Ford’s Jim Farley Talks Digital’s Increasing Reach

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The economy has been hard on certain sectors, particularly to the American automotive industry. Still, group VP-global marketing at Ford Motor Company Jim Farley thinks that it’s beneficial to the digital media front.

“Everything has to work in this economy,” said Farley. “If the economy hadn’t dropped the way it did, we would have been on auto pilot and not experimented the way we did. Our production quality online is better than our broadcast.”

“It’s the most important transition we are making,” he continued. “I can tell a story in 15 seconds now on TV, but I want customers to tell our story. That’s what digital has shown us: how to earn credibility among consumers.”

Farley noted that Ford has done all it can to focus on its main brand, and for the first time in 14 years, the company has grown its market share in the U.S. “We shrank the company to make it grow, and to do that we transitioned our marketing, especially in the digital space,” said Farley. “One out of every four dollars we spend is on digital, but we totally transformed how that money is being spent. We spend it mid-funnel. We’re transitioning most of our digital spend to convincing consumers they should put Ford on their shopping lists. And the evidence shows we have made some great strides, and we are starting to see consumer sentiment change. We have a long way to go, but the quality sentiment is changing.”

Source: Ad Age {link no longer active}

Twitter Ads And ROI

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Twitter’s announcement that it is entering the world of advertising media has really lit up the eyes of marketers. There’s a good reason why it should, since 65 percent of Fortune Global 100 companies are using the micro-blogging service already.

Still, there’s some difficultly in getting consumers to engage with advertising in social media. However, Twitter has remained transparent about these moves to its userbase (unlike Facebook). It is also likely that some other measures will have to be put in to engage with consumers to really move the dial. Finally, the ads should be configured to have true value on the service.

“The clear challenge for marketers is to avoid the siren s song of instant Twitter ROI soon to be peddled by many in the online sales business,” writes Dallas Lawrence. “The temptation to drop earned affinity efforts – which have come to define corporate stakeholder engagement during the platform s meteoric rise – in favor of a promoted tweets only approach ought to be resisted at all costs. While Twitter has matured in its offerings for advertisers, its community s appreciation of thought leadership and value-oriented dialogue remains the same.”

“For those brands up to the challenge, ultimately, Twitter s millions of users may find themselves having even greater affinity for the brands and organizations that put the time, energy and commitment into quality paid advertisements that compliment integrated value-driven dialogue,” concludes Lawrence.

Source: Mashable

Square Enix’s Mind-Bending NIER Launch Trailer

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Square Enix is preparing to ship its new action RPG NIER in about two weeks (April 27), and judging by this new launch trailer for the title, NIER’s world and characters make about as much sense as any Japanese RPG these days. That said, the Square Enix fan base that loves Final Fantasy will no doubt be quite interested. And as part of a marketing tie-in, Square partnered recently with DC Comics imprint Wildstorm to create a custom comic series that will “explore the rich and mysterious back story” of the game. John Yamamoto, president and chief executive officer of Square Enix, commented, “NIER is a game that paints a sophisticated and graphic picture of the despair resulting from an apocalyptic plague and the triumph of a father’s will to protect his most prized possession, his daughter.”

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Samsung Mocks 3D Hype With Viral Ad

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The TV/electronics industry, games industry and Hollywood are all caught up in the 3D hype at the moment, with all three sectors trying to figure out how to best sell and market the technology. While Samsung is serious about spreading adoption of its own new line of 3D TVs, the company also realizes that some of the promises of 3D technology have gotten a bit ridiculous. The firm put together this funny viral video, which shows the effect of 3D on classic paintings. Check it out.

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Prince Of Persia Looking To Make Wii Impact

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While Ubisoft’s focus for the upcoming game Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands has been largely on the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the title, the publisher is also crafting an experience specifically for the Wii. Third-party games on Nintendo’s platform require special attention and a careful marketing plan. “Fire and forget” launch campaigns won’t cut it. At the very least, this new trailer seems to show the care Ubisoft put into the Wii version.

