deconnected. stuff i like. or don't.

i’m trying to briefly explore marketing and branding for gamers.

fatfoogoo, which i’m using as an easy example here, is an online store where you can buy and sell ingame items from MMPORG’s. good idea for a market that is growing into the billions (google chinese gold farmers). 

here’s their main campaign asset: 

what does this picture suggest? a crazy “cyberpunk” girl with a headset on it in a dark room that looks like the stylized, cool version of a nerd’s bedroom. being a gamer myself and having some idea of advertising, i am rather offended of its shiteness.

well, fine. the problem: you’re dealing with a target group that is fed up with being clichéd to a point where the public image is the dull, drooling lowlife with mass murder potential who best gets locked away. just display a girl that looks like she’s just jumped out of the “hackers” movie (lame) with some enlarged set of boobs and they’ll come crawling like some acne infested puberty hormones zombies. yes they would if the girl would actually look like a porn star. but she doesn’t. she’s the granny-approved version of the in-game sex goddess that every MMPORG gamer hopes to find. bleurgh.

wrong. if fatfoogoo is successful, it is successful because there are ingame items that are actually worth buying. there’s no girlie-girl that needs to convince a gamer to do that. if you want to use sex to lure gamer onto your site, do it with a proper busted up girl that looks like the next youporn star.

my advice:

boobs sell. be blunt, and so obviously targeting that stereotype of the gamer nerd that didn’t get laid in his 32 years of his life that it’s crossing the border to pure irony and satire. don’t try to be cool, because in the gamer’s eye, you aren’t. 

speak their lingo. it gives you cred, and they will nod their heads in respect for getting it right. if you get it wrong though, you’re gonna get trashed like sony entertainment america. and then vanish into obscurity.

read some penny arcade comics. they’ll give you an idea of the gamer’s soul.

it’s all about getting a laugh or two. be funny. gamers are usually quite intelligent, educated people that don’t fall for marketing b/s. they’re used to high leves of adrenaline, spend a lot of time online watching porn and virals they receive (that is not simply a stereotype). amongst other activities. there’s hardly a thing that excites them or blows them away, even literally speaking.

i know i can’t speak for all of the gamers, but i’m certainly speaking for myself. show some creativity and understanding, please.