.
-Roland