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Conan’s Comedy Tour Goes Viral

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Although Conan O’Brien can’t legally appear on TV due to his separation agreement with NBC, that doesn’t prevent fans from leveraging the power of the web to disseminate Coco’s funny stylings. Conan’s currently on a comedy tour, and more and more videos of his comedy are starting to appear on YouTube. The video below of Conan performing “I Will Survive” has already garnered more than 100,000 hits. Conan comes from the world of TV, but online could truly be his friend, helping him to further grow his brand and audience. Much of this demographic no doubt overlaps with the young gaming audience, so brand marketers should keep an eye on this and Conan’s TBS debut.

Martin Scorcese Hops On 3D Bandwagon

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It seems like the blockbuster success of James Cameron’s Avatar has just about everybody thinking about how they can use 3D to their advantage. Hollywood studios like the extra revenue and interest it’s generated, game companies are eager to use it to beef up their titles, and filmmakers seem intrigued by the creative possibilities. Martin Scorcese (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The Departed) is the latest notable Hollywood figure to be drawn in by 3D. Scorcese will use the technology in making The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

The movie is based on Brian Selznick’s bestselling children’s book “Hugo Cabret,”  which is set in 1930s Paris and centers on a 12-year-old orphan who must solve the mystery of a broken robot. The film is slated for release at the end of 2011.

Source: Variety

Twitter Reports 105 Million Users

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Today at Twitter’s Chirp developer conference, the company revealed that the micro-blogging service has over 105 million users. The company notes that its userbase is growing by 300,000 users per day.

Twitter notes that 75 percent of its traffic comes via third-party programs. Additionally, with 600 million search queries per day on the site, the proposed promoted tweets  advertising model could be a powerful source of revenue.

Source: Mashable

Feature: THQ Talks Licensed Games Strategy

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Licensed games don’t usually stand out for their critical acclaim, but from a business standpoint, games based on popular IP from other entertainment media – whether movies, comics, books or TV – can be quite lucrative. Publisher THQ has been an expert in the field of licensing for many, many years and there are few people in the industry who know more about the strategy behind licensed games than Germaine Gioia. the[a]listdaily picked her brain about marketing licensed games and what strategies should be employed to effectively leverage the licenses THQ works so hard to secure.

[a]list: A good license doesn’t guarantee a good game or sales. What are the hurdles to overcome and keys to operating a solid licensed games business?

Germaine Gioia: Great question.  There is certainly never a guarantee …but if you pay for a license, you should be paying for some underlying art, story and an interested, anxiously awaiting audience ready to buy.  Ensuring that the property target demographic overlaps squarely with the particular game platform demo is critical.  Furthermore, efforts made to deliver some innovative, authentic game play based on the property also can mean the difference between real success, mediocrity or failure.  Take THQ’s Core Division’s efforts on behalf of Gamesworkshop’s Warhammer 40k – creating SpaceMarines in 3D and delivering them to the rabid fans of the original table top war gaming universe has met with huge sales success to a very discriminating fan.  THQ’s Kid, Family and Casual Division’s game development on behalf of NBC’s Biggest Loser, and truly integrating into the format of the TV series, has been revolutionary.  These are great examples of when a good license and the right game development make the ideal combination.

[a]list: How do you identify what properties to go after when you’re searching for licenses?

GG: THQ has been identifying licensed properties for interactive development for decades.  We look at it all – movies, TV, toys, comics.  All publishers are most interested in brands with cross cultural, global appeal – those are often quite hard to find.  We also try to tie in with a major marketing effort – get a game released when a film launches –  tie a TV show based game concept in with the show itself.  It is also a bit about realizing what you are good at – THQ has quite a lock on fighting with exclusive interactive offerings for the UFC and WWE, as an example.  We must maintain only the highest quality, most innovative products there.  Fans keep coming back for each new game launch – 10 years and counting for the WWE titles!

[a]list: How crucial is marketing to the licensed games business? How does your marketing strategy change versus marketing for original IP?

GG: One of the strongest attributes a licensed game offers the publisher is the built-in awareness that comes with the underlying property.  We still deliver robust marketing campaigns for our licensed games but we are able to leverage the existing awareness built by our TV or book publishing partners.  We work very hard to coincide the game launch with the major motion picture release.  It all is and should be mutually beneficial.

[a]list: We’ve seen many games with hot licenses ultimately fail at retail. What are some of the big mistakes that publishers have made with licensed games?

GG: THQ has been a leader in delivering entertainment-based games to a primarily younger skewing, family friendly audience since the early 1990s.  Now we have a specific business unit – Kids, Family and Casual Division — dedicated to that very audience.  Games delivered by this group are timed and priced appropriately for this trend savvy, mass market, licensed driven demo.  For the most part, core gaming audiences interested in the latest technology and most beautiful graphics – more the 17+ male, specialty retail target demo — are not the focus of THQ’s movie, TV show and toy-based licensing efforts.

[a]list: We noticed that The Last Airbender is exclusive to Wii and DS. Do you feel that certain licenses are just better suited to certain platforms?

GG: Matching platform demographics to the property audience is simply critical.

[a]list: We’ve seen publishers release movie tie-in games weeks before, weeks after, or in some cases, months after the movie arrives in theaters. What do you believe the best timing strategy is to maximize the market and ROI?

GG: Even in this latest generation, game making is still not an exact science.  All publishers of movie based games attempt to tie into the many millions spent on marketing leading up to a major motion picture release.  Getting as close to that as possible is the goal.

[a]list: When dealing with Hollywood licenses, how helpful (or hurtful) can the movie studio be to the game’s success? What’s the best approach to leveraging this relationship?

GG: Most studios are in fact very supportive of any interactive efforts.  Games are the “new master toy” for the movie property.  They are usually eager to deliver assets, approvals, and marketing support in a timely manner whenever possible.

[a]list: THQ has published sequels to Disney/Pixar movie games, like The Incredibles and Cars. Considering that those movies haven’t had sequels, under what circumstances does a game sequel like that get approved?

GG: That alone is a testament to well planned and well executed, licensed game making — extremely creative content to start, solid games targeted squarely at the intended audience, timed perfectly with the film launch, and innovative sequels that keep families coming back again and again.  Each of those sequels were very profitable for THQ.  We’ve shipped more than seven million units of the original Incredibles game and more than 2.4 million units of the sequel.  We’ve shipped over 12 million units of Cars, nearly three million units of Cars Mater National, and another 1.5 million units of the latest release, Cars Race O’Rama, four years after the original film.

[a]list: What are your metrics for success in the licensed games biz? Do they differ from original IP, or good sales are good sales and that’s it?

GG: Of course creating an original game – a successful one – is the beginning of a franchise.  Create a great game IP and you are soon selling comics, and toys, and apparel, and soundtracks, and electronics, and blankets and perfume based on the title.  Now so much energy is being devoted to ancillary merchandise building – well planned and executed property expansion.  This is not exactly the opportunity afforded a publisher creating a game based on another’s IP.  There can be some shared efforts, of course.  And this is more and more the model – making a property a success in interactive is now leading to participation in ancillary merchandising areas.  These are such exciting times for interactive game makers.

[a]list: Looking at THQ today, we know that more emphasis is being placed lately on original IP like Darksiders and Saints Row. Roughly what percentage of THQ’s business is comprised of licensed games? Do you want to maintain this level?

GG: A majority of our revenues today are generated by licensed games, driven primarily by our two fighting franchises.  While we plan to continue to build on our success in the fighting category, each of our three business units are focused on growing net sales from owned IPs.

[a]list: Thanks for your insights Germaine.

TV Groups Form Mobile Initiative

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Several large TV groups that represent 173 stations have teamed up to create a national mobile content service. This new venture looks to provide elements like on-demand video, sports programming and news to mobile devices. The plan is to offer content to nearly 150 million mobile users, so marketers could potentially reach a march larger audience.

“This initiative offers a path for the next generation of video consumption and will help the FCC with its goal of ensuring efficient and reliable broadband service for U.S. consumers,” said John Wallace, president of NBC Local Media.

“The consumer showcase is a truly exciting demonstration of the types of services that broadcasters will deploy across the country in the next few years, bringing a new era of television to the U.S.,” said Brandon Burgess, CEO of Ion and chairman of the Open Mobile Video Coalition.

Source: Ad Week {link no longer active}